Joomla 5.0.0 was released in October 2023, and it introduced a new strict joomla technical requirements minimum of MySQL 8.0.13, MariaDB 10.4.0 and PHP 7.2.5
The mySites.guru tool for Joomla 5 Technical Requirements – Hosting Check is a feature of the subscription at mySites.guru
These versions should be very un-controversial, however it quickly became apparent that some incompetent and incumbent web hosts, such as SiteGround, did not provide MySQL 8 and refused to give timeframes on when they would migrate their hosting services to support MySQL 8 – This is not a SiteGround1 bashing blog post per se. But as a webhost that used to officially support the Joomla project – and still (Feb 2024) has no planned date for MySQL 8 its a very very sad state.
You can see in the comments of their article here that they still dont have a date for MySQL 8 support – seems they want to force an upgrade, rather than provide a standalone MySQL 8 service which they could do in a single day if needed… strange.
Joomla admins were eager to upgrade from Joomla 4 to Joomla 5 with mySites.guru, and even manually, but were hit by this road block.
Over the coming months, other web hosts would also declare they had no urgent plans to implement MySQL in their mass hosting packages and so mySites.guru customers started asking for a tool to identify the hosting specifications of the sites connected in their mySites.guru account.
What does the Joomla project say?
Not much other than this page (which ironically says nothing now, and just redirects you to check out https://manual.joomla.org/docs/next/get-started/technical-requirements/ which is part of their “incomplete” new documentation site.
The Joomla project published a rebuttal post in November 2023 entitled “Embracing Change: Why Joomla 5’s Requirement for MySQL 8 is a Leap Forward…” in that article that acknowledge that users face challenges upgrading to Joomla 5 due to hosting limitations with MySQL 8.
The comment on this article from famous Nicholas from Akeeba states:
Recommending MySQL 8.1 is extremely premature […] The MariaDB support should’ve also been bumped […] I think going for 8.0 instead of 5.7 when neither Joomla! uses any new features in MySQL nor do third parties are ready for this change was a mistake […] More caution should be exercised when changes like that are decided
Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos on Tuesday, 21 November 2023 14:25
Make of that whatever you will. This blog post is not arguing the toss who is right or who is wrong, it is a post about the Joomla 5 Technical Requirements Checker at mySites.guru
PHP, MySQL, Update Information at a glance
The mySites.guru tool for Joomla 5 Technical Requirements – Hosting Check is a feature of the subscription at mySites.guru – no additional charge was made and this new feature added for free into all account.
Where to find the Joomla 5 Technical Requirements tool in mySites.guru?
You can get to the tool quickest by invoking the command palette with cmd k (or ctrl k on windows/linux) and typing “Joomla 5” or “compat” to filter the commands and then enter. This will take you direct to the Joomla 5 Technical Requirements tool
An even quicker way is to just press c 5 on the keyboard (that is lowercase c and then the number 5) - that is the keyboard shortcut to the page in mySites.guru!!
The direct url is: https://manage.mysites.guru/en/tools/joomla5/compatibility (Obviously you need to be logged in for that to work)
Joomla 5 Technical Requirements – Hosting Check
Here is a preview of the dashboard for the the Joomla 5 Technical Requirements – Hosting Check in mySites.guru
As you can see the tool clearly lists all your Joomla 4 and Joomla 5 sites, along with the currently installed Joomla version, the web server hostname, the update channel enabled, and the server hosting PHP version and Database type (MySQL or MariaDB) and version number.
If your PHP or Database Server meets the MINIMUM this will be highlighted with Yellow The MINIMUM Joomla 5 Technical Requirements are: PHP 8.1.0, MySQL 8.0.13 or MariaDB 10.4.0.
If your PHP or Database Server meets the RECOMMENDED this will be highlighted with Green The RECOMMENDED Joomla 5 Technical Requirements are: PHP 8.2+, MySQL 8.1+ or MariaDB 11.1+
If your PHP or Database Server doesn’t meet the MINIMUM technical requirements this will be highlighted with Red
What is the update channel?
Joomla has 3 main update channels – the Default, Joomla Next and Testing. It is highly recommended that you leave your production websites on the default setting – this will prevent you accidentally applying major updates to Joomla core.
Joomla “Next” channel allows to switch between major releases. From 4 to 5 to 6 for example.
Testing is as its name suggests. For use in testing releases prior to release by experienced developers.
Joomla 5 Minimum Technical Requirements
The absolute minimum versions that can be installed on a server to run Joomla 5 are:
- PHP 8.1.0 (also standard modules like json, simplexml, dom, gd, mysqlnd needed)
- MySQL 8.0.13 or MariaDB 10.4.0
- This article (and most of the Joomla Community!) ignore the Postgres compatibility as not many people use that database server.
Joomla 5 Recommended Technical Requirements.
The RECOMMENDED versions to be installed to run Joomla 5 are “the latest PHP version and the latest MySQL/MariaDB” version – haha – but no seriously, there is no reason to be not running the latest versions of PHP in 2024!
The “official” recommended is PHP 8.2 and MySQL 8.1/MariaDB 11.1.0 – but of course over time these will probably increase – for example at the time of writing this PHP 8.3.2 is the latest PHP version available, and PHP 8.2 series will only be in “active support” for another 10 months, and will become end of life on 8th December 2025 see https://www.php.net/supported-versions for full PHP details.
What is my web host doesn’t meet the minimum standards?
If your webhost doesn’t have the minimum standards for Joomla 5 hosting then you should really consider moving – the MySQL8 and PHP 8.2 requirements are pretty normal and not groundbreaking.
MySQL 8.0.13 was released in October 2018 – so thats over 5 years ago – if your web host has not upgraded their MySQL server in the last 5 years then maybe they are not the most secure and reliable partner for your web site… #justsaying
What is the supported version of MySQL by Oracle?
mysql 5.6 extended support ended in 2021 and mysql 5.7 extended support ended…. 31st October 2023.
Only MySQL 8.0 (LTS) and 8.1.* series are actually supported by Oracle now.
What if my site is stuck on Joomla 3 – how do I secure Joomla 3?
You can look at the new tool which Fixes all Joomla 3 security issues with a single click, in the mySites.guru snapshot.
- (Disclosure: SiteGround were mySites.guru paying subscribers for over 5 years and we provided technical support to them in optimising their servers and the mySites.guru audit process was refined thanks to their feedback in its early years.) SiteGround are also NOT the only host dragging their heals over MySQL 8 support… ↩︎