Drupal 9 Requirements: Why You Need to Upgrade Now

As website owners, it's essential to stay ahead of the curve and ensure a seamless user experience and robust security in the ever-evolving digital landscape. One crucial aspect of this is upgrading your website's technology stack, particularly if you're still running on an older PHP version.

At the time of writing, hosting providers should support PHP 8.1 (and above) by default, making it clear that the days of PHP 7.4 are long gone. Requiring PHP 8.1 helps Drupal provide a longer support lifetime for Drupal 10, as well as more stability and predictability in its dependency requirements.

Drupal 10 Upgrade: Compatible PHP versions

The time has come to upgrade your website from Drupal 9 to Drupal 10. The good news is that you can still do so even if your hosting provider still supports older PHP versions. However, it's crucial to note that failing to upgrade can expose your website to vulnerabilities and compromise its performance.

Why Upgrading to Drupal 10 is Vital

The most significant change with the release of Drupal 10 is the requirement for PHP 8.1. This upgrade provides a longer support lifetime for Drupal 10, as well as more stability and predictability in its dependency requirements. Failing to upgrade can lead to stagnant issue queues on version 9.x, making it challenging to resolve issues compared to versions 10.x (or 11.x and beyond).

Moreover, upgrading to Drupal 10 sooner rather than later is of vital importance for most Drupal 9 website owners. Here are a few reasons why:

• Bug fixes won't be enthusiastically prioritized for Drupal 9 modules/themes or Drupal 9 Core.

• Drupal 9 websites won't get many new feature additions through their already installed contributed modules and Core.

• Drupal 9 will stop receiving security updates, which means websites still on version 9 of Drupal will not be protected against newly found/reported vulnerabilities.

The Consequences of Not Upgrading

The end-of-life date for Drupal 9 was November 1, 2023, when Symfony 4, the underlying technology framework powering Drupal, also reached its end of life. This means that Drupal 9 websites are no longer receiving security updates and will not be protected against newly found/reported vulnerabilities.

Why You Need to Upgrade Now

In conclusion, it's crucial for website owners to stay ahead of the curve by upgrading their website to Drupal 10. The benefits of this upgrade include:

• Improved stability and predictability in dependency requirements

• Longer support lifetime for Drupal 10

• Enhanced security features

• New feature additions and bug fixes

To learn more about the Drupal 10 upgrade process, read on for our detailed guide: 'link to Drupal 10 Upgrade Guide'.

Drupal 9 requirements