$re = '/(a\d+|A\d+|scl[^:]+):([^\']+)(\'|_)/';
$str = 'text curl -u scl_test_mon:ypB7HuW9u5yB\'_\'https://mycompany.com/api/healthcheck\'?_2>&1
text curl -u a12345:ypB7HuW9u5yB\'_\'https://mycompany.com/api/healthcheck\'?_2>&1';
$subst = "\1:xxxxx\3";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php