You can see a summary of the applications being used by your website, including PHP and MySQL, when you select the System Information link from the Information Panel in the System Dashboard.
Whilst you will see a warning on the Home Dashboard when your website's Joomla! CMS is out of date, you won't see a similar such warning about PHP or MySQL. 1
And for this reason, you should frequently check which versions of these important web applications are being used by your server, and whether they are the latest version and release compatible with your Joomla! CMS.
You could alternatively view this information in the Hosting Control Panel provided by your hosting provider.
Using the System Information screen is the easiest way to check.
1 This guide assumes your website is being hosted on a Linux server.
System Information Screen
When you open the System Information screen you will see several tabs - shown here.
And under the System Information tab, a summary of the web applications (and their versions).
We have highlighted the ones you should keep a close eye on.
You may also want to know what kind of Web Server is hosting your website.
Explanation of settings listed on the System Information screen
PHP Built on
Provides details of the principle operating system which the web server that Joomla is running on.
Database Version
Provides the current version of the MySQL database being used by the installation of Joomla.
Database Collation
How the MySQL database is structured for the information used by Joomla!.
PHP Version
Provides the current version of PHP server side script that is being used for this installation of Joomla.
Web Server
Provides the current type and version of web server which the installation of Joomla! is running on.
Web Server to PHP Interface
The script that permits interaction between the web server (in most cases, Apache) and the PHP scripting language.
Joomla! Version
Provides the current version of Joomla!. It is recommended that it is always up-to-date and using the current stable release.
Joomla! Platform Version
Provides the current version of the Joomla! Framework. It is recommended that it is always up-to-date and using the current stable release.
User Agent
The summary of the current user's local machine's operating system and browser information which is used to create an unique session ID for access and functionality within the Joomla! website.
Joomla! Version
Read more: How to update your Joomla! CMS.
PHP Version
Database Version
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