# AlmaLinux 10 Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to common questions about switching PHP/Node.js versions, fixing permissions, finding logs, and maintaining your development environment.
* [How do I switch to a different version of PHP?](#how-do-i-switch-to-a-different-version-of-php)
* [How do I switch to a different version of Node.js?](#how-do-i-switch-to-a-different-version-of-nodejs)
* [How do I fix common permission issues?](#how-do-i-fix-common-permission-issues)
* [Where are the error log files?](#where-are-the-error-log-files)
* [How do I update Composer?](#how-do-i-update-composer)
* [How do I update phpMyAdmin?](#how-do-i-update-phpmyadmin)
* [How do I upgrade MariaDB?](#how-do-i-upgrade-mariadb)
* [How do I delete a virtualhost?](#how-do-i-delete-a-virtualhost)
* [How do I create command aliases?](#how-do-i-create-command-aliases)
## How do I switch to a different version of PHP?
Execute the following command:
```shell
sudo dnf module switch-to php:remi-{major}.{minor} -y
```
where `{major}.{minor}` is one of the supported PHP versions: `8.5`, `8.4`, `8.3`, `8.2` and `8.1`.
Additionally, our setup includes predefined aliases for executing the above command.
The aliases are the following:
* `php81`: switch to PHP 8.1
* `php82`: switch to PHP 8.2
* `php83`: switch to PHP 8.3
* `php84`: switch to PHP 8.4
* `php85`: switch to PHP 8.5
After switching to a different PHP version, test with the following command:
```shell
php -v
```
Depending on the selected PHP version, the output should look similar to the below:
```terminaloutput
PHP 8.4.8 (cli) (built: Jun 3 2025 16:29:26) (NTS gcc x86_64)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Built by Remi's RPM repository #StandWithUkraine
Zend Engine v4.4.8, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
```
## How do I switch to a different version of Node.js?
Execute the following commands:
```shell
sudo dnf remove nodejs -y
curl -fsSL https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_{major}.x | sudo bash -
sudo dnf install nodejs -y
```
where `{major}` is the Node.js version you want to switch to.
Additionally, our setup includes predefined aliases for the above commands.
The aliases are the following:
* `node24`: switch to Node.js 24
* `node22`: switch to Node.js 22
* `node20`: switch to Node.js 20
* `node18`: switch to Node.js 18
After switching to a different Node.js version, test with the following command:
```shell
node -v
```
Depending on the selected Node.js version, the output should look similar to the below:
```terminaloutput
v24.13.0
```
Check npm version:
```shell
npm -v
```
Depending on the current npm version, the output should look similar to the below:
```terminaloutput
11.9.0
```
## How do I fix common permission issues?
If running your project, you encounter permission issues, follow the below steps.
> `chmod -R 777` grants read/write/execute access to everyone, which is only appropriate for a local development environment like this one.
> Avoid carrying this habit into staging or production, where permissions should be scoped more narrowly (for example, to the web server's user/group).
### Error
> PHP Fatal error: Uncaught InvalidArgumentException: The directory "``/data" is not writable...
> PHP Fatal error: Uncaught InvalidArgumentException: The directory "``/data/cache" is not writable...
> PHP Fatal error: Uncaught InvalidArgumentException: The directory "``/data/cache/doctrine" is not writable...
### Solution
```shell
chmod -R 777 data
```
### Error
> PHP Fatal error: Uncaught InvalidArgumentException: The directory "``/public/uploads" is not writable...
### Solution
```shell
chmod -R 777 public/uploads
```
### Error
> PHP Fatal error: Uncaught ErrorException: fopen(``/log/error-log-yyyy-mm-dd.log): Failed to open stream: Permission denied...
### Solution
```shell
chmod -R 777 log
```
## Where are the error log files?
From time to time, you are encountering various errors which are not displayed. Or you can get errors 500 in a browser.
To find the error messages, you need to read the error log files.
### Apache log files
```text
/var/log/httpd/error_log
```
### PHP-FPM log files
```text
/var/log/php-fpm/error.log
/var/log/php-fpm/www-error.log
```
## How do I update Composer?
Before updating, check your current Composer version by executing:
```shell
composer --version
```
The output should be similar to:
```text
Composer version 2.8.5 2025-01-21 15:23:40
PHP version 8.3.20 (/usr/bin/php)
Run the "diagnose" command to get more detailed diagnostics output.
```
Update Composer using its own `self-update` command:
```shell
sudo /usr/local/bin/composer self-update
```
The output should be similar to:
```text
Upgrading to version 2.9.0 (stable channel).
Use composer self-update --rollback to return to version 2.8.5
```
After updating, check again your Composer version by executing:
```shell
composer --version
```
The output should be similar to:
```text
Composer version 2.9.0 2025-11-13 10:37:16
PHP version 8.5.0 (/usr/bin/php)
Run the "diagnose" command to get more detailed diagnostics output.
```
## How do I update phpMyAdmin?
Being installed as a system package, it can be updated using the command which updates the rest of the system packages:
```shell
sudo dnf upgrade -y
```
## How do I upgrade MariaDB?
Initially, MariaDB was at version 11.4 LTS.
In case you want to upgrade to a different version, for instance [11.8 LTS](https://mariadb.org/11-8-is-lts/), use the below steps:
* Open the MariaDB.repo file in any text editor.
```shell
sudo nano /etc/yum.repos.d/MariaDB.repo
```
* Modify the **baseurl** variable to match the desired version, for instance `11.8` instead of `11.4`.
* Clean dnf cache
```shell
sudo dnf clean all
```
* Stop MariaDB
```shell
sudo systemctl stop mariadb
```
* Upgrade MariaDB
```shell
sudo dnf update -y
```
* Start MariaDB
```shell
sudo systemctl start mariadb
```
* Upgrade databases
```shell
sudo mariadb-upgrade -uroot -p
```
* Restart MariaDB
```shell
sudo systemctl restart mariadb
```
## How do I delete a virtualhost?
If for whatever reason you want to delete a virtualhost, for instance `to-be-deleted.localhost` you need to do the following:
* Delete the folder where the files are located
```shell
sudo rm -rf /var/www/to-be-deleted.localhost
```
* Delete the Apache configuration file
```shell
sudo rm -f /etc/httpd/sites-available/to-be-deleted.localhost.conf
```
* Delete the enabled site symlink
```shell
sudo rm -f /etc/httpd/sites-enabled/to-be-deleted.localhost.conf
```
* Restart httpd server
```shell
sudo systemctl restart httpd
```
## How do I create command aliases?
From either your terminal or file explorer, navigate to your home directory (`/home//`).
Using your preferred text editor, open the file: `.bash_profile` (if it does not exist, create it first).
Move to the end of the file and enter on a new line:
```text
alias command_alias="command to execute"
```
where:
* `command_alias` is the name by which you want to call your original command
* `command to execute`: the original command to be executed on alias call
### Example
```text
alias list_files="ls -Al"
```
will create an alias called `list_files` that will run the command `ls -Al`.
Then, you can execute your custom alias in a terminal just as a regular command:
```shell
list_files
```