flarum/framework · error · RangeException

SQLite version ($version) too low. You need at least SQLite…

Error message

SQLite version ($version) too low. You need at least SQLite . DatabaseRequirements::SQLITE_MINIMUM

What it means

The SQLite install step reads SELECT sqlite_version() and throws a RangeException when the runtime SQLite library version is below DatabaseRequirements::SQLITE_MINIMUM. PHP bundles or links against a system SQLite library, so the check reflects libsqlite3, not the PHP version. The literal error text shows the constant concatenated after the message, and the detected version is interpolated first.

Solutions

Upgrade PHP to a recent version (bundled SQLite is modern) or link PHP against a newer libsqlite3
Recompile PHP's pdo_sqlite/sqlite3 extensions against an up-to-date libsqlite3-dev
Switch the install to MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL instead of SQLite
Verify the effective version with `php -r "echo (new PDO('sqlite::memory:'))->query('SELECT sqlite_version()')->fetchColumn();"`

Example fix

// before
Dockerfile: FROM php:7.3-cli-alpine // old bundled sqlite
// after
Dockerfile: FROM php:8.3-cli-alpine

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

$v = (new PDO('sqlite::memory:'))->query('SELECT sqlite_version()')->fetchColumn();
if (version_compare($v, '3.24', '<')) { /* abort / use another driver */ }

Try / catch

try { $step->run($dbConfig); } catch (RangeException $e) { echo $e->getMessage(); exit(1); }

Prevention

Use recent official PHP images which bundle modern libsqlite
Check pdo_sqlite lib version in deployment docs/CI
Avoid SQLite on legacy shared hosting; use a server DB

When it happens

Trigger: Running the installer with driver `sqlite` when the SQLite library compiled into PHP (phpinfo pdo_sqlite) is older than SQLITE_MINIMUM — e.g. ancient bundled libsqlite in old PHP builds.

Common situations: Static PHP binaries or minimal Docker images shipping old libsqlite3; legacy shared hosting with an outdated PHP/SQLite stack; compiling PHP with a very old system sqlite3.

Understand the failure class

Background: "value must be between 0 and 1" / "out of range" / "must not be negative" errors: fixing range-validation failures across open-source libraries — this error's family across 42 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of flarum/framework@4b939f6853 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a2bc9371ddd11361. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at framework/core/src/Install/Steps/ConnectToDatabase.php:138

                $config['database'],
                $config['prefix'],
                $config
            )
        );
    }

    private function sqlite(array $config): void
    {
        if (! file_exists($config['database'])) {
            $config['database'] = $this->basePath.'/'.$config['database'];
        }

        $pdo = (new SQLiteConnector())->connect($config);

        $version = $pdo->query('SELECT sqlite_version()')->fetchColumn();

        if (version_compare($version, DatabaseRequirements::SQLITE_MINIMUM, '<')) {
            throw new RangeException("SQLite version ($version) too low. You need at least SQLite ".DatabaseRequirements::SQLITE_MINIMUM);
        }

        ($this->store)(
            new SQLiteConnection(
                $pdo,
                $config['database'],
                $config['prefix'],
                $config
            )
        );
    }
}

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