Switch php 5.6 to php 7.3 encoding

[vpshove]

Hello,

We are attempting to switch our long run php version 5.6 used for few years.

recently opted to switch it to php 7.3.

Current WHMCS version -> 7.10.1

We checked PHP Version Compatibility

There are like 190+ of encoded files that is incompatible with 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3

Checked ioncube loader was on version 10.3.9

Quote

These files cannot be decoded by ionCube Loader for the specified PHP version. If you wish to use this PHP version, you will need to contact the original vendor and acquire a version encoded with compatibility for your desired PHP target version.

We tried to switch the php version, what happened next was error and blank page. Had to roll back to php 5.6.

In what way & measure that we should take note to switch properly? 

Edited June 22, 2020 by leeyondking

[brian!]

3 hours ago, leeyondking said:

We tried to switch the php version, what happened next was error and blank page. Had to roll back to php 5.6.

at that point you got the blank page, you should have enabled error reporting so you could see the cause of the issue...

https://docs.whmcs.com/Blank_or_Partially_Rendered_Pages

3 hours ago, leeyondking said:

In what way & measure that we should take note to switch properly? 

I don't think you should need to overly worry about any WHMCS core files that are incompatible as WHMCS shouldn't be using them in recent versions.

of those 190+ files that were incompatible, how many were of third-party addons that you still use actively ?

if there are any that you still use, but are incompatible with later PHP versions, then it's a case of contacting each developer, or going to their sites, and seeing if there is an updated version for your WHMCS release... the same will apply to any hooks that might cause an error with a change of PHP.

if there isn't an updated version, but you still need to use the addon (and especially if it's encrypted), then you may need to stick with 5.6 for the time being.