Setup PHP in GitHub Actions

Setup PHP with required extensions, php.ini configuration, code-coverage support and various tools like composer in GitHub Actions. This action gives you a cross platform interface to setup the PHP environment you need to test your application. Refer to Usage section and examples to see how to use this.

Contents

• PHP Support
• OS/Platform Support
• PHP Extension Support
• Tools Support
• Coverage support
  • Xdebug
  • PCOV
  • Disable Coverage
• Usage
  • Inputs
  • Basic Setup
  • Matrix Setup
  • Experimental Setup
  • Thread Safe Setup
  • Force Update
  • Verbose Setup
  • Cache Extensions
  • Cache Composer Dependencies
  • Problem Matchers
  • Examples
• License
• Contributions
• Support This Project
• Dependencies
• Further Reading

🎉 PHP Support

PHP Version	Stability	Release Support
5.3	Stable	End of life
5.4	Stable	End of life
5.5	Stable	End of life
5.6	Stable	End of life
7.0	Stable	End of life
7.1	Stable	End of life
7.2	Stable	Security fixes only
7.3	Stable	Active
7.4	Stable	Active
8.0	Experimental	In development

Note: Specifying 8.0 in php-version input installs a nightly build of PHP 8.0.0-dev with PHP JIT, Union Types v2 and other new features. See experimental setup for more information.

☁️ OS/Platform Support

Virtual environment	matrix.operating-system
Windows Server 2019	windows-latest or windows-2019
Ubuntu 18.04	ubuntu-latest or ubuntu-18.04
Ubuntu 16.04	ubuntu-16.04
macOS X Catalina 10.15	macos-latest or macOS-10.15

➕ PHP Extension Support

• On ubuntu by default extensions which are available as a package can be installed. If the extension is not available as a package but it is on PECL, it can be installed by specifying pecl in the tools input.

uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
with:
  php-version: '7.4'
  tools: pecl
  extensions: swoole

• On windows extensions which have windows binary on PECL can be installed.

• On macOS extensions which are on PECL can be installed.

• Extensions which are installed along with PHP if specified are enabled.

• Specific versions of PECL extensions can be installed by suffixing the extension with the version. This is useful for installing old versions of extensions which support end of life PHP versions.

uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
with:
  php-version: '7.4'
  tools: pecl
  extensions: pcov-1.0.6

• Pre-release versions of PECL extensions can be installed by suffixing the extension with its state i.e alpha, beta, devel or snapshot.

uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
with:
  php-version: '7.4'
  tools: pecl
  extensions: xdebug-beta

• Extensions which cannot be installed gracefully leave an error message in the logs, the action is not interrupted.

🔧 Tools Support

These tools can be setup globally using the tools input.

codeception, composer, composer-prefetcher, cs2pr, deployer, pecl, phinx, phive, phpcbf, phpcpd, php-config, php-cs-fixer, phpcs, phpize, phpmd, phpstan, phpunit, prestissimo, psalm, symfony

uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
with:
  php-version: '7.4'
  tools: php-cs-fixer, phpunit

To setup a particular version of a tool, specify it in the form tool:version.
Version should be in semver format and a valid release of the tool.

uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
with:
  php-version: '7.4'
  tools: php-cs-fixer:2.15.5, phpunit:8.5.1

Note

• composer is setup by default.
• Specifying version for composer and pecl has no effect, latest versions of both tools which are compatible with the PHP version will be setup.
• If the version specified for the tool is not in semver format, latest version of the tool will be setup.
• Tools which cannot be installed gracefully leave an error message in the logs, the action is not interrupted.

📶 Coverage support

Xdebug

Specify coverage: xdebug to use Xdebug.
Runs on all PHP versions supported except 8.0.

uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
with:
  php-version: '7.4'
  coverage: xdebug

PCOV

Specify coverage: pcov to use PCOV and disable Xdebug.
It is much faster than Xdebug.
PCOV needs PHP >= 7.1.
If your source code directory is other than src, lib or, app, specify pcov.directory using the ini-values input.

uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
with:
  php-version: '7.4'
  ini-values: pcov.directory=api #optional, see above for usage.
  coverage: pcov

Disable Coverage

Specify coverage: none to remove both Xdebug and PCOV.
Consider disabling the coverage using this PHP action for these reasons.

• You are not generating coverage reports while testing.
• It will remove Xdebug, which will have a positive impact on PHP performance.
• You are using phpdbg for running your tests.

uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
with:
  php-version: '7.4'
  coverage: none

📝 Usage

Inputs

php-version (required)

• Specify the PHP version you want to setup.
• Accepts a string. For example '7.4'.
• See PHP support for supported PHP versions.

extensions (optional)

• Specify the extensions you want to setup.
• Accepts a string in csv-format. For example mbstring, zip.
• See PHP extension support for more info.

ini-values (optional)

• Specify the values you want to add to php.ini.
• Accepts a string in csv-format. For example post_max_size=256M, short_open_tag=On.

coverage (optional)

• Specify the code coverage driver you want to setup.
• Accepts xdebug, pcov or none.
• See coverage support for more info.

tools (optional)

• Specify the tools you want to setup.
• Accepts a string in csv-format. For example phpunit, phpcs
• See tools Support for tools supported.

See below for more info.

Basic Setup

Setup a particular PHP version.

steps:
- name: Checkout
  uses: actions/checkout@v2

- name: Setup PHP
  uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
  with:
    php-version: '7.4'
    extensions: mbstring, intl
    ini-values: post_max_size=256M, short_open_tag=On
    coverage: xdebug    
    tools: php-cs-fixer, phpunit

Matrix Setup

Setup multiple PHP versions on multiple operating systems.

jobs:
  run:
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.operating-system }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        operating-system: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macos-latest]
        php-versions: ['5.6', '7.0', '7.1', '7.2', '7.3', '7.4']
    name: PHP ${{ matrix.php-versions }} Test on ${{ matrix.operating-system }}
    steps:
    - name: Checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v2

    - name: Setup PHP
      uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
      with:
        php-version: ${{ matrix.php-versions }}
        extensions: mbstring, intl
        ini-values: post_max_size=256M, short_open_tag=On
        coverage: xdebug        
        tools: php-cs-fixer, phpunit

Experimental Setup

Setup a nightly build of PHP 8.0.0-dev from the master branch of PHP.

• This version is currently in development and is an experimental feature on this action.
• PECL is installed by default with this version on ubuntu.
• Some extensions might not support this version currently.
• Refer to this RFC for configuring PHP JIT on this version.
• Refer to this list of RFCs implemented in this version.

steps:
- name: Checkout
  uses: actions/checkout@v2

- name: Setup PHP
  uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
  with:
    php-version: '8.0'
    extensions: mbstring
    ini-values: opcache.jit_buffer_size=256M, opcache.jit=1235, pcre.jit=1
    coverage: pcov
    tools: php-cs-fixer, phpunit

Thread Safe Setup

• NTS versions are setup by default.
• On ubuntu and macOS only NTS versions are supported.
• On windows both TS and NTS versions are supported.

jobs:
  run:
    runs-on: windows-latest
    name: Setup PHP TS on Windows
    steps:
    - name: Checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v2

    - name: Setup PHP
      uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
      with:
        php-version: '7.4'
      env:
        PHPTS: ts # specify ts or nts

Force Update

• PHP versions which are pre-installed on the GitHub Actions runner are not updated to their latest patch release by default.
• You can specify the update environment variable to true to force update to the latest release.

- name: Setup PHP
  uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
  with:
    php-version: '7.4'
  env:
    update: true # specify true or false

Verbose Setup

• To debug any issues, you can use the verbose tag instead of v2.

- name: Setup PHP
  uses: shivammathur/setup-php@verbose
  with:
    php-version: '7.4'

Cache Extensions

You can persist PHP extensions you setup using the shivammathur/cache-extensions and action/cache GitHub Actions. Extensions which take very long to setup if cached are available in the next workflow run and enabled directly which reduces the workflow execution time.

runs-on: ${{ matrix.operating-system }}
strategy:
  matrix:
    operating-system: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macos-latest]
    php-versions: ['7.2', '7.3', '7.4']
name: PHP ${{ matrix.php-versions }} Test on ${{ matrix.operating-system }}
env:
  extensions: intl, pcov
  key: cache-v1 # can be any string, change to clear the extension cache.
steps:
- name: Checkout
  uses: actions/checkout@v2

- name: Setup cache environment
  id: cache-env
  uses: shivammathur/cache-extensions@v1
  with:
    php-version: ${{ matrix.php-versions }}
    extensions: ${{ env.extensions }}
    key: ${{ env.key }}

- name: Cache extensions
  uses: actions/cache@v1
  with:
    path: ${{ steps.cache-env.outputs.dir }}
    key: ${{ steps.cache-env.outputs.key }}
    restore-keys: ${{ steps.cache-env.outputs.key }}

- name: Setup PHP
  uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
  with:
    php-version: ${{ matrix.php-versions }}
    extensions: ${{ env.extensions }}

Cache Composer Dependencies

You can persist composer's internal cache directory using the action/cache GitHub Action. Dependencies cached are loaded directly instead of downloading them while installation. The files cached are available across check-runs and will reduce the workflow execution time.

Note: Please do not cache vendor directory using action/cache as that will have side-effects.

- name: Get Composer Cache Directory
  id: composer-cache
  run: echo "::set-output name=dir::$(composer config cache-files-dir)"

- name: Cache dependencies
  uses: actions/cache@v1
  with:
    path: ${{ steps.composer-cache.outputs.dir }}
    key: ${{ runner.os }}-composer-${{ hashFiles('**/composer.lock') }}
    restore-keys: ${{ runner.os }}-composer-

- name: Install Dependencies
  run: composer install --prefer-dist

In the above example, if you support a range of composer dependencies and do not commit composer.lock, you can use the hash of composer.json as the key for your cache.

key: ${{ runner.os }}-composer-${{ hashFiles('**/composer.json') }} 

Problem Matchers

PHP

Setup problem matchers for your PHP output by adding this step after the setup-php step. This will scan the logs for PHP errors and warnings, and surface them prominently in the GitHub Actions UI by creating annotations and log file decorations.

- name: Setup Problem Matchers for PHP
  run: echo "::add-matcher::${{ runner.tool_cache }}/php.json"

PHPUnit

Setup problem matchers for your PHPUnit output by adding this step after the setup-php step. This will scan the logs for failing tests and surface that information prominently in the GitHub Actions UI by creating annotations and log file decorations.

- name: Setup Problem Matchers for PHPUnit
  run: echo "::add-matcher::${{ runner.tool_cache }}/phpunit.json"

Other Tools

For tools that support checkstyle reporting like phpstan, psalm, php-cs-fixer and phpcs you can use cs2pr to annotate your code.
For examples refer to cs2pr documentation.

Here is an example with phpstan.

- name: Setup PHP
  uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
  with:
    php-version: '7.4'
    tools: cs2pr, phpstan

- name: PHPStan
  run: phpstan analyse src --error-format=checkstyle | cs2pr

Examples

Examples for setting up this GitHub Action with different PHP Frameworks/Packages.

Framework/Package	Runs on	Workflow
CakePHP with MySQL and Redis	ubuntu	cakephp-mysql.yml
CakePHP with PostgreSQL and Redis	ubuntu	cakephp-postgres.yml
CakePHP without services	macOS, ubuntu and windows	cakephp.yml
CodeIgniter	macOS, ubuntu and windows	codeigniter.yml
Laravel with MySQL and Redis	ubuntu	laravel-mysql.yml
Laravel with PostgreSQL and Redis	ubuntu	laravel-postgres.yml
Laravel without services	macOS, ubuntu and windows	laravel.yml
Lumen with MySQL and Redis	ubuntu	lumen-mysql.yml
Lumen with PostgreSQL and Redis	ubuntu	lumen-postgres.yml
Lumen without services	macOS, ubuntu and windows	lumen.yml
Phalcon with MySQL	ubuntu	phalcon-mysql.yml
Phalcon with PostgreSQL	ubuntu	phalcon-postgres.yml
Roots/bedrock	ubuntu	bedrock.yml
Roots/sage	ubuntu	sage.yml
Slim Framework	macOS, ubuntu and windows	slim-framework.yml
Symfony with MySQL	ubuntu	symfony-mysql.yml
Symfony with PostgreSQL	ubuntu	symfony-postgres.yml
Symfony without services	macOS, ubuntu and windows	symfony.yml
Yii2 Starter Kit with MySQL	ubuntu	yii2-mysql.yml
Yii2 Starter Kit with PostgreSQL	ubuntu	yii2-postgres.yml
Zend Framework	macOS, ubuntu and windows	zend-framework.yml

📜 License

The scripts and documentation in this project are released under the MIT License. This project has multiple dependencies. Their licenses can be found in their respective repositories.

👍 Contributions

Contributions are welcome! See Contributor's Guide. If you face any issues while using this or want to suggest a feature/improvement, create an issue here.

💖 Support This Project

If this action helped you.

• Please star the project and share it with the community.
• If you blog, write about your experience while using this action.
• I maintain this in my free time, please support me with a Patreon subscription or a one time contribution using Paypal.
• If you need any help using this, please contact me using Codementor

🔖 Dependencies

• Node.js dependencies
• gplessis/dotdeb-php
• mlocati/powershell-phpmanager
• ppa:ondrej/php
• shivammathur/cache-extensions
• shivammathur/homebrew-php
• shivammathur/php-builder
• shivammathur/php5-ubuntu

📑 Further Reading

• About GitHub Actions
• GitHub Actions Syntax
• Other Awesome Actions