Downgrade PHP Version from 5.5 to 5.4 on Ubuntu 14.04

First one have to install the PPA containing PHP54:

sudo apt-get install python-software-properties
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php5-oldstable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y php5

Then install Apache+fcgid+php5.4:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get remove --purge `dpkg -l | grep php | grep -w 5.5 | awk '{print $2}' | xargs`
sudo apt-get purge apache2 php5 libapache2-mod-php5
sudo sed -i.bak "s/trusty/precise/g" /etc/apt/sources.list
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install apache2 apache2-suexec libapache2-mod-fcgid php5-cgi
sudo apt-get install php5-mysql php5-curl php5-gd php5-intl php-pear php5-imagick php5-imap php5-mcrypt php5-memcache php5-ming php5-ps php5-pspell php5-recode php5-sqlite php5-tidy php5-xmlrpc php5-xsl php5-xdebug
sudo sed -i "s/precise/trusty/g" /etc/apt/sources.list
dpkg --get-selections | egrep '^(apache|php)' | sed 's/install/hold/g' | sudo dpkg --set-selections
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install  mysql-client mysql-server phpmyadmin

Note that the "switch" between trusty and precise was needed because PPA Ondrej does not have packages for trusty

Finally, continue setting up the environment as here: http://www.howtoforge.com/how-to-set-up-apache2-with-mod_fcgid-and-php5-on-ubuntu-12.04

On-the-fly Symfony form for searches

Version 1: Typeless form

Inside the controller:

$q = $request->query->get('q');

$data = array('q' => $q); 

$searchForm = $this->get('form.factory')

    ->createNamedBuilder('', 'form', $data, array(

        'csrf_protection' => false,

        'method' => 'GET',

    ))

    ->add('q', 'text', array(

        'required' => false,

    ))

    ->getForm();

if($q) {

    $data = $searchForm->handleRequest($request)->getData();

    $qb

        ->andWhere($qb->expr()->like('name',  ':q'))

        ->setParameter('q', $data['q']);

} 

return $this->render('@Bundle:Entity:index.html.twig', array(

            'searchForm'    => $searchForm->createView()

        ));

Version 2:  using FormType

Inside controller:

$filterForm = $this->createForm(new SomeFilterType(), null, array(

    'method' => 'GET',

));

$filterForm->handleRequest($request);

if ($filterForm->isValid()) {

    $name = $filterForm->get('name')->getNormData();

// …

}

Failed to download zendframework/zend-stdlib from dist

Problem

# php composer.phar install

Loading composer repositories with package information

Installing dependencies (including require-dev) from lock file

  - Removing zendframework/zend-stdlib (2.5.1)

  - Installing zendframework/zend-stdlib (2.2.3)

    Downloading: Connecting...    Failed to download zendframework/zend-stdlib from dist: The "https://api.github.com/repos/zendframework/Component_ZendStdlib/zipball/7c87ce4e840957596bf3401fa4ae4fb0355682e2" file could not be downloaded (HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found)

    Now trying to download from source

  - Installing zendframework/zend-stdlib (2.2.3)

    Cloning 7c87ce4e840957596bf3401fa4ae4fb0355682e2

                                                                                                                   

  [RuntimeException]                                                                                               

  Failed to clone git@github.com:zendframework/Component_ZendStdlib.git via git, https, ssh protocols, aborting.   

  - git://github.com/zendframework/Component_ZendStdlib.git                                                        

    error: The requested URL returned error: 403 Forbidden while accessing https://github.com/zendframework/Compo  

  nent_ZendStdlib.git/info/refs  

Steps to solve:

1.  Verify the connection to github

# ssh -T git@github.com  Permission denied (publickey).

2. Verify that ssh agent is running

# eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"  

Agent pid 100 

3. Verify that the key is loaded into the ssh agent

# ssh-add -l

The agent has no identities.

# ssh-add   

Identity added: /home/{user}/.ssh/id_rsa (/home/{user}/.ssh/id_rsa) 

4. Set-up github's credentials for local computer

# git config --global user.name "{githubuser}"

then copy the local key from  /home/{user}/.ssh/id_rssa.pub into {githubuser}'s account (Settings->SSH keys->Add SSH key)

then verify it:

# ssh -T git@github.com

Hi {githubuser}! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

5. Run composer update for the specific version you want

# php composer.phar require zendframework/zend-stdlib 2.2.3