pvm — PHP Version Manager

Simple, fast PHP version management. Inspired by nvm.

Cross-platform: macOS, Linux, and Windows.

pvm install 8.3
pvm use 8.3
pvm list
php -v  # PHP 8.3.x

Install

macOS / Linux

Quick install (recommended):

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvndevio/pvm/main/install.sh | bash

Or via npm:

npm install -g pvm-php

Then add to your ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc:

export PVM_DIR="$HOME/.pvm"
[ -s "$PVM_DIR/pvm.sh" ] && source "$PVM_DIR/pvm.sh"

Windows

Quick install (PowerShell):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvndevio/pvm/main/install.ps1 | iex

Or via npm:

npm install -g pvm-php

Then add to your PowerShell profile ($PROFILE):

$env:PVM_DIR = "$env:USERPROFILE\.pvm"
. "$env:PVM_DIR\pvm.ps1"

Manual (all platforms)

git clone https://github.com/nvndevio/pvm.git ~/.pvm
cd ~/.pvm && npm install

Platform Differences

| | macOS / Linux | Windows | |---|---|---| | Install method | Build from source | Pre-built binaries from windows.php.net | | Install speed | 5-15 min (compiling) | ~30 sec (download only) | | Build tools required | Yes (gcc, make, etc.) | No | | Shell integration | bash / zsh / fish | PowerShell / CMD |

Build Requirements (macOS / Linux only)

Windows users can skip this — pvm downloads pre-built binaries automatically.

macOS (via Homebrew):

xcode-select --install
brew install openssl readline libzip icu4c oniguruma pkg-config autoconf bison re2c

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt install build-essential libxml2-dev libssl-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev \
  libzip-dev libonig-dev libreadline-dev libsqlite3-dev pkg-config autoconf bison re2c

Run pvm doctor to check if your system is ready.

Usage

Install a PHP version

pvm install 8.3       # Install latest PHP 8.3.x
pvm install 8.2.25    # Install exact version

List installed versions

pvm list

#   8.1.27
#   8.2.25
# → 8.3.14 (active)

Switch PHP version

pvm use 8.2

Show current version

pvm current
# 8.3.14

Uninstall a version

pvm uninstall 8.1.27

See available versions

pvm available           # PHP 8.x versions
pvm available --major 7 # PHP 7.x versions

Check system dependencies

pvm doctor

Auto-switch per project

Create a .php-version file in your project root:

8.2

When you cd into the project, pvm automatically switches to the specified version.

How it works

~/.pvm/
├── versions/
│   ├── 8.1.27/
│   ├── 8.2.25/
│   └── 8.3.14/
├── current             # Symlink (Unix) or version file (Windows)
├── cache/              # Downloaded tarballs / zips
├── bin/pvm             # CLI binary
└── pvm.sh              # Shell integration

• macOS/Linux: Downloads PHP source, compiles with common extensions, installs to ~/.pvm/versions/
• Windows: Downloads pre-built NTS binary from windows.php.net, extracts to ~/.pvm/versions/
• pvm use updates the active version and your shell PATH

Commands

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | pvm install <version> | Install a PHP version | | pvm use <version> | Switch to an installed version | | pvm list | List installed versions | | pvm current | Show active version | | pvm uninstall <version> | Remove a version | | pvm available | List versions available to install | | pvm doctor | Check system dependencies | | pvm env | Print shell integration code |

License

MIT