diff -Nur --no-dereference smeserver-php-3.0.0.old/root/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf/20LoadModule80PHP smeserver-php-3.0.0/root/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf/20LoadModule80PHP
--- smeserver-php-3.0.0.old/root/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf/20LoadModule80PHP	2021-03-07 15:11:54.624000000 -0500
+++ smeserver-php-3.0.0/root/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf/20LoadModule80PHP	2021-03-08 01:04:26.910000000 -0500
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
     # default we return with nothing activated
     return "#PHP mod is disabled by default, please use PHP-fpm" unless (exists $php{status} and $php{status} eq "enabled" and $phpModule eq "enabled");
 
-    $PHPVersion = $php{'PHPVersion'} ||'73';
-    ($PHPVersion) = $PHPVersion =~ /([0-9]{2})/;
+    use esmith::php;
+    our $PHPVersion = PHPdefault(1);
     my $phpMR = substr($PHPVersion,0,1) || '';
     #php7 software collection libphp72.so
     return "LoadModule php$\{phpMR\}_module modules/libphp$PHPVersion.so\n" if (-r "/usr/lib64/httpd/modules/libphp$PHPVersion.so");
diff -Nur --no-dereference smeserver-php-3.0.0.old/root/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf/20LoadModule81FastCGI smeserver-php-3.0.0/root/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf/20LoadModule81FastCGI
--- smeserver-php-3.0.0.old/root/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf/20LoadModule81FastCGI	2020-01-28 13:50:45.000000000 -0500
+++ smeserver-php-3.0.0/root/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf/20LoadModule81FastCGI	2021-03-08 01:04:07.503000000 -0500
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
 {
-$PHPVersion = $php{'PHPVersion'} ||'73';
-my ($PHPVersion) = $PHPVersion =~ /([0-9]{2})/;
 $fastcgi_mod = 'mod_proxy_fcgi';
   $OUT .=<<_EOF;
 LoadModule proxy_fcgi_module modules/mod_proxy_fcgi.so
diff -Nur --no-dereference smeserver-php-3.0.0.old/root/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf/95AddType00PHP2ibays smeserver-php-3.0.0/root/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf/95AddType00PHP2ibays
--- smeserver-php-3.0.0.old/root/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf/95AddType00PHP2ibays	2021-03-07 15:11:54.710000000 -0500
+++ smeserver-php-3.0.0/root/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf/95AddType00PHP2ibays	2021-03-08 01:04:47.612000000 -0500
@@ -14,8 +14,7 @@
 		# configuration to enable php-fpm for the ibay
 	        if ($fastcgi_mod eq 'mod_proxy_fcgi')
 		{
-		    my $version = $ibay->prop('PHPVersion') || $PHPVersion || '73';
-                    ($version) = $version =~ /([0-9]{2})/ unless $version eq '';
+		    my $version = PhpFpmVersionToUse($ibay);
 		    my $name = lc $key;
 		    $OUT .=<<"_EOF";
     SetEnvIf Authorization "(.*)" HTTP_AUTHORIZATION=\$1
diff -Nur --no-dereference smeserver-php-3.0.0.old/root/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/php-fpm.d/ibays.conf/10Ibays smeserver-php-3.0.0/root/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/php-fpm.d/ibays.conf/10Ibays
--- smeserver-php-3.0.0.old/root/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/php-fpm.d/ibays.conf/10Ibays	2021-03-07 15:11:54.736000000 -0500
+++ smeserver-php-3.0.0/root/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/php-fpm.d/ibays.conf/10Ibays	2021-03-08 01:06:11.720000000 -0500
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 {
 
 use esmith::AccountsDB;
+use esmith::php;
 my $a = esmith::AccountsDB->open_ro || die "Couldn't open the accounts database";
 
 foreach my $ibay ($a->get_all_by_prop(type => 'ibay')){
-  my $PHPVersion = $php{'PHPVersion'} ||'73';
-  ($PHPVersion) = $PHPVersion =~ /([0-9]{2})/;
-  my $version             = $ibay->prop('PHPVersion') || $PHPVersion || '73';
+  my $version		  = PhpFpmVersionToUse($ibay); 
   my $dynamic             = $ibay->prop('CgiBin') || 'disabled';
   my $custom              = $ibay->prop('PHPCustomPool') || undef;
   next unless ($dynamic eq 'enabled' && $version eq $PHP_VERSION && !$custom);
diff -Nur --no-dereference smeserver-php-3.0.0.old/root/usr/share/perl5/vendor_perl/esmith/php.pm smeserver-php-3.0.0/root/usr/share/perl5/vendor_perl/esmith/php.pm
--- smeserver-php-3.0.0.old/root/usr/share/perl5/vendor_perl/esmith/php.pm	2021-03-07 15:11:54.741000000 -0500
+++ smeserver-php-3.0.0/root/usr/share/perl5/vendor_perl/esmith/php.pm	2021-03-08 01:26:46.184000000 -0500
@@ -4,8 +4,11 @@
 use warnings;
 use esmith::ConfigDB;
 
+our $PHPDEFAULT = 74;
+our $BASEPHP = 54;
+
 our @ISA = qw(Exporter);
-our @EXPORT = qw( listPHPVersionFPM listPHPVersionShort listPHPVersionHash listPHPVersionHashShort);
+our @EXPORT = qw( listPHPVersionFPM listPHPVersionShort listPHPVersionHash listPHPVersionHashShort  PHPdefault VersionToUse  PhpFpmVersionToUse);
 
 =head1 NAME
 
@@ -58,7 +61,8 @@
 }
 
 =head2 listPHPVersionShort
-param = (enabled, disabled, all) , if empty default to all
+param1 = (enabled, disabled, all) , if empty default to all
+param2 = will use "" as output for base php
 
 this will return you an array of numerical available php version
 print "'$_'\n" for listPHPVersionShort('all');
@@ -77,15 +81,17 @@
 =cut
 sub listPHPVersionShort {
   my $status = shift  || 'all';
+  my $emptyforbase = shift;
   my @FPM = listPHPVersionFPM($status);
   s/^php([0-9]{2})-php-fpm$/$1/ for @FPM ;
-  s/^php-fpm$/54/ for @FPM ;
+  my $base= (defined $emptyforbase) ? "" : $BASEPHP;
+  s/^php-fpm$/$base/ for @FPM ;
   return @FPM;
 }
 
 =head2 listPHPVersionHash
-param = (enabled, disabled, all) , if empty default to all
-
+param1 = (enabled, disabled, all) , if empty default to all
+param2 = if defined will use "" as key for php-fpm
 this will return you a hash order by version 
 my %list= listPHPVersionHash();
 print "$_ => $list{$_}\n" for (sort keys %list);
@@ -101,17 +107,20 @@
 =cut
 sub listPHPVersionHash {
   my $status = shift  || 'all';
+  my $emptyforbase = shift;
   my @FPM = listPHPVersionFPM($status);
   my %myfpm;
+  my $base= (defined $emptyforbase) ? "" : $BASEPHP;
   for my $php ( @FPM)  {
-    $myfpm{"54"}="$php" for ( $php=~/^php-fpm$/);
+    $myfpm{$base}="$php" for ( $php=~/^php-fpm$/);
     $myfpm{$_}="$php"  for ( $php=~/^php([0-9]{2})-php-fpm$/);
   }
   return %myfpm;
 }
 
 =head2 listPHPVersionHashShort
-param = (enabled, disabled, all) , if empty default to all
+param1 = (enabled, disabled, all) , if empty default to all
+param2 = if defined will use "" as key for php-fpm
 
 this will return you a hash order by version 
 my %list= listPHPVersionHashShort();
@@ -128,11 +137,94 @@
 =cut
 sub listPHPVersionHashShort {
   my $status = shift  || 'all';
-  my %myfpm = listPHPVersionHash($status);
+  my $emptyforbase = shift;
+  my %myfpm = listPHPVersionHash($status,  $emptyforbase);
   my %rfpm;
   foreach my $key (keys %myfpm) {
     my $php = $myfpm{$key};
-    ($rfpm{$key}=  $php)=~s/(php[0-9]{0,2}).*/$1/;
+    ($rfpm{$key}=  $php)=~s/(^php[0-9]{0,2}).*/$1/;
   }
   return %rfpm;
 }
+
+=head2 PHPdefault
+ return the php default version for the system, i.e. default chosen by rpm or the one overrided by the admin in php PHPVersion property.
+ one optional argument is to display 54 as empty string (i.e. base php-fpm)
+
+=cut
+sub PHPdefault {
+  my $emptyforbase = shift;
+  my $conf = esmith::ConfigDB->open_ro or die "Could not open accounts db";
+  my $php = $conf->get('php') ;
+  my $PHPVersion = ( defined $php->prop('PHPVersion') ) ? $php->prop('PHPVersion') : $PHPDEFAULT;
+  $PHPVersion = ($PHPVersion eq "") ? $BASEPHP : $PHPVersion;
+  $PHPVersion = ($PHPVersion =~ /([0-9]{2})/) ? $1 : $PHPDEFAULT;
+  return $PHPVersion unless defined $emptyforbase;
+  $PHPVersion = ( $PHPVersion eq $BASEPHP ) ? "" : $PHPVersion; 
+  return $PHPVersion;
+}
+
+=head2 VersionToUse
+argument 1 : output from $account->get('ibayname') or similar (shares,custom)
+ it is expected to find in this entry a property PHPVersion
+artgument 2 : optional, a locally forced PHP version, if you do not want to trust globally prefered one. 
+
+output : a two digit php version : 74 for php 7.4 . 54 will be for php-fpm 5.4 as default php on CentOS 7 /SME 9
+
+ my $ibay=$account->get('ibayname');
+ my $version = VersionToUse($ibay,'80');
+
+logic:
+# if not defined => $PHPDEFAULT
+# if defined and empty strin => $BASEPHP
+# if defined and not empty  => its value
+
+# defined entry (e.g. ibay)  PHPVersion property  override 
+  - defined forced PHPVersion provided (2nd argument, if provided) which override
+  - php PHPVersion property which override
+  - default $PHPDEFAULT
+
+=cut
+sub VersionToUse {
+  my $entry = shift or return "need a db entry";
+  my $conf = esmith::ConfigDB->open_ro or die "Could not open accounts db";
+ 
+  my $PHPVersion = PHPdefault();
+
+  my $forcedefault = shift ;
+  $forcedefault = ( defined $forcedefault ) ? $forcedefault : $PHPVersion; 
+  $forcedefault = ($forcedefault eq "") ? $BASEPHP : $forcedefault;
+  $forcedefault = ($forcedefault =~ /([0-9]{2})/) ? $1 : $PHPVersion;
+
+  my $entryPHPVersion = (defined $entry->prop('PHPVersion') ) ? $entry->prop('PHPVersion') : $forcedefault;
+  $entryPHPVersion = ($entryPHPVersion eq "") ? $BASEPHP : $entryPHPVersion;
+  $entryPHPVersion = ($entryPHPVersion =~ /([0-9]{2})/) ? $1 : $forcedefault;
+
+  # we currently assume that it is installed and enabled, but could test it here
+  
+  my $version= $entryPHPVersion ;
+  #$version = " $PHPDEFAULT - $PHPVersion - $forcedefault - $entryPHPVersion";
+
+ return $version;
+}
+
+=head2 PhpFpmVersionToUse
+same as VersionToUse except it will return null string in place of $BASEPHP  (i.e.  "" in place of 54)
+
+argument 1 : output from $account->get('ibayname') or similar (shares,custom)
+ it is expected to find in this entry a property PHPVersion
+artgument 2 : optional, a locally forced PHP version, if you do not want to trust globally prefered one. 
+
+output : a two digit php version : 74 for php 7.4  or empty string, as '' will take place of 54 for php-fpm 5.4 as default php on CentOS 7 /SME 9
+
+=cut 
+sub PhpFpmVersionToUse {
+  #my $entry = shift or return "need a db entry";
+  #my $forcedefault = shift ;
+  my $version ;
+  $version = VersionToUse(@_) ;#$entry,$forcedefault);# if defined $forcedefault;
+  #$version = VersionToUse($entry) unless defined $forcedefault;
+  # here we convert $BASEPHP to empty string
+  $version = ( $version eq $BASEPHP ) ? "" : $version;
+  return $version;
+}