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Legacy PHP and Java support: upgrade off end-of-life runtimes without a rewrite

We maintain long-running PHP and Java applications on a monthly retainer, upgrade them off end-of-life runtimes in planned steps, and write down how they work so you are not dependent on one person.

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Example monthly report · illustrativeAll systems normal
99.98%uptime · 12 mo
42patches this month
11 minavg. first response
5systems looked after
RESPONSE TIME · LAST 30 DAYSSLA 30 MIN
  • corporate-site.comIIS 10 · .NET Framework 4.899.99%
  • investors.corporate-site.comSitecore 10.3 · Azure100%
  • careers portalJava 17 · Tomcat · Oracle99.97%
  • intranetSharePoint 2019 · on-premise99.95%
  • partner API.NET 10 · SQL Server99.99%
Why it matters now

PHP 7.4 and 8.0 have been out of support for years, PHP 8.1 lost security support at the end of 2025 and PHP 8.2 follows on 31 December 2026. On the Java side, applications pinned to Java 8 or 11, old Spring versions or an ageing Tomcat are common in corporate estates. All of them keep running, but none of them get fixes for new vulnerabilities.

Upgrades are rarely a rewrite. Most of the work is in dependencies, deprecated functions and the absence of tests. We add tests around the riskiest paths, upgrade in steps on staging and release when the numbers match.

Signs you need this

  • Your application runs on PHP 8.1 or older
  • It is pinned to Java 8 or an old Spring version
  • Upgrades have been postponed because nothing is tested
  • Only one person knows how to deploy it
Request an audit →

PHP support dates

VersionSupportStatus
PHP 7.4 and 8.0Security support ended (November 2022 and November 2023).End of life
PHP 8.1Security support ended 31 December 2025.End of life
PHP 8.2Security fixes only, until 31 December 2026.Ending soon
PHP 8.3 and laterSupported. 8.3 receives security fixes until 31 December 2027.Supported

For Java, the current long-term support releases are Java 21 and Java 25. Support for Java 8 and 11 depends on your JDK vendor and contract; the audit checks yours.

Dates checked 10 October 2026 against: php.net: supported versions.

What we do every month

01

Runtime upgrades

PHP and Java versions upgraded in planned steps, tested on staging.

02

Dependencies

Composer and Maven packages, frameworks and application servers brought to supported versions.

03

Tests where it matters

Automated tests added around the riskiest flows before anything changes.

04

Fixes and changes

Bug fixes and small features from a monthly bank of hours.

05

Hosting

Moves to containers or managed hosting where it lowers cost and risk.

06

Documentation

Build, deploy and recovery runbooks, so knowledge is not stuck in one head.

Patching cadence

Critical security fixesWithin the SLA response time for your tier
Runtime and OS patchesMonthly
Dependency reviewQuarterly

Security posture

  • Named-user access only, through your VPN, jump host or SSO
  • Credentials stored in a vault, never in email or tickets
  • Every change logged against a ticket, with a rollback step
  • NDA and data processing agreement before any access
  • Findings from your penetration tests fixed and documented

Service levels

Written into the contract. Mix tiers across your estate according to how critical each system is.

EssentialBusinessMission-critical
Critical (site down)4 hours1 hour15 minutes
High (major feature broken)Next business day4 hours1 hour
Normal3 business days1 business day4 hours
Cover hoursMon–Fri, business hours7am–10pm, 7 days24/7/365
Uptime target99.5%99.9%99.95%
Named engineers12Dedicated team

How the takeover works

  1. Weeks 1–2

    Audit

    Read-only access under NDA. Versions, risks, costs and a quote.

  2. Weeks 3–4

    Knowledge transfer

    Runbooks, credentials vault and handover sessions with your current team or vendor.

  3. Month 2

    Stabilise

    Urgent patches, monitoring and backups in place before anything else changes.

  4. Ongoing

    Run & improve

    SLA-backed support, planned upgrades and a monthly report.

Free estate audit · 2 weeks

Get a written report on your Legacy PHP & Java estate.

Read-only access, under NDA. Versions, end-of-support dates, security findings and a monthly quote. Keep the report either way.

How many sites and apps?
Main technology
Maintained today by

We reply with an NDA and an access checklist.

Legacy PHP & Java support: questions, answered

Do we need to rewrite it to upgrade?
Rarely. Most upgrades are dependency and syntax changes made in steps, with tests added first around the parts that matter most.
Which frameworks do you work with?
Laravel, Symfony, Magento and custom PHP; Spring, Java EE / Jakarta EE, Tomcat and JBoss / WildFly on the Java side.
Can you move it to the cloud as part of the upgrade?
Yes, often into containers on AWS or Azure. We usually upgrade first and move second, so only one thing changes at a time.
Related enterprise care

IIS hosting

Windows Server and IIS kept patched, monitored and off end-of-life versions.

ASP.NET Web Forms support

Web Forms and .NET Framework applications kept secure where they are.

.NET & Web Forms migration

.NET Framework and Web Forms to .NET 10.

All enterprise care →