PHP 8.4.25RC1 and 8.5.10RC1 land in Remi’s RPM repository for Fedora and RHEL
Release candidate packages for PHP 8.4.25 and 8.5.10 are now available through Remi Collet’s RPM repository. If you run Fedora 43, 44, or any Enterprise Linux derivative eight or newer, you can test these builds today.
Remi has maintained Fedora’s PHP packaging since the early 2010s, which means he’s seen every major dependency breakage the ecosystem has thrown at the language. Right now, the remi-modular-test repository hosts base packages for Fedora 43 and 44 alongside Enterprise Linux eight and up. The remi-test Software Collection handles parallel installs for every supported EL and Fedora version. It keeps distros from lagging behind upstream, which matters when your web stack strictly requires a specific PHP minor version.
Two ways to run the RC
You have two paths here, depending on whether you want to swap out your system PHP or keep it untouched. The Software Collection route is the safer bet for production testing. It drops a second PHP binary into /usr without touching the OS-level installation.
yum --enablerepo=remi-test install php85
That gives you a clean install. No system PHP interference. Switching to the RC as your default module requires a bit more care. You'll use dnf module switch-to to point the system at php:remi-8.5 or php:remi-8.4, then update the php packages from the test repo.
dnf module switch-to php:remi-8.5 dnf --enablerepo=remi-modular-test update 'php*'
The tradeoff is straightforward. SCL keeps your current stack intact. The modular switch rewrites your system default. Choose based on your risk tolerance.
PHP 8.6.0beta1 is already sitting in the repo too. Remi announced it back in July, so if you want to live dangerously ahead of schedule, the packages are there. Keep in mind that RC builds follow a strict freeze policy. Except for security patches, upstream won't accept changes after an RC drops. That means what you test now is effectively what ships in a few months.
PHP 8.3 is now in security mode only. No new release candidates will ever land on that branch. If you're still running 8.3 in production, the clock is ticking. Remi plans to ship stable 8.4.19 and 8.5.4 around mid-March 2027, which leaves roughly two months for testing.
The build environment tracks each EL version to its exact RHEL base. EL-10 builds against RHEL 10.2 with EPEL 10.2. EL-9 uses RHEL 9.8. EL-8 pulls from RHEL 8.10. The oci8 extension ships with Oracle Instant Client 23.26, and intl relies on libicu 74.2. If your stack depends on those, the versions should match what upstream expects.
Testing RCs on Enterprise Linux has always been a minefield. Certification requirements, vendor lock-in, and dependency chains make admins hesitate. Remi's approach sidesteps most of it by keeping test repos explicitly opt-in. You have to request them. They won't accidentally upgrade your production box.
Head here to pull the repo configuration wizard and grab the latest install guides for both PHP 8.5 and 8.4. The upstream QA announcements are also linked on PHP.net if you want to track individual bug fixes before committing to the switch.
