LEMP
The LEMP Stack refers to a group of softwares which together can run dynamic websites. It is an acronym for Linux, (E)Nginx, MySQL (or MariaDB) and PHP.
In this tutorial we will learn how to setup a LEMP Stack on Ubuntu 16.04.
Requirements
An Ubuntu Server 16.04 with an sudoer account. Note: The default user – ubuntu – on AWS EC2 or Lightsail already comes with sudo access so you can follow this tutorial directly by using the ubuntu account. To setup a DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode or local server, follow Basic Setup of Ubuntu Server 16.04.
Installing Nginx (web server)
Nginx is a web server which can also be used as a reverse proxy, load balancer and HTTP cache. In this tutorial we will use it as a web server to serve static pages and a reverse proxy to PHP-FPM for dynamic content.
Update the system and install Nginx.
sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginxThis will install and run Nginx. If you have installed and enabled ufw then enable the Nginx profile so that Nginx can be reached on port 80.
sudo ufw allow 'Nginx HTTP'If your server is on AWS then edit your security group settings and add a rule to allow incoming connections on port 80.
On your browser, navigate to your IP address or domain.
http://your_domain_or_server_ip You should see the default Nginx landing page.
Your Nginx installation was successful.
Install MariaDB to Manage Data
MariaDB is a community-developed fork of the MySQL relational database management system intended to remain free under the GNU GPL.
Since MariaDB is under heavy development, it’s advisable to install it from its own repositories instead of Ubuntu repositories. To add MariaDB repositories, choose your distribution (Ubuntu), release (16.04), version (10.2) and nearest mirror from:
https://downloads.mariadb.org/mariadb/repositories/Once you select your nearest mirror, you will be presented with the code to add repositories. Copy the code from there and add MariaDB repositories. The code is similar to the following.
sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 0xF1656F24C74CD1D8
sudo add-apt-repository 'deb [arch=amd64,i386,ppc64el] http://ossm.utm.my/mariadb/repo/10.2/ubuntu xenial main'Once the key is imported and the repository added you can install MariaDB with:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install mariadb-serverEnter a secure password and press “enter” for the root when asked.
MariaDB is installed and running now. Check its status by typing:
sudo systemctl status mysql
� mariadb.service - MariaDB 10.2.12 database server
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/mariadb.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Drop-In: /etc/systemd/system/mariadb.service.d
��migrated-from-my.cnf-settings.conf
Active: active (running) since Fri 2018-02-09 17:01:56 UTC; 1h 15min ago
Docs: man:mysqld(8)
https://mariadb.com/kb/en/library/systemd/
Main PID: 22311 (mysqld)
Status: "Taking your SQL requests now..."
CGroup: /system.slice/mariadb.service
��22311 /usr/sbin/mysqldIf it’s not enabled or not running then enable it and start it by:
sudo systemctl enable mysql
sudo systemctl start mysqlSecure the installation by removing test databases etc. by running:
sudo mysql_secure_installationEnter the password which you enter during installation and answer the questions that follow.
- When asked about changing the password, answer “N” (no) .
- Remove the anonymous user account by answering “Y”.
- Disallow remote root login by answering “Y”.
- Remove the test database by answering “Y”.
- Reload privilege tables by answering “Y”.
MariaDB is now installed and ready to use. Login to MariaDB to test it.
mysql -u root -pEnter the root password when prompted. You should be able to login successfully. Now logout by typing “Ctrl-d”.
Install PHP for Server Side Scripting
Unlike Apache, Nginx does not run PHP natively so we install “php-fpm”. Install it by using:
sudo apt install php-fpm php-mysqlConfigure PHP
By default, PHP enables a highly dangerous setting. This setting instructs PHP to run the nearest matching script if the exact script is not found. We need to disable this setting. Open the configuration file for PHP.
sudo nano /etc/php/7.0/fpm/php.iniSearch for the line containing cgi.fix_pathinfo. Uncomment the line by removing the “;” at the start of the line and change it’s vaue to “0”.
cgi.fix_pathinfo=0Reload php-fpm for the new configuration to take effect.
sudo systemctl reload php7.0-fpm.serviceConfigure Nginx to use Handle PHP
Open the configuration for the default site.
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/defaultLook for the line starting with index inside the server block and add index.php to the list.
index index.php index.html index.htm index.nginx-debian.html;Uncomment the location block for PHP and .hhtacces to look like this.
# pass the PHP scripts to FastCGI server listening on 127.0.0.1:9000
location ~ \.php$ {
include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
# # With php7.0-cgi alone:
# fastcgi_pass 127.0.0.1:9000;
# With php7.0-fpm:
fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php7.0-fpm.sock;
}
# deny access to .htaccess files, if Apache's document root
# concurs with nginx's one
location ~ /\.ht {
deny all;
}Check for configuration errors by:
sudo nginx -tCorrect any errors if reported else load the new configurations by:
sudo systemctl reload nginx.serviceTest the Configuration
Create a small file to test whether the site is running properly.
sudo nano /var/www/html/info.phpPate the following content into the file:
<?php
phpinfo();Save the file and navigate to the file on a browser.
http://your_domain_or_server_ip/info.phpYou should see a page similar to the following.
If you see a page similar to the above then you have successfully setup your server.
After testing, remove the file so that unauthorized people do not get any hint on the server configuration.
sudo rm /var/www/html/info.php