At Seiden Group, we listen to client requests that keep their IBM i applications secure, modern, and practical.
Recently, a customer asked us to port the GnuPG (GNUPG) PHP extension to IBM i. This extension is now available to Seiden Support subscribers.
Each year brings a new PHP release. We’re prepared Seiden PHP+ so that IBM i users can adopt PHP 8.5 shortly after it becomes generally available (GA) around November 20, 2025. As I mentioned in Keep Your PHP Secure: Why Regular Updates Matter, PHP users should adopt a regular upgrade schedule to make upgrades easier.
Two updates stand out to me:
Cybersecurity best practices require regular security assessments, including for PHP.
PHP is actively maintained, with a new update released every month. Each release includes bug fixes, performance improvements, and, most important, security patches for newly discovered vulnerabilities. Staying on an old version for too long leaves your applications exposed to risks that the PHP community has already fixed.
We’ve been receiving about one request per week to help clients troubleshoot or fix SMTP email issues on IBM i systems—especially when sending to Microsoft (Office 365) and Gmail accounts.
These problems can affect a wide range of systems, including:
Seiden Group is pleased to announce that we now provide production support for the open source Mapepire database connector for IBM i. This includes support for Node.js applications and cloud-based or containerized workloads that connect to Db2 for i—whether from IBM i itself or from external systems.
Many developers already rely on Mapepire every day—sometimes without realizing it—because it’s the back-end to the Db2 for i extension for VS Code. We’re excited to help clients adopt this lightweight, high-performance connector.
Using a job queue or scheduler to run PHP scripts helps ensure that PHP-based processes are run successfully and on time.
To make it easy for Seiden PHP+ users to schedule jobs, we provide job scheduler or queue functionality and support with our Seiden PHP+ SmartSupport.
Benefits include the ability to:
I’m pleased to share that over the past year, we’ve rebranded our PHP distribution as Seiden PHP+.
When we first created CommunityPlus+ PHP, it was meant to fill a gap—providing a stable, supported PHP environment for IBM i after Zend Server Basic was discontinued. The new name, Seiden PHP+, better reflects our team’s role in offering and supporting this full-featured, enterprise-grade PHP stack that businesses rely on for speed, stability, and security.
For those who want hands-on help, our Install & Learn service is a great way to get started, and our SmartSupport program keeps your system secure and running smoothly. Whether you’re using PHP for new APIs or modernizing legacy web apps, Seiden PHP+ is designed to support you.
Thanks to all our clients and partners who’ve helped us improve this platform. We’re proud to continue developing tools and services that move IBM i forward.
Contact us to schedule a complimentary PHP upgrade assessment. I’d love to hear what you’re building.
A few years ago I introduced you to my QShell on i utility – QSHONI. QSHONI makes it easy for traditional CL, RPG, and COBOL programs to call Python utilities and other QShell/PASE utility programs (PHP, Node, Java, etc.) and directly use their output. QSHONI opened up a whole new world of integrations to open-source apps from traditional IBM i applications.
I keep thinking I will run out of interesting things to add to the library, but the ideas keep on flowing.
PHP 8.4 represents another step in PHP’s evolution, once again improving performance and adding features to help developers write more concise, high quality code.
PHP 8.4 is now available for IBM i from Seiden Group.
On August 12, 2024, we pushed a major update to Seiden PHP+, in versions from 7.3 to 8.3, to accommodate IBM updates to OpenSSL. If you receive warnings in your PHP error log resembling: Module "PDO" is already loaded in Unknown on line 0, follow the steps in this article.