Zend Guard for PHP 5.4 released

[Trane Francks]

Hey, all.

I noticed a few days back that Zend has finally gotten around to releasing Zend Guard 6 for PHP 5.4. Which means, of course, that those of us with clients running Zend Guard code have forced us to sit on PHP 5.3 pending the release of new loaders. Those loaders are now out in the wild. So, the question is: What's the time frame for including the new Zend Guard loader in the PHP 5.4 configuration for EasyApache?

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello

Zend Guard 6 (includes support for PHP 5.4) is tentatively scheduled for inclusion with a future build of EasyApache version 3.18. There is currently no specific time frame available for release, as internal testing is required before releasing new EasyApache builds to the public. You can monitor the EasyApache change log at:

EasyApache Change Log

Thank you.

 

[Trane Francks]

Thanks for the update. I very much appreciate it. I'll keep an eye out for the rollout. Updating to 5.4.x is a Good Thing.

 

[Trane Francks]

Michael,

Is there any news you can offer with regard to a potential release time frame? We're going on two months later and the new Zend still hasn't found its way to production in WHM.

Cheers.

 

[ScottTh]

Hi Trane Franks,

The EasyApache team has scheduled to begin work on Zend Guard 6 in the very near future. We'll keep you updated here on the forums when it has been released!

Thanks for your questions and please let us know if you have any additional feature requests by visiting the cPanel Feature Request Site: cPanel Feature Requests

 

[Trane Francks]

Thanks, Scott. My primary concern is being able to move off of PHP 5.3.x before it reaches official EOL (March 2014, if I recall correctly).

 

[ScottTh]

Thanks, Scott. My primary concern is being able to move off of PHP 5.3.x before it reaches official EOL (March 2014, if I recall correctly).

Hi again,

EasyApache 3.20.2 released yesterday and included is, 5.3.27 EasyApache ChangeLog. PHP 5.3 has been marked End of Life. The EasyApache team has designated 5.4 as the default PHP version.

We will continue to provide security updates for the 5.3 series as they are released by PHP, but regular releases will no longer be done by PHP for the 5.3 series.

Here is the official statement from PHP about the 5.3 series: PHP 5.3.27 Released - PHP 5.3 Reaching End of Life

 

[Trane Francks]

Hi, Scott.

Thanks. I follow the changes closely and am already running 5.3.27. As it has already reached deprecated state, I'm concerned. cPanel has a very poor track record of implementing fixes in that state. PHP 5.2.9 displays proudly in the WHM interface; meanwhile, that tree itself didn't EoL until 5.2.17. You guys failed to implement a lot of fixes that a lot of servers needed.

So, that explains my anxiety. Thanks to Zend taking more than a year after 5.4 released before it decided to update Zend Guard, we operators are now seriously behind the 8-ball. The longer cPanel/WHM takes to implement Zend in 5.4, the more vulnerable my servers become.

 

[ScottTh]

Hello,

Hi, Scott.
The longer cPanel/WHM takes to implement Zend in 5.4, the more vulnerable my servers become.

I'm happy to announce that the EasyApache team started the work to implement Zend Guard 6 yesterday! We'll keep you updated on our progress and when Zend Guard 6 is released for EasyApache and PHP 5.4.

Stay tuned!

 

[kernow]

Will this thread be updated when Zend Guard 6 is released for EasyApache and PHP 5.4 ? or will we be informed some other way?

 

[ScottTh]

Hi kernow,

I'm monitoring this thread and will update it when Zend Guard is released. That's normally not our procedure for informing about updates so please watch the EasyApache Change Log page for updates in the future: EasyApache ChangeLog

We also post release announcements in the EasyApache forums. Here's an example of our latest release post: EasyApache 3.20.2 Released

 

[kernow]

Hello cPScottT,
Thanks for the info.

 

[Trane Francks]

PHP 5.2.9 displays proudly in the WHM interface; meanwhile, that tree itself didn't EoL until 5.2.17. You guys failed to implement a lot of fixes that a lot of servers needed.

Interestingly, I see that 5.2.17 has finally found its way into WHM. Funny how that works. :p

5.2.9 END OF LIFE
5.2.17 END OF LIFE

At least that gives servers forever stuck with Zend Optimizer a reasonable -- if untimely -- upgrade path. Better late than never.

 

[ScottTh]

Zend Guard 6 has now been released with EasyApache 3.22.5!

All additions in 3.22.5 can be seen here: EasyApache Change Log

 

[kernow]

That's great! thanks for the update.

 

[Trane Francks]

Thanks for this. Much appreciated.