How to Safely Disable or Remove Unused PHP Versions Without Breaking CloudPanel?

[dpnmw]

I have CloudPanel installed and running on my server, and I noticed that multiple versions of PHP-FPM are installed and running on the system. Specifically, I have PHP versions 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, and PHP 8.x versions running simultaneously, but only using 8.3 and 8.4 versions for my projects.

I am concerned about the resource usage of PHP-FPM services for versions that are not in use.

I would like to disable or remove these unused PHP versions to optimize resource usage. However, I want to make sure that I don't accidentally break CloudPanel or any of its core services in the process.

My specific questions are:

Can I safely disable or remove PHP-FPM services for unused PHP versions without affecting CloudPanel's functionality?

If so, what is the recommended approach to ensure I do not disable the PHP version that CloudPanel relies on?

Are there any specific versions of PHP (e.g., PHP 7.1, 7.2) that I should avoid removing, given that CloudPanel may depend on them for system functionality?

What steps should I follow to ensure the safe removal or disabling of PHP versions, and are there any precautions I should take?

I would really appreciate any guidance or best practices on how to proceed safely without causing issues with CloudPanel.

Thank you in advance!

[MPLEXO]

I've been wondering the same. For small VPS server's I was hoping to disable all unneeded services to free up CPU / RAM.
Stopping the service VIA the CLI seems to work, and free up about 300MB of RAM. That makes a big difference on a VPS.

[slaweally]

Friends, I did a small test and you can look here for the results and solution: Cloudpanel Forum