apache - Switch php versions on commandline ubuntu 16.04

Question

I have installed php 5.6 and and php 7.1 on my Ubuntu 16.04

I know with Apache as my web server, I can do

a2enmod php5.6 #to enable php5
a2enmod php7.1 #to enable php7

When I disable php7.1 in Apache modules and enable php 5.6, Apache recognizes the change and uses php 5.6 interpreter as expected.

But when I run internal php web server from the commandline:

php -S localhost:8888

php handles requests using php 7. So how do I switch between php 5.6 and php 7.1 in the command line ?

Answer 1

Interactive switching mode

sudo update-alternatives --config php
sudo update-alternatives --config phar
sudo update-alternatives --config phar.phar

Manual Switching

From PHP 5.6 => PHP 7.1

Default PHP 5.6 is set on your system and you need to switch to PHP 7.1.

Apache:

$ sudo a2dismod php5.6
$ sudo a2enmod php7.1
$ sudo service apache2 restart

Command Line:

$ sudo update-alternatives --set php /usr/bin/php7.1
$ sudo update-alternatives --set phar /usr/bin/phar7.1
$ sudo update-alternatives --set phar.phar /usr/bin/phar.phar7.1

From PHP 7.1 => PHP 5.6

Default PHP 7.1 is set on your system and you need to switch to PHP 5.6.

Apache:

$ sudo a2dismod php7.1
$ sudo a2enmod php5.6
$ sudo service apache2 restart

Command Line:

$ sudo update-alternatives --set php /usr/bin/php5.6

Source