How To Install Php Server

Introduction

A "LAMP" stack is a group of open-source software that is typically installed together to enable a server to host dynamic websites and spider web apps. This term is actually an acronym which represents the Linux operating arrangement, with the Apache web server. The site information is stored in a MySQL database, and dynamic content is processed by PHP.

In this guide, we'll install a LAMP stack on an Ubuntu eighteen.04 server.

Prerequisites

In lodge to complete this tutorial, you'll need to have an Ubuntu 18.04 server with a non-root sudo-enabled user account and a basic firewall configured. To set this up, you lot tin follow our initial server setup guide for Ubuntu 18.04.

Stride 1 — Installing Apache and Updating the Firewall

The Apache web server is a popular open up source spider web server that tin can be used along with PHP to host dynamic websites. Information technology'southward well-documented and has been in wide employ for much of the history of the spider web.

First, make certain your apt enshroud is updated with:

                      
              
                sudo                apt                update              
            
                  

If this is your first time using sudo in this session, you'll be prompted to provide your regular user's password to validate your permissions.

Once the cache has been updated, you can install Apache with:

                      
              
                sudo                apt                install                apache2              
            
                  

After entering this command, apt volition tell you which packages it plans to install and how much actress deejay space they'll take upwardly. Press Y and hit ENTER to confirm, and the installation will proceed.

Adjust the Firewall to Let Web Traffic

Next, bold that you have followed the initial server setup instructions and enabled the UFW firewall, make sure that your firewall allows HTTP and HTTPS traffic. You can check that UFW has an application profile for Apache like so:

                      
              
                sudo                ufw app list              
            
                  

                      
Output
Available applications:            Apache            Apache Total            Apache Secure            OpenSSH                  

If you lot look at the Apache Full profile details, y'all'll come across that it enables traffic to ports fourscore and 443:

                      
              
                sudo                ufw app info                "Apache Full"              
            
                  

                      
Output
Contour: Apache Full Title: Web Server (HTTP,HTTPS) Description: Apache v2 is the adjacent generation of the omnipresent Apache web server.  Ports:            eighty,443/tcp                  

To let incoming HTTP and HTTPS traffic for this server, run:

                      
              
                sudo                ufw allow                "Apache Full"              
            
                  

You lot tin can practice a spot cheque right away to verify that everything went as planned by visiting your server's public IP address in your spider web browser (run into the note under the next heading to find out what your public IP address is if you practise non have this information already):

          http://your_server_ip                  

You will run into the default Ubuntu 18.04 Apache web page, which is there for informational and testing purposes. Information technology should wait something like this:

If you see this page, so your spider web server is now correctly installed and accessible through your firewall.

How To Discover your Server'southward Public IP Address

If you do non know what your server's public IP address is, there are a number of ways you can find it. Usually, this is the address you use to connect to your server through SSH.

There are a few unlike ways to do this from the command line. First, you could use the iproute2 tools to get your IP address past typing this:

                      
              
                ip                addr testify eth0                |                grep                inet                |                awk                '{ print $2; }'                |                sed                's/\/.*$//'              
            
                  

This will requite you lot 2 or 3 lines dorsum. They are all right addresses, simply your reckoner may merely be able to use ane of them, so feel gratuitous to endeavor each one.

An culling method is to employ the curl utility to contact an outside political party to tell you lot how it sees your server. This is done by asking a specific server what your IP address is:

                      
              
                sudo                apt                install                curl              
              
                coil                http://icanhazip.com              
            
                  

Regardless of the method you use to get your IP address, blazon information technology into your web browser's accost bar to view the default Apache folio.

Step 2 — Installing MySQL

At present that you have your spider web server upwardly and running, it is time to install MySQL. MySQL is a database management system. Basically, it will organize and provide access to databases where your site can store information.

Over again, use apt to larn and install this software:

                      
              
                sudo                apt                install                mysql-server              
            
                  

Annotation: In this example, y'all practise not have to run sudo apt update prior to the command. This is because you recently ran it in the commands above to install Apache. The packet index on your computer should already exist up-to-engagement.

This command, too, will prove y'all a list of the packages that volition be installed, along with the amount of deejay space they'll accept up. Enter Y to continue.

When the installation is complete, run a simple security script that comes pre-installed with MySQL which will remove some dangerous defaults and lock down access to your database system. Start the interactive script by running:

                      
              
                sudo                mysql_secure_installation              
            
                  

This will inquire if you lot want to configure the VALIDATE Password PLUGIN.

Notation: Enabling this feature is something of a judgment telephone call. If enabled, passwords which don't match the specified criteria will be rejected by MySQL with an mistake. This will crusade issues if you use a weak countersign in conjunction with software which automatically configures MySQL user credentials, such every bit the Ubuntu packages for phpMyAdmin. Information technology is safe to get out validation disabled, but you should ever use strong, unique passwords for database credentials.

Answer Y for aye, or annihilation else to continue without enabling.

          VALIDATE PASSWORD PLUGIN can be used to test passwords and improve security. It checks the strength of password and allows the users to gear up simply those passwords which are secure enough. Would you like to setup VALIDATE PASSWORD plugin?  Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No:                  

If you respond "yes", you'll be asked to select a level of password validation. Keep in listen that if y'all enter 2 for the strongest level, y'all will receive errors when attempting to set any password which does non contain numbers, upper and lowercase letters, and special characters, or which is based on common lexicon words.

          There are 3 levels of password validation policy:  Low    Length >= 8 MEDIUM Length >= viii, numeric, mixed case, and special characters Stiff Length >= 8, numeric, mixed case, special characters and dictionary                  file  Please enter 0 = Depression, one = MEDIUM and 2 = STRONG:            1                  

Regardless of whether you chose to ready up the VALIDATE PASSWORD PLUGIN, your server will next ask you lot to select and ostend a password for the MySQL root user. This is not to be confused with the organization root. The database root user is an authoritative user with full privileges over the database organization. Fifty-fifty though the default authentication method for the MySQL root user dispenses the employ of a password, even when one is set, y'all should define a strong password here as an additional prophylactic measure out. We'll talk near this in a moment.

If you've enabled password validation, you'll be shown the password strength for the root countersign you only entered and your server will ask if y'all want to change that countersign. If yous are happy with your electric current countersign, enter N for "no" at the prompt:

          Using existing password for root.  Estimated strength of the password:            100            Modify the password for root ? ((Press y|Y for Yes, any other cardinal for No) :            n                  

For the rest of the questions, press Y and hit the ENTER key at each prompt. This volition remove some anonymous users and the test database, disable remote root logins, and load these new rules so that MySQL immediately respects the changes you have fabricated.

When you're finished, test if you lot're able to log in to the MySQL console past typing:

                      
              
                sudo                mysql              
            
                  

This will connect to the MySQL server as the administrative database user root, which is inferred by the utilise of sudo when running this command. You should see output like this:

                      
Output
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands stop with ; or \g. Your MySQL connectedness id is 5 Server version: five.7.34-0ubuntu0.eighteen.04.one (Ubuntu)  Copyright (c) 2000, 2022, Oracle and/or its affiliates.  Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.  Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.  mysql>                  

To exit the MySQL console, type:

                      
              
                exit              
            
                  

Detect that you didn't need to provide a password to connect equally the root user, even though you have defined 1 when running the mysql_secure_installation script. That is because the default authentication method for the authoritative MySQL user is unix_socket instead of password. Even though this might look like a security business organization at first, it makes the database server more secure because the simply users allowed to log in as the root MySQL user are the system users with sudo privileges connecting from the console or through an application running with the aforementioned privileges. In practical terms, that means you won't exist able to use the authoritative database root user to connect from your PHP application. Setting a password for the root MySQL account works every bit a safeguard, in case the default hallmark method is inverse from unix_socket to countersign.

For increased security, it'south best to have dedicated user accounts with less expansive privileges gear up for every database, especially if you programme on having multiple databases hosted on your server. Please refer to our guide on How To Create a New User and Grant Permissions on MySQL for detailed instructions on how to create MySQL users and configure database admission rights.

Your MySQL server is now installed and secured. Next, we'll install PHP, the last component in the LAMP stack.

Step 3 — Installing PHP

PHP is the component of your setup that volition process code to brandish dynamic content. It can run scripts, connect to your MySQL databases to become information, and mitt the processed content over to your web server and then that information technology can display the results to your visitors.

Once again, leverage the apt system to install PHP. In addition to the php package, you lot'll also need libapache2-mod-php to integrate PHP into Apache, and the php-mysql parcel to let PHP to connect to MySQL databases. Run the following command to install all iii packages and their dependencies:

                      
              
                sudo                apt                install                php libapache2-modernistic-php php-mysql              
            
                  

This should install PHP without any bug. We'll test this in a moment.

Irresolute Apache'due south Directory Index (Optional)

In some cases, you'll want to modify the way that Apache serves files when a directory is requested. Currently, if a user requests a directory from the server, Apache will first look for a file called index.html. Nosotros want to tell the web server to prefer PHP files over others, to make Apache look for an alphabetize.php file first. If you don't do that, an index.html file placed in the document root of the application will always take precedence over an index.php file.

To make this change, open up the dir.conf configuration file in a text editor of your choice. Here, we'll apply nano:

                      
              
                sudo                nano                /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/dir.conf              
            
                  

It will look similar this:

/etc/apache2/mods-enabled/dir.conf

          <IfModule mod_dir.c>     DirectoryIndex alphabetize.html index.cgi index.pl            index.php            index.xhtml index.htm </IfModule>                  

Move the PHP index file (highlighted above) to the beginning position after the DirectoryIndex specification, like this:

/etc/apache2/mods-enabled/dir.conf

          <IfModule mod_dir.c>     DirectoryIndex            index.php            index.html index.cgi index.pl index.xhtml index.htm </IfModule>                  

When you are finished, salvage and close the file by pressing CTRL+X. Confirm the salvage by typing Y and and then hit ENTER to verify the file salvage location.

Afterwards this, restart the Apache web server in order for your changes to exist recognized. You tin can do that with the following control:

                      
              
                sudo                systemctl restart apache2              
            
                  

You can too bank check on the condition of the apache2 service using systemctl:

                      
              
                sudo                systemctl status apache2              
            
                  

                      
Sample Output
● apache2.service - The Apache HTTP Server    Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/apache2.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)   Drop-In: /lib/systemd/system/apache2.service.d            └─apache2-systemd.conf    Active: active (running) since Thu 2022-07-15 09:22:59 UTC; 1h 3min agone  Chief PID: 3719 (apache2)     Tasks: 55 (limit: 2361)    CGroup: /organization.slice/apache2.service            ├─3719 /usr/sbin/apache2 -yard showtime            ├─3721 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start            └─3722 /usr/sbin/apache2 -m start  Jul xv 09:22:59 ubuntu1804 systemd[i]: Starting The Apache HTTP Server... Jul xv 09:22:59 ubuntu1804 apachectl[3694]: AH00558: apache2: Could not reliably determine the server'south fully qualified domain name, using 127.0.1.i. Gear up the 'ServerName' di Jul xv 09:22:59 ubuntu1804 systemd[1]: Started The Apache HTTP Server.                  

Press Q to leave this status output.

Installing PHP Extensions (Optional)

To extend the functionality of PHP, you have the option to install some boosted modules. To encounter the available options for PHP modules and libraries, pipage the results of apt search into less, a pager which lets you ringlet through the output of other commands:

                      
              
                apt                search php-                |                less              
            
                  

Apply the arrow keys to curlicue up and down, and press Q to quit.

The results are all optional components that you tin can install. Information technology volition give you a short description for each:

          bandwidthd-pgsql/bionic 2.0.1+cvs20090917-10ubuntu1 amd64   Tracks usage of TCP/IP and builds html files with graphs  bluefish/bionic ii.2.ten-1 amd64   advanced Gtk+ text editor for web and software development  cacti/bionic 1.ane.38+ds1-1 all   web interface for graphing of monitoring systems  ganglia-webfrontend/bionic iii.6.i-three all   cluster monitoring toolkit - web front-stop  golang-github-unknwon-cae-dev/bionic 0.0~git20160715.0.c6aac99-4 all   PHP-like Compression and Archive Extensions in Go  haserl/bionic 0.9.35-2 amd64   CGI scripting program for embedded environments  kdevelop-php-docs/bionic 5.2.i-1ubuntu2 all   transitional package for kdevelop-php  kdevelop-php-docs-l10n/bionic v.2.i-1ubuntu2 all   transitional bundle for kdevelop-php-l10n … :                  

To learn more about what each module does, you could search the internet for more information almost them. Alternatively, wait at the long clarification of the package by typing:

                      
              
                apt                bear witness                package_name              
            
                  

There will be a lot of output, with ane field called Description which will have a longer explanation of the functionality that the module provides.

For example, to discover out what the php-cli module does, you could type this:

                      
              
                apt                evidence php-cli              
            
                  

Along with a large amount of other data, you'll find something that looks like this:

                      
Output
… Description: control-line interpreter for the PHP scripting language (default)  This packet provides the /usr/bin/php control interpreter, useful for  testing PHP scripts from a beat out or performing general shell scripting tasks.  .  PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used  open source full general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited  for web development and can be embedded into HTML.  .  This parcel is a dependency package, which depends on Ubuntu's default  PHP version (currently vii.2). …                  

If, later researching, you lot decide you lot would like to install a bundle, you can do so by using the apt install command similar you lot have been doing for the other software.

If you decided that php-cli is something that you need, you could type:

                      
              
                sudo                apt                install                php-cli              
            
                  

If you desire to install more 1 module, you can practice that by listing each one, separated by a space, post-obit the apt install command, similar this:

                      
              
                sudo                apt                install                package1                package2                                  ...              
            
                  

At this point, your LAMP stack is installed and configured. Earlier y'all do annihilation else, we recommend that you prepare an Apache virtual host where y'all tin can store your server's configuration details.

Step 4 — Setting Up a Virtual Host (Recommended)

When using the Apache web server, yous can use virtual hosts (similar to server blocks in Nginx) to encapsulate configuration details and host more than i domain from a single server. Nosotros will gear up a domain called your_domain, but yous should replace this with your own domain proper name. To learn more about setting up a domain name with DigitalOcean, come across our Introduction to DigitalOcean DNS.

Apache on Ubuntu 18.04 has one server block enabled by default that is configured to serve documents from the /var/www/html directory. While this works well for a single site, information technology can go unwieldy if you are hosting multiple sites. Instead of modifying /var/www/html, let's create a directory structure within /var/world wide web for your_domain site, leaving /var/www/html in identify as the default directory to be served if a customer asking doesn't match whatsoever other sites.

Create the directory for your_domain as follows:

                      
              
                sudo                mkdir                /var/world wide web/your_domain              
            
                  

Next, assign ownership of the directory with the $USER environment variable, which references the electric current logged user:

                      
              
                sudo                chown                -R                $USER                :                $USER                /var/world wide web/your_domain              
            
                  

The permissions of your spider web root directory should be correct if you lot oasis't modified its umask value, just you lot tin can make sure past typing:

                      
              
                sudo                chmod                -R                755                /var/www/your_domain              
            
                  

Side by side, create a sample index.html page using nano or your favorite editor:

                      
              
                nano                /var/www/your_domain/alphabetize.html              
            
                  

Inside, add the following sample HTML:

/var/www/your_domain/index.html

          <html>     <caput>         <title>Welcome to            Your_domain!</championship>     </head>     <trunk>         <h1>Success!  The            your_domain            server block is working!</h1>     </body> </html>                  

Relieve and close the file when you are finished.

In order for Apache to serve this content, it's necessary to create a virtual host file with the right directives. Instead of modifying the default configuration file located at /etc/apache2/sites-bachelor/000-default.conf direct, let'southward make a new one at /etc/apache2/sites-bachelor/your_domain.conf:

                      
              
                sudo                nano                /etc/apache2/sites-available/your_domain.conf              
            
                  

Paste in the following configuration cake, which is similar to the default, merely updated for our new directory and domain name:

/etc/apache2/sites-available/your_domain.conf

          <VirtualHost *:80>     ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost     ServerName            your_domain            ServerAlias            world wide web.your_domain            DocumentRoot /var/world wide web/your_domain            ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log     CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined </VirtualHost>                  

Observe that nosotros've updated the DocumentRoot to our new directory and ServerAdmin to an email that the your_domain site administrator can access. We've also added two directives: ServerName, which establishes the base domain that should friction match for this virtual host definition, and ServerAlias, which defines farther names that should match as if they were the base of operations name.

Salvage and close the file when you are finished.

Let'southward enable the file with the a2ensite tool:

                      
              
                sudo                a2ensite                your_domain.conf              
            
                  

Disable the default site defined in 000-default.conf:

                      
              
                sudo                a2dissite 000-default.conf              
            
                  

Side by side, let'due south test for configuration errors:

                      
              
                sudo                apache2ctl configtest              
            
                  

You lot should see the following output:

                      
Output
Syntax OK                  

Restart Apache to implement your changes:

                      
              
                sudo                systemctl restart apache2              
            
                  

Apache should at present be serving your domain proper name. Y'all can test this past navigating to http://your_domain , where you should run across something like this:

With that, your virtual host is fully gear up. Before making any more changes or deploying an application, though, information technology would be helpful to proactively test out your PHP configuration in example there are any issues that should be addressed.

Step 5 — Testing PHP Processing on your Spider web Server

In guild to test that your arrangement is properly configured for PHP, create a PHP script called info.php. In guild for Apache to observe this file and serve it correctly, it must be saved to your web root directory.

Create the file at the web root yous created in the previous pace by running:

                      
              
                sudo                nano                /var/www/your_domain/info.php              
            
                  

This will open a blank file. Add the following text, which is valid PHP code, inside the file:

/var/www/your_domain/info.php

          <?php phpinfo();                  

When y'all are finished, save and shut the file.

Now you can exam whether your web server is able to correctly display content generated by this PHP script. To try this out, visit this page in your web browser. You'll demand your server'south public IP accost or domain name again.

The address you volition desire to visit is:

          http://your_domain/info.php                  

The folio that you come to should expect something like this:

This folio provides some basic information about your server from the perspective of PHP. It is useful for debugging and to ensure that your settings are existence applied correctly.

If yous can see this page in your browser, then your PHP is working equally expected.

Y'all probably want to remove this file after this examination considering information technology could actually give information almost your server to unauthorized users. To do this, run the following control:

                      
              
                sudo                rm                /var/www/your_domain/info.php              
            
                  

You can ever recreate this page if y'all need to access the information once more afterward.

Decision

Now that you have a LAMP stack installed, yous have many choices for what to do adjacent. You've installed a platform that will allow you to install almost kinds of websites and web software on your server.

As an firsthand next pace, you should ensure that connections to your web server are secured, by serving them via HTTPS. Follow our guide on how to secure Apache with Let'southward Encrypt to secure your site with a free TLS/SSL certificate.

Another popular options are:

• Install Wordpress the most pop content management system on the internet.
• Fix PHPMyAdmin to aid manage your MySQL databases from a web browser.
• Learn how to use SFTP to transfer files to and from your server.

Source: https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-linux-apache-mysql-php-lamp-stack-ubuntu-18-04

Posted by: archuletainuitch.blogspot.com

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