Downgrading PHP 5.4 to 5.3
In Ubuntu downgrading process is a really mess.
Here is the script which you could find it useful (it removes PHP 5.4 and install PHP 5.3):
sudo apt-get remove --purge `dpkg -l | grep php | grep -w 5.4 | awk '{print $2}' | xargs`
sudo apt-get install php5=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 php5-cli=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 php5-common=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 libapache2-mod-php5=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4
sudo apt-get install php5=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 php5-cli=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 php5-common=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 libapache2-mod-php5=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4
sudo apt-get install php-pear=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 php5-curl=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 php5-gd=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 php5-intl=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 php5-mysql=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 php5-pspell=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 php5-recode=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 php5-snmp=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 php5-sqlite=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 php5-tidy=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 php5-xmlrpc=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4 php5-xsl=5.3.10-1ubuntu3.4
Where the available versions you can check by command: apt-cache showpkg php5
After the installation, verify it by command: php --version
Please be careful and don't install any other packages without package version specified (like php5-xcache), otherwise apt-get will replace your PHP instance with 5.4 again!
To prevent this happening, you can hold these packages.
Holding packages using dpkg
To hold packages by dpkg, you can execute the following command:
echo "php5 hold" | sudo dpkg --set-selections
To hold all PHP packages, run the following command:
dpkg --get-selections | grep ^php5 | sed s/install/hold/g | sudo dpkg --set-selections
The following command will show you holding status of your php packages:
sudo dpkg --get-selections | grep ^php
Holding packages using aptitude
You can also hold packages using aptitude e.g.:
sudo aptitude hold php5
Unhold:
sudo aptitude unhold php5
Best Answer
I think best solution for now (and future too) is Vagrant. Vagrant can make lightweight, reproducible, and portable development environments. All what you need is in Ubuntu software center. So installation is very easy.
In next step you need vagrant boxies with your dev environments. Go to https://puphpet.com/ and configure box what you need (ex. PHP 5.3) and download. Vagrant box run with this command