LAMP Web Server Setup

Installing Apache, PHP 8.4, and MySQL 8 on Ubuntu Server

This guide provides a step-by-step walkthrough of installing Apache, PHP 8.4, and MySQL 8 on a new Ubuntu server. We will cover configuration, setup, and testing of each component.

Prerequisites#

• A new Ubuntu server with a user account and sudo privileges
• Basic knowledge of bash and Linux commands

Step 1: Update and Upgrade Ubuntu#

Before installing any software, update and upgrade your Ubuntu server:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 2: Install Apache#

Install Apache using the following command:

sudo apt install apache2 -y

Once installed, start Apache and enable it to start automatically on boot:

sudo systemctl start apache2
sudo systemctl enable apache2

Step 3: Install PHP 8.4#

Install PHP 8.4 and required extensions:

sudo apt install php8.4 libapache2-mod-php8.4 php8.4-mysql php8.4-curl php8.4-gd php8.4-mbstring -y

Configure PHP to use the Apache module:

sudo a2enmod php8.4

Restart Apache to apply changes:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 4: Configure PHP#

Edit the PHP configuration file to set memory limits and other settings:

sudo nano /etc/php/8.4/apache2/php.ini

Update the following settings:

memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 100M
post_max_size = 100M
max_execution_time = 300

Save and close the file. Restart Apache to apply changes:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 5: Install MySQL 8#

Install MySQL 8:

sudo apt install mysql-server -y

Secure the MySQL installation by running the following command:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Follow the prompts to set a root password, remove anonymous users, and restrict root access.

Step 6: Configure MySQL#

Log in to MySQL as the root user:

sudo mysql -u root -p

Enter the root password you set earlier. Create a new admin user for daily administrative use:

CREATE USER 'admin'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY'strong_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'admin'@'%';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Replace strong_password with a secure password.

Step 7: Configure Apache Virtual Hosts#

Create a new virtual host file:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/example.com.conf

Add the following configuration:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName example.com
    ServerAlias www.example.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/example.com

    <Directory /var/www/example.com>
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/example.com-error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/example.com-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Replace example.com with your domain name. Save and close the file.

Enable the new virtual host and restart Apache:

sudo a2ensite example.com.conf
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 8: Configure mod_rewrite#

Enable mod_rewrite:

sudo a2enmod rewrite

Restart Apache to apply changes:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Create a new file in the /var/www/example.com directory:

sudo nano /var/www/example.com/.htaccess

Add the following configuration:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^index\.html$ index.php [L]

Save and close the file.

Step 9: Test Apache Configuration#

Test the Apache configuration before reloading:

sudo apache2ctl configtest

If there are no errors, reload Apache:

sudo systemctl reload apache2

Step 10: Create a Test PHP File#

Create a new PHP file in the /var/www/example.com directory:

sudo nano /var/www/example.com/index.php

Add the following code:

<?php
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "admin";
$password = "strong_password";
$dbname = "example";

// Create connection
$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

// Check connection
if(!$conn){
	echo "failed to connect to database \n";
}else{
	echo "successfully connected to database \n";
}

Now you should be able to use a web browser to access http://example.com/index.php and see whether PHP can execute code to connect to your MySQL database. But wait… because you don’t actually own example.com you’ll need to setup a hosts file entry to direct this domain to your local loopback IP address 127.0.0.1 . You can also execute the PHP from the command line via:

php /var/www/example.com/index.php

which assuming a connection can be made should print to the terminal successfully connected to database.