How To Install php-cgi on Debian 11

One-liner install command

For those in a hurry, here's a one-line installation command:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt -y install php-cgi

But if you are interested in the detailed steps with descriptions, the following information is for you.

What is php-cgi and what are the ways to install it?

Before beginning this tutorial, you will need access to a server or computer running Debian 11. This guide was written specifically with a server running Debian 11 in mind, although it should also work on older, supported versions of the operating system.

Also, make sure you are running a regular, non-root user with sudo privileges configured on your server. When you have an account available, log in as your non-root user to begin.

There are several ways to install php-cgi on Debian 11. You can use (links are clickable):

In the following sections, we will describe each method in detail. You can choose one of them or refer to the recommended one.

Install php-cgi using apt-get

First, update apt database with apt-get using the following command.

sudo apt-get update

After updating apt-get database, You can install php-cgi using apt by running the following command:

sudo apt -y install php-cgi

Install php-cgi using apt

Because php-cgi is available in Debian 11’s default repositories, it is possible to install it from these repositories using the apt packaging system.

To begin, update apt database with apt using the following command.

sudo apt update

After updating apt database, You can install php-cgi using apt by running the following command:

sudo apt -y install php-cgi

Install php-cgi using aptitude

If you want to follow this method, you might need to install aptitude first since aptitude is usually not installed by default on Debian 11. Update apt database with aptitude using the following command.

sudo aptitude update

After updating aptitude database, You can install php-cgi by running the following command:

sudo aptitude -y install php-cgi

How to upgrade (update) a single package php-cgi using apt-get?

First, you will need to update packages index. Run update command as usual:

sudo apt-get update

Next, to upgrade only the php-cgi, e.g. single package, you should use the following format with the apt-get command/apt command:

sudo apt-get --only-upgrade install php-cgi

Note that this command will not install any new packages! If you wish to install the package if it doesn't exist you may leave out --only-upgrade part.

sudo apt-get install php-cgi

How To Uninstall php-cgi from Debian 11

To uninstall only the php-cgi package you can execute the following command:

sudo apt-get remove php-cgi

Uninstall php-cgi and all its dependencies

To uninstall php-cgi and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Debian 11, you can use the command below:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove php-cgi

Remove php-cgi with all configurations and data

To remove php-cgi configuration and data from your system you can run the following purge command:

sudo apt-get -y purge php-cgi

Remove php-cgi completely (configurations, data and all of its dependencies)

And lastly, you can run the next command to remove absolutely everything related to php-cgi package, e.g.: configurations, data and all of its dependencies. Just use this command:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge php-cgi

Extra info and code examples

This package provides the /usr/bin/php command interpreter, useful for testing PHP scripts from a shell or performing general shell scripting tasks. PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. This package is a dependency package, which depends on Debian's default PHP version (currently 7.0).

Conclusion

You now have a full guide on how to install php-cgi using apt, apt-get and aptitude tools. Also, we showed how to update as a single package and different ways to uninstall the php-cgi from Debian 11.

See also: