Pantheon release notes

PHP versions 8.3.25 and 8.4.12, and are now available on the platform. These updates brings the latest bug fixes, improving performance and security for your sites. Updates will be applied automatically over the next few days, so no manual action is required.

PHP 8.4 is only available with the new PHP Runtime Generation 2. To upgrade your site, set the following in your pantheon.yml file:

The PHP 8.4 upgrade process automatically includes an upgrade to PHP Runtime Generation 2.

Important PHP version information

• PHP 8.1 and 8.2 are currently receiving security-only updates.
• For more details, see the full list of PHP supported versions.

For the best performance and security, Pantheon recommends running PHP 8.2 and above.

Terminus 4.0.2 is now available. This small update contains the latest bug fixes and improvements for this tool.

Notable release details

• The workflow:wait command has been fixed
• The env:info command now outputs the PHP Runtime Generation

For more information about this release, visit the GitHub release page.

How to upgrade Terminus

If you manage your installation via Homebrew on macOS, you can update Terminus with the following command:

For other systems, see additional upgrade instructions here.

Editorial notes:

• The date for this has been moved from September 10, 2025 to September 17, 2025.

Starting September 17, 2025, new sites created on the platform will use PHP Runtime Generation 2.

PHP Runtime Generation 2 includes updated extensions, the latest PHP version, and enhanced security features. This new PHP runtime is currently available in beta and will begin rolling out to existing sites on September 24.

Some PHP extensions and OS packages have not been ported over to Generation 2 yet, and may never be ported. Review the OS Packages and PHP Extensions documentation to review these changes. If your new sites depend on these, we recommend you downgrade to Generation 1 and contact your Customer Success Manager or create a support ticket to discuss your site needs.

ClamAV support is now operational with PHP Runtime Generation 2. This open source antivirus engine helps protect endpoints by scanning uploads to your sites once configured via a module/plugin.

PHP Runtime Generation 2 includes updated extensions, the latest PHP version, and enhanced security features. This new PHP runtime is currently available in beta and will begin rolling out on September 17. Early testing is recommended to ensure compatibility.

Support for Apache Tika 3.2 is now available on the Pantheon platform via PHP Runtime Generation 2. Older versions of Tika are still available for both PHP Runtime Gen 1 and Gen 2, however we recommend sites using older versions of Tika upgrade to 3.2 as soon as possible.

How to upgrade

Upgrade your site by setting the following in your pantheon.yml file:

After applying this configuration change, the latest version of Tika 3 is available at the following path:

See also, updated documentation for Tika 3 on Pantheon.

A new beta experience for a freshly modernized Site Dashboard is rolling out across the platform starting now and will be available to all users over the coming weeks. Sign up now to skip the wait!

Enable the new beta experience

Once rolled out, users will be prompted to toggle this new beta experience from the site list of a given Workspace:

When the toggle is “on,” the new beta experience of the site dashboard will be enabled. All site dashboards opened from this view will use the new beta experience.

What to expect

• Same functionality, familiar workflows – No need to relearn anything. Your day-to-day tasks remain unchanged.
• Modern, accessible design – We’ve made significant improvements to align with the latest usability design standards, enhancing readability, contrast, and navigation.
• Performance improvements under the hood – While this beta may feel mostly visual, we’ve reworked key infrastructure for long-term speed and reliability.
• Small but powerful UX upgrades – New conveniences like one-click to copy the commit SHA, along with other thoughtful touches for enhanced usability.

Other details

• Sections in progress – A few parts of the dashboard are still in development and will roll out over the course of the beta program:
  • Site team
  • Domain management
  • New Relic
• Easily switch back – If you need to, you still have access to the current dashboard.
• Share feedback – We have a dedicated Slack channel for beta participants where you can easily ask questions and discuss feedback with the Pantheon product and engineering team. To request an invite, submit this form.

PHP Runtime Generation 2 includes updated extensions, the latest PHP version, and enhanced security features. This new PHP runtime is currently available in beta and will begin rolling out on September 17. Early testing is recommended to ensure compatibility.

What's New

• Updated PHP extensions for improved performance and compatibility
• LTS coverage for PHP 5.6+
• PHP 8.4 availability
• Tika 3.2 availability (coming soon)

What's Changing?

• wkhtmltopdf is no longer available - switch to dompdf
• PhantomJS is no longer available (the project was abandoned by its maintainers)
• TLS 1.2+ is required - learn about TLS compatibility

What's Currently Unavailable with Generation 2?

Some PHP extensions and OS packages have not been ported over to Generation 2 yet, and may never be ported. Review the OS Packages and PHP Extensions documentation to review these changes. If you depend on these, we recommend you opt out of Runtime Generation 2 for now, and contact your Customer Success Manager or create a support ticket to discuss your site needs.

Action Recommended

We recommend all customers test your sites ahead of the rollout to identify any compatibility issues. Sites relying on unavailable extensions or packages should opt out before September 17. We will attempt to auto-detect incompatible sites and delay their upgrade when possible.

Rollout Timeline

We are currently in the beta phase, with a platform-wide rollout starting September 24.

It is safe to use the PHP Runtime Generation 2 beta on a Live environment once you have confirmed site compatibility.

PHP Runtime Generation 2 will not include wkhtmltopdf.

Pantheon has included wkhtmltopdf with our PHP Runtime since 2012 as a tool for generating PDFs on-demand. This is commonly used by sites that have the print and entity_print Drupal modules configured.

However, wkhtmltopdf has not been updated by its maintainers for 5 years and is considered abandoned. As a result, we are not including wkhtmltopdf with PHP Runtime Generation 2.

Sites that are using wkhtmltopdf should switch to dompdf. Dompdf is a PHP-based rendering engine that can be placed inside a site's codebase. Please refer to the External Libraries documentation for information on how to make this switch.

PHP Runtime Generation 2 will begin rolling out September 24. If you need more time to switch to dompdf, we recommend opting out for now.