Xampp Php 7.1.3 [verified]

XAMPP with PHP 7.1.3 — Informative Report

Enable Essential Extensions

PHP 7.1.3 ships with many extensions, but some are disabled by default. In php.ini, uncomment lines like:

extension=curl
extension=gd2
extension=mbstring
extension=mysqli
extension=openssl
extension=pdo_mysql

Restart Apache after any changes to php.ini (via XAMPP Control Panel). xampp php 7.1.3

Why Stick with PHP 7.1.3?

You might ask: Why not upgrade? The answer is usually legacy code. Many enterprise applications, custom CMS platforms, or financial systems were built on frameworks that break silently under PHP 7.4 or 8.0. For instance: XAMPP with PHP 7

• Deprecated MCrypt: If your project uses mcrypt (common in older Laravel or CodeIgniter versions), PHP 7.1.3 is one of the last safe havens before it moved to PECL.
• Old Extensions: Proprietary extensions for ERP systems or hardware integration often lack binaries for newer PHP versions.
• Testing Parity: A staging server must perfectly mirror production. If your production host stubbornly runs 7.1.3, so must your XAMPP environment.

Issue 2: PHP Fatal Error – Call to undefined function mysqli_connect()

• Solution: Enable extension=php_mysqli.dll in php.ini and ensure extension_dir = "C:\xampp-7.1.3\php\ext" is correct.

Windows Installation

1. Disable User Account Control (UAC) temporarily or run the installer as Administrator.
2. Choose components: Apache, MySQL, PHP, phpMyAdmin. (You can uncheck Perl, Tomcat, etc., to save space).
3. Installation directory: Avoid C:\Program Files due to permission issues. Use C:\xampp-7.1.3.
4. During the installation, you might see a Windows Firewall warning—allow Apache and MySQL access.

Docker Command for PHP 7.1.3

docker run -d -p 80:80 -v "$PWD":/var/www/html php:7.1.3-apache

This runs Apache + PHP 7.1.3 in isolation without XAMPP’s overhead. Restart Apache after any changes to php