When you logged into phpMyAdmin, in the web server settings (on the right), did you happen to notice that your phpMyAdmin package uses PHP version 5.6.X? Know that all 4.8.X versions of phpMyAdmin use PHP version 5.6.X. The future version of phpMyAdmin, which will be 5.0.X, will support PHP 7.1 and PHP 7.2.

Can you change the current PHP version used by phpMyAdmin? No, right now, you can’t! If you attempt to uninstall PHP 5.6.X from your Synology NAS, you will get the following message: “WordPress, phpMyAdmin is dependent on this package. Please uninstall WordPress, phpMyAdmin first before uninstalling this package”. See the screenshot below for the message.

You may be wondering why phpMyAdmin is using the PHP version it’s using. You have to remember that phpMyAdmin uses the internal version of PHP which is not the same PHP as the one used by Apache. To clarify: phpMyAdmin has an internal PHP application which is separate from the PHP versions you use with Apache. The general rule is that: it doesn’t matter if you have phpMyAdmin on a private hosting or on a Synology NAS, you cannot change the internal PHP version.

At this point we just have to be patient because Synology will make the necessary updates to their phpMyAdmin that will include the newer PHP 7.1 and PHP 7.2 versions. Rumors say it should all be ready before the end of 2019.

Update: 14.08.2019

I have found a way to get phpMyAdmin to use PHP 7.2 instead of PHP 5.6.39 on a Synology NAS.

Edit the following file /var/packages/phpMyAdmin/target/nginx_conf/www.phpMyAdmin.enable.conf by changing the line below:

original line: fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php-fpm/php54-fpm.sock;
new line: fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php-fpm/php72-fpm.sock;

Update: 15.09.2019

If you want to force phpMyAdmin to use the latest PHP 7.3 version, follow the instructions below.
Note: Know that the solution offered is only for expert users as it requires you to use the SSH terminal.

Edit:

vi /var/packages/phpMyAdmin/target/nginx_conf/www.phpMyAdmin.enable.conf

and change the line below:

original line: fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php-fpm/php56-fpm.sock;

new line: fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php-fpm/php73-fpm.sock;

vi /var/packages/phpMyAdmin/INFO

and change the line below:

original line: install_dep_packages=”WebStation>=1.0-0036:PHP5.6>=5.6.17-0017″

new line: install_dep_packages=”WebStation>=1.0-0036:PHP7.3>=7.3.11-0002″

Update: 16.12.2019

My professional recommendation is to wait until DSM 7 comes out. The new DSM 7 will no longer require the use of older packages like PHP 5.6.

Update: 26.12.2019

Bad news: Synology Packages: End-of-Life Announcement. Due to package dependencies, PHP 5.6 and PHP 7.0 will still be available in Package Center after June 30, 2020.

Update: 30.12.2019

According to Cynthia at Synology, phpMyAdmin will be updated to have a newer dependency in the future release. Which means that pretty soon (hopefully), phpMyAdmin dependency to PHP 5.6 will be just a bad dream.

Update: 10.6.2020

Starting today phpMyAdmin no longer has any dependency on PHP 5.6

This post was updated on Monday / August 23rd, 2021 at 1:06 AM