Today we're announcing the release of Microsoft Drivers 5.13.0 for PHP for SQL Server, the first GA release of the sqlsrv and pdo_sqlsrv extensions in over two years.
We're not going to bury the lede: the last GA release (5.12.0) shipped on January 31, 2024. That means 25 months passed between stable releases. During that stretch the repo went effectively silent, a series of build-script updates in September 2024, and then nothing of substance until January 2026 when we began modernizing the CI pipeline and preparing this release. For a project whose history stretches back to 2008 and that PHP developers depend on in production every day, that's too long. We heard the issue reports and the frustration, and we understand. Now that we are caught up, we plan to stay here.
What's New in 5.13.0
This release is a significant catch-up. Here's what it brings:
Platform Support — Modernized
Added: - PHP 8.4 and PHP 8.5 support - Windows Server 2025 - Ubuntu 24.04 - Debian 12 and 13 - Red Hat 9 and 10 - Alpine 3.20, 3.21, 3.22, and 3.23 - macOS 15 and 26
Removed (end-of-life platforms): - PHP 8.1 and 8.2 - Windows 10, Server 2012, Server 2012 R2 - Ubuntu 20.04, Debian 10, Red Hat 7, SUSE Linux 12 - Alpine 3.16–3.19 - macOS 11, 12, and 13
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a segfault when connecting to Microsoft Fabric — a critical connectivity issue resolved in the PDO driver's error reporting path (PR #1549)
- Fixed critical memory safety bugs in encoding conversion — resolved a NULL pointer dereference and an uninitialized pointer return in the localization layer (PR #1555)
- Enhanced error reporting in the PDO driver when ODBC diagnostic retrieval fails (PR #1549)
Build & Security Improvements
- Refactored build scripts to prevent command injection and race conditions (PR #1551, PR #1552)
- Resolved SDL compiler warnings (C4146, C4389, L3/L4 warnings) for stricter compliance (PR #1575, PR #1576, PR #1577)
- Modernized CI pipeline to PHP 8.4, ODBC 18, and SQL Server 2022 (PR #1549)
- Added PHP 8.5 compilation support and test compatibility (PR #1543, PR #1569)
- Removed lingering error reference from CI failure block (PR #1568)
- Updated Docker base image to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (PR #1542)
Our Commitment Going Forward
We're making a deliberate commitment to keep this project healthy and current:
- Regular release cadence. We will not let two years pass between GA releases again. Expect releases that track PHP's own annual release cycle, so you're never stuck waiting for support of the PHP version you need.
- Active issue triage. We're working through the backlog of open issues and will be more responsive to community reports going forward.
- CI that stays green. The modernized pipeline now tests against PHP 8.4 and 8.5, ODBC Driver 18, and SQL Server 2022 on both Linux and Windows. We intend to keep it that way.
- Community contributions welcome. This release already includes contributions from community members alongside the core team. We want to make contributing easier and more rewarding. PRs, bug reports, and feedback are all valued.
How to Get It
The 5.13.0 drivers are available now:
- PECL: pecl install sqlsrv / pecl install pdo_sqlsrv
- Windows binaries: Download from the Releases page
- Source: Build from the v5.13.0 tag. See buildscripts/README.md
Requirements
- PHP 8.3, 8.4, or 8.5
- Microsoft ODBC Driver 17 or 18 for SQL Server
- SQL Server 2016+, Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, or SQL database in Microsoft Fabric.
Thank You
To the PHP developers who kept filing issues, asking questions, and patiently waiting — thank you. You kept this project accountable. The 25-month gap was a failure on our part, and the best apology is changed behavior. We're here, we're shipping, and we're planning to keep it that way.
Please report any issues on GitHub and let us know how 5.13.0 works for you.
The Microsoft Drivers for PHP for SQL Server team
Microsoft