DDEV Legacy PHP Setup

DDEV v1.24.0+ no longer ships PHP 5.6, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, or 8.0 in the web image (ddev/ddev#6835). DDEV installs them at image-build time with install_php_extensions.sh.

Case 1: the project runs the legacy version

Set the version and restart. DDEV injects the install step into the web build itself, so no Dockerfile is needed:

ddev config --php-version=7.4
ddev restart
ddev exec php -v

The first build takes several minutes.

Case 2: legacy version alongside a newer default

To keep, say, PHP 8.3 as the default and also run 7.4 for specific scripts, create .ddev/web-build/pre.Dockerfile.php7.4:

RUN /usr/local/bin/install_php_extensions.sh "php7.4" "${TARGETARCH}"

Replace php7.4 with the version needed (e.g. php7.2, php5.6). After ddev restart, run it with ddev exec php7.4 -v.

Fallback: force amd64 on Apple Silicon

If the native ARM64 build fails for a specific version, run the web container under x86_64 emulation. Create .ddev/docker-compose.amd64.yaml:

services:
  web:
    platform: linux/amd64

Then ddev restart (the first build pulls amd64 images and is slow). Emulation makes PHP execution slower; the database and router stay native. Remove the file as soon as the native build works or the project moves to a supported PHP.

When to remove

When the project upgrades to a supported PHP version:

1. Delete .ddev/docker-compose.amd64.yaml and any pre.Dockerfile.phpX.Y added above.
2. Update php_version in .ddev/config.yaml (or run ddev config --php-version=<new>).
3. Run ddev restart.

Reference

• DDEV Docs: Adding EOL Versions of PHP
• DDEV Blog: AMD64 with Rosetta on macOS