Cannot install rrdtool-php after upgrading from PHP 5.3 to 5.5

Question

I am running CentOS 6.4 and thereby natively stuck with PHP 5.3 but I need 5.5 so I have upgraded to 5.5 with this guide here, http://www.webtatic.com/packages/php55/

I have removed all old packages before installation and I have now reinstalled everything except the "rrdtool-php" package which is the only one giving me some problems.

When I run it I get this error:

[root@srv install]# yum install rrdtool-php              
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, replace, security
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
 * base: centos.skarta.net
 * extras: centos.skarta.net
 * updates: mirror.easyspeedy.com
 * webtatic: uk.repo.webtatic.com
Trying other mirror.
Setting up Install Process
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package rrdtool-php.i686 0:1.3.8-6.el6 will be installed
--> Processing Dependency: php(zend-abi) = 20090626 for package: rrdtool-php-1.3.8-6.el6.i686
--> Processing Dependency: php(api) = 20090626 for package: rrdtool-php-1.3.8-6.el6.i686
--> Running transaction check
---> Package php-common.i686 0:5.3.3-22.el6 will be installed
--> Processing Conflict: php55w-common-5.5.0-1.w6.i386 conflicts php-common < 5.5.0
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
Error: php55w-common conflicts with php-common-5.3.3-22.el6.i686
 You could try using --skip-broken to work around the problem
 You could try running: rpm -Va --nofiles --nodigest

I already have the "php55w-common" installed so naturally I cannot installed the "php-common" package too. I don't dare to try the "--skip-broken" option as I do not want to end up in everything breaking.

Can anyone help me clarifying how to solve this problem?

Answer 1

rrdtool-php in CentOS/RHEL 6 is built against the php 5.3 extension api, and so can't be used in later releases of PHP (neither 5.4 or 5.5).

A package could be created that supports this php extension in PHP 5.5, but it's not something I plan to do for Webtatic, as not a common request.

If you find it suitable for yourself, you can instead use the pecl installer for the php extension:

yum install rrdtool-devel php55w-pear php55w-devel
pecl install rrd
echo "extension=rrd.so" > /etc/php.d/rrd.ini