Greetings,
We are still monitoring for an ionCube Loader update that will bring support for the PHP 8 runtime environment. As soon as a compatible loader is available, we will shift priorities to testing it and, if necessary, delivering a WHMCS update.
The fact that ionCube Loader environment support is not tracking with PHP's faster development and support cycles is problematic for the larger PHP community. However, the recent release of the 11 series, which includes encoding for PHP 7.4, is encouraging. Based on their messaging, we can expect an ionCube Loader release to provide PHP 8 environment support soon.
WHMCS is perpetually reevaluating its technologies and system requirements for continuity as a part of your business strategy.
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We know you're anxious to switch to PHP 8.x, as are we!
Ioncube have stated publicly they expect loaders for PHP 8.x to be available this month. As soon as they do, we'll be looking to begin testing with the aim of publishing a PHP 8 compatible release of WHMCS using the new encoder as soon as possible.
We continue to monitor the status of our dependencies. At present we remain confident that Ioncube will deliver a solution for PHP 8 in the near future, and we are ready for when this happens.
Switching to an alternative of ionCube would be burdensome for our users - meeting the new system requirement and likely requiring a non-standard update process - which is something we're keen to avoid if at-all possible.
I totally get @Alternative Hosting's situation, and while mine is not as important, if I'm trying to stay current (which everyone should be), that your product has a dependency on a company like ION Cube, which clearly is dropping the ball!
I think it's time to change and quickly.
liaison
ionCube Support
PostPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2022 11:49 pm
There is an internal timeline but no public date for 8.1 support yet as it would not be accurate.
_________________
Community Admin
My suggestion is that you seriously start looking for another encoder/decoder to protect your source.
Another option is to go open source but still with a license for maintenance and support.
As far as I know the official response from them is Maybe: 2 June 2022 and For sure: 2 December 2022.
This is not soon in my opinion...
We are still monitoring for an ionCube Loader update that will bring support for the PHP 8 runtime environment. As soon as a compatible loader is available, we will shift priorities to testing it and, if necessary, delivering a WHMCS update.
The fact that ionCube Loader environment support is not tracking with PHP's faster development and support cycles is problematic for the larger PHP community. However, the recent release of the 11 series, which includes encoding for PHP 7.4, is encouraging. Based on their messaging, we can expect an ionCube Loader release to provide PHP 8 environment support soon.
WHMCS is perpetually reevaluating its technologies and system requirements for continuity as a part of your business strategy.
PHP Version
Your PHP version 7.4.26 is supported by WHMCS.
The PHP 7.4 branch no longer receives regular bug fixes and will only receive critical security updates until it reaches its end of life. Please see our documentation for more information.
Now as far as I know PHP version 7.4.26 is the Current Stable PHP version. Other than this version there is only PHP 8.1.0 that you don't support yet.
As far as I know you are waiting for ioncube to release a new PHP Encoder that will support PHP 8.1.0 - but as for their last release (25/11/2021) it's only supporting up to PHP 7.4.
According to ionCube Support it will take a year to support PHP 8.1 - you can see the answer from liaison from ionCube Support here:
https://forum.ioncube.com/viewtopic.php?t=4592&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45&sid=73f25f47b85eae701ce63c66feb8d5b1
That is not good since php 7.4 is no longer receives regular bug fixes...
Maybe it's time to think on another solution instead of ionCube?
What do you think?
We've shared an update on PHP 8 support in our blog: https://blog.whmcs.com/133698/update-on-php-8-support-in-whmcs
Check it out!
Thanks!