can’t upgrade to PHP8

PHP8 is crashing

What exactly does this mean?

What exact error message are you seeing with debug enabled?

Wow, thanks for the fast reply!

Just get a white screen. Nothing loads, so debug isn’t effective.

Hey!

Firstly, what error message do you get? Is it a WordPress error, or a PHP error like HTTP 500?

Secondly, try enabling these debug options via wp-config.php file

define('WP_DEBUG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);
define('SCRIPT_DEBUG', true);
define('SAVEQUERIES', true);

Make sure you remove or comment out (add # at start of line) any other duplicate wp-debug commands from the config file that might overwrite these settings.

Then try to open the website again and check or copy the contents of /wp-content/debug.log file, it should show a bit more info than standard debug mode.

Added all the extra debug properties that you listed but it didn’t help… no log being generated.

There is no error message. Just white screen. View source doesn’t show any code loaded at all.

One last detail I didn’t mention… its a multisite installation.

Starting to see this on other multisite installations as well.

So a little more info… I have a client with seven or eight sites in their account. All of the single site installations were easily switched to PHP8. But the two sites that are in multisite mode both crash (complete white screen) when I make the switch. In both cases I tried renaming the plugin folder and resetting to a default theme, but that didn’t work, so the conclusion I’m coming to is that there’s something specific to multisites and PHP8 that isn’t working.

I run/manage a couple of multisite networks on PHP 8.2, without any issues.

So it seems something in your environment must be causing or triggering this. But the fact that you’re not seeing any debug output makes this quite perplexing.

By the way: when you rename or delete the active theme’s folder, WordPress doesn’t detect this automatically, so you will see a blank screen with no content at all when you visit the homepage of the site in question. This is the expected and normal (even if undesirable) behaviour.

You need to go to the Appearance screen in the dashboard before WordPress will detect the missing theme directory and automatically switch to the default theme.

Thanks for the tip about the themes @gappiah . This time I tried switching to 2023 before flipping over to 8.2 but that didn’t help.

The only thing I can think of as to why this one is failing and others aren’t (I also have some other multisite installs that work on php8) is some obscure database stuff… we originally had this site on a different server and when we migrated it a few years ago we had some issues with table types being MyISAM and others InnoDB. Do you think that’s a possibility here?

Really hard to debug when there’s no errors.

wp-core

version: 6.2
site_language: en_US
user_language: en_US
timezone: +00:00
permalink: /blog/%year%/%monthnum%/%day%/%postname%/
https_status: true
multisite: true
user_registration: false
blog_public: 0
default_comment_status: open
environment_type: production
site_count: 2
network_count: 1
user_count: 56
dotorg_communication: true

wp-active-theme

name: MyStore 2020 Divi Child (mystore2020)
version: 1.0.0
author: Elegant Themes
author_website: https://www.elegantthemes.com
parent_theme: Divi (Divi)
theme_features: core-block-patterns, block-templates, post-thumbnails, widgets-block-editor, custom-background, automatic-feed-links, menus, title-tag, post-formats, woocommerce, wc-product-gallery-zoom, wc-product-gallery-lightbox, wc-product-gallery-slider, customize-selective-refresh-widgets, wp-block-styles, editor-style, widgets
theme_path: /www/htdocs/…/wp-content/themes/mystore2020
auto_update: Disabled

wp-parent-theme

name: Divi (Divi)
version: 4.20.2
author: Elegant Themes
author_website: https://www.elegantthemes.com
theme_path: /www/htdocs/…/wp-content/themes/Divi
auto_update: Disabled

wp-themes-inactive (1)

Twenty Twenty-Three: version: 1.1, author: the WordPress team, Auto-updates disabled

wp-plugins-active (18)

Advanced Custom Fields PRO: version: 6.0.7, author: WP Engine, Auto-updates disabled
Classic Editor: version: 1.6.3, author: WordPress Contributors, Auto-updates enabled
Display Posts: version: 3.0.2, author: Bill Erickson, Auto-updates enabled
Gravity Forms: version: 2.7.3, author: Gravity Forms, Auto-updates enabled
Gravity Forms Zapier Add-On: version: 4.2, author: Gravity Forms, Auto-updates disabled
PDF Embedder Premium: version: 4.4.3, author: Lever Technology LLC, Auto-updates disabled
Pods - Custom Content Types and Fields: version: 2.9.13, author: Pods Framework Team, Auto-updates enabled
Polylang: version: 3.3.2, author: WP SYNTEX, Auto-updates enabled
Raw HTML Snippets: version: 2.0.4, author: theandystratton, Auto-updates disabled
Search & Filter Pro: version: 2.5.14, author: Code Amp, Auto-updates disabled
Search & Filter Pro - Divi Extension: version: 1.0.3, author: Code Amp, Auto-updates disabled
Show IDs: version: 1.1.9, author: DraftPress, Auto-updates enabled
Snapshot Pro: version: 4.15.0, author: WPMU DEV, Auto-updates disabled
SVG Support: version: 2.5.5, author: Benbodhi, Auto-updates disabled
Ultimate Member: version: 2.6.0, author: Ultimate Member, Auto-updates enabled
WP Mail SMTP: version: 3.7.0, author: WPForms, Auto-updates disabled
WPMU DEV Dashboard: version: 4.11.18, author: WPMU DEV, Auto-updates disabled
Yoast Duplicate Post: version: 4.5, author: Enrico Battocchi & Team Yoast, Auto-updates disabled

wp-media

image_editor: WP_Image_Editor_Imagick
imagick_module_version: 1690
imagemagick_version: ImageMagick 6.9.10-23 Q16 x86_64 20190101 https://imagemagick.org
imagick_version: 3.4.4
file_uploads: File uploads is turned off
post_max_size: 200M
upload_max_filesize: 200M
max_effective_size: 200 MB
max_file_uploads: 20
imagick_limits:
imagick::RESOURCETYPE_AREA: 31 GB
imagick::RESOURCETYPE_DISK: 1.84467440737E+19
imagick::RESOURCETYPE_FILE: 786432
imagick::RESOURCETYPE_MAP: 31 GB
imagick::RESOURCETYPE_MEMORY: 16 GB
imagick::RESOURCETYPE_THREAD: 8
imagick::RESOURCETYPE_TIME: 1.84467440737E+19
imagemagick_file_formats: 3FR, 3G2, 3GP, AAI, AI, ART, ARW, AVI, AVS, BGR, BGRA, BGRO, BIE, BMP, BMP2, BMP3, BRF, CAL, CALS, CANVAS, CAPTION, CIN, CIP, CLIP, CMYK, CMYKA, CR2, CRW, CUR, CUT, DATA, DCM, DCR, DCX, DDS, DFONT, DJVU, DNG, DOT, DPX, DXT1, DXT5, EPDF, EPI, EPS, EPS2, EPS3, EPSF, EPSI, EPT, EPT2, EPT3, ERF, EXR, FAX, FILE, FITS, FRACTAL, FTP, FTS, G3, G4, GIF, GIF87, GRADIENT, GRAY, GRAYA, GROUP4, GV, H, HALD, HDR, HISTOGRAM, HRZ, HTM, HTML, HTTP, HTTPS, ICB, ICO, ICON, IIQ, INFO, INLINE, IPL, ISOBRL, ISOBRL6, JBG, JBIG, JNG, JNX, JPE, JPEG, JPG, JPS, JSON, K25, KDC, LABEL, M2V, M4V, MAC, MAGICK, MAP, MASK, MAT, MATTE, MEF, MIFF, MKV, MNG, MONO, MOV, MP4, MPC, MPEG, MPG, MRW, MSL, MSVG, MTV, MVG, NEF, NRW, NULL, ORF, OTB, OTF, PAL, PALM, PAM, PANGO, PATTERN, PBM, PCD, PCDS, PCL, PCT, PCX, PDB, PDF, PDFA, PEF, PES, PFA, PFB, PFM, PGM, PGX, PICON, PICT, PIX, PJPEG, PLASMA, PNG, PNG00, PNG24, PNG32, PNG48, PNG64, PNG8, PNM, PPM, PREVIEW, PS, PS2, PS3, PSB, PSD, PTIF, PWP, RADIAL-GRADIENT, RAF, RAS, RAW, RGB, RGBA, RGBO, RGF, RLA, RLE, RMF, RW2, SCR, SCT, SFW, SGI, SHTML, SIX, SIXEL, SPARSE-COLOR, SR2, SRF, STEGANO, SUN, SVG, SVGZ, TEXT, TGA, THUMBNAIL, TIFF, TIFF64, TILE, TIM, TTC, TTF, TXT, UBRL, UBRL6, UIL, UYVY, VDA, VICAR, VID, VIFF, VIPS, VST, WBMP, WEBP, WMF, WMV, WMZ, WPG, X, X3F, XBM, XC, XCF, XPM, XPS, XV, XWD, YCbCr, YCbCrA, YUV
gd_version: 2.2.5
gd_formats: GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP, BMP, XPM
ghostscript_version: 9.50

wp-server

server_architecture: Linux 5.4.0-144-generic x86_64
httpd_software: Apache
php_version: 7.4.33 64bit
php_sapi: fpm-fcgi
max_input_variables: 3000
time_limit: 30
memory_limit: 2048M
max_input_time: 60
upload_max_filesize: 200M
php_post_max_size: 200M
curl_version: 7.68.0 OpenSSL/1.1.1f
suhosin: false
imagick_availability: true
pretty_permalinks: true
htaccess_extra_rules: true

wp-database

extension: mysqli
server_version: 10.5.19-MariaDB-1:10.5.19+maria~ubu2004-log
client_version: mysqlnd 7.4.33
max_allowed_packet: 67108864
max_connections: 500

wp-constants

WP_HOME: undefined
WP_SITEURL: undefined
WP_CONTENT_DIR: /www/htdocs/…/wp-content
WP_PLUGIN_DIR: /www/htdocs/…/wp-content/plugins
WP_MEMORY_LIMIT: 2048M
WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT: 2048M
WP_DEBUG: true
WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY: true
WP_DEBUG_LOG: true
SCRIPT_DEBUG: true
WP_CACHE: false
CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS: undefined
COMPRESS_SCRIPTS: undefined
COMPRESS_CSS: undefined
WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE: Undefined
DB_CHARSET: utf8
DB_COLLATE: undefined

wp-filesystem

wordpress: writable
wp-content: writable
uploads: writable
plugins: writable
themes: writable

wp_mail_smtp

version: 3.7.0
license_key_type: lite
debug: No debug notices found.
lite_install_date: Sep 16, 2020 @ 8:36am

pods

pods-server-software: Apache
pods-user-agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.14; rv:102.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/102.0
pods-session-save-path: /usr/share/cgi-fpm/w01b722f/tmp/
pods-session-save-path-exists: Yes
pods-session-save-path-writable: Yes
pods-session-max-lifetime: 7200
pods-opcode-cache-apc: No
pods-opcode-cache-memcached: No
pods-opcode-cache-opcache: Yes
pods-opcode-cache-redis: No
pods-object-cache-apc: No
pods-object-cache-apcu: No
pods-object-cache-memcache: No
pods-object-cache-memcached: No
pods-object-cache-redis: No
pods-memory-current-usage: 90.957M
pods-memory-current-usage-real: 52.000M
pods-network-wide: No
pods-install-location: /wp-content/plugins/pods/
pods-developer: No
pods-tableless-mode: No
pods-relationship-table-enabled: Yes
pods-light-mode: No
pods-strict: No
pods-allow-deprecated: Yes
pods-api-cache: Yes
pods-shortcode-allow-evaluate-tags: No
pods-sessions: Disable sessions
pods-can-use-sessions: Yes
pods-relationship-table-status: 9

pll_options

browser: 1: Detect browser language activated
rewrite: 1: Remove /language/ in pretty permalinks
hide_default: 1: Hide URL language information for default language
force_lang: 1: The language is set from the directory name in pretty permalinks
redirect_lang: 0: The front page URL contains the page name or page id instead of the language code
media_support: 1: The media are translated
sync: 0: Synchronization disabled
post_types: post, page, wp_block, attachment, search-filter-widget, project
taxonomies: category, post_tag
version: 3.3.2
default_lang: en
primary-menu: de => 198 | en => 2 | es => 227
secondary-menu: de => 0 | en => 0 | es => 0
footer-menu: de => 0 | en => 0 | es => 0
previous_version: 3.3.1

pll_language_de

term_id: 111
name: DE
slug: de
term_group: 0
term_taxonomy_id: 111
count: 25
tl_term_id: 112
tl_term_taxonomy_id: 112
tl_count: 1
locale: de_DE
is_rtl: 0
w3c: de-DE
facebook: de_DE
home_url:
search_url:
mo_id: 5070
page_on_front: 5108
page_for_posts: 0
flag_code: de
flag_url: /wp-content/plugins/polylang/flags/de.png
custom_flag_url: 0

pll_language_en

term_id: 114
name: EN
slug: en
term_group: 0
term_taxonomy_id: 114
count: 246
tl_term_id: 115
tl_term_taxonomy_id: 115
tl_count: 81
locale: en_GB
is_rtl: 0
w3c: en-GB
facebook: en_GB
home_url: /
search_url: /
mo_id: 5071
page_on_front: 2656
page_for_posts: 0
flag_code: gb
flag_url: /wp-content/plugins/polylang/flags/gb.png
custom_flag_url: 0

pll_language_es

term_id: 222
name: ES
slug: es
term_group: 3
term_taxonomy_id: 222
count: 16
tl_term_id: 223
tl_term_taxonomy_id: 223
tl_count: 1
locale: es_ES
is_rtl: 0
w3c: es-ES
facebook: es_ES
home_url: /es/my-store-es/
search_url: /es/
mo_id: 6190
page_on_front: 6192
page_for_posts: 0
flag_code: es
flag_url: /wp-content/plugins/polylang/flags/es.png
custom_flag_url: 0

pll_warnings

wpml:
plugins/search-filter-pro: /www/htdocs/…/wp-content/plugins/search-filter-pro/wpml-config.xml
themes/Divi: /www/htdocs/…/wp-content/themes/Divi/wpml-config.xml

Don’t know if this thread is now too old or whether this will be seen at all. At a total loss as to what to do next. Re-read some posting guides and saw that posting the Site Health Info would help, so have done that above, removing all references to the domain.