# Installing Apache, MySQL, PHP (LAMP) Stack on Ubuntu 18.04 ## Prerequisites You should use a non-root user account with sudo privileges. ## 1. Install Apache Let’s begin by updating the package lists and installing Apache on Ubuntu 18.04. Below we have two commands separated by `&&`. The first command will update the package lists to ensure you get the latest version and dependencies for Apache . The second command will then download and install Apache. Press `y` and `ENTER` when asked to continue. ``` sudo apt update && sudo apt install apache2 ``` Installation may take a few minutes. Once installed, continue to Step 2 to configure the firewall. ## 2. Configure Firewall It is highly recommended that you configure a firewall for added security. We’ll start by adding a firewall rule for SSH because if you are configuring your server remotely, you don’t want to get locked out when enabling the firewall! If the rule already exists, the command will just skip it. ``` sudo ufw allow OpenSSH ``` If you get an error *“ERROR: could find a profile matching openSSH”*, this probably means you are not configuring the server remotely and can ignore it. Now we can add the firewall rules for Apache. ``` sudo ufw allow in "Apache Full" ``` Now enable the firewall if it isn’t already. ``` sudo ufw enable ``` Press `y` if you see a message *“Command may disrupt existing ssh connections”*. If the firewall was activated correctly, you should see *“Firewall is active and enabled on system startup*“. You can also check the current firewall status with: ``` sudo ufw status ``` ``` Status: active To Action From -- ------ ---- OpenSSH ALLOW Anywhere Apache Full ALLOW Anywhere OpenSSH (v6) ALLOW Anywhere (v6) Apache Full (v6) ALLOW Anywhere (v6) ``` Above we can see the firewall is active and has two rules per service. `v6` is short for IPv6. This is the new Internet Protocol, which was introduced to deal with the long-anticipated problem of IPv4 address exhaustion. ## 3. Test Apache To see if Apache installed correctly, we can check the current Apache service status. ``` sudo service apache2 status ``` If it is up and running, you should see a green active state. ``` ● 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 Sat 2018-03-31 08:44:04 CEST; 15min ago Main PID: 5727 (apache2) Tasks: 55 (limit: 4915) CGroup: /system.slice/apache2.service ├─5727 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start ├─5728 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start └─5729 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start Mar 31 08:44:04 ubuntu1804 systemd[1]: Starting The Apache HTTP Server... Mar 31 08:44:04 ubuntu1804 apachectl[5675]: AH00558: apache2: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 127.0.1.1. Mar 31 08:44:04 ubuntu1804 systemd[1]: Started The Apache HTTP Server. ``` If you get the above error about a fully qualified domain name, you can ignore it. You may need to press `q` to exit the server status. Now that the Apache service is up and running, you should be able to view the test Apache web page through your web browser. Enter the IP address of your server in the address bar and hit `ENTER`. If you don’t know your IP, you can find out with the following command. ``` sudo ifconfig | grep -Eo 'inet (addr:)?([0-9]*\.){3}[0-9]*' | grep -Eo '([0-9]*\.){3}[0-9]*' | grep -v '127.0.0.1' ``` ![](https://devanswers.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/apache2.png) You’re all set! You can find this Apache default welcome page in the folder `/var/www/html`. To edit this file: ``` sudo nano /var/www/html/index.html ``` Press `CTRL` + `X` to exit the nano text editor. Your Apache web server is ready to go! You can now add your own html files and images the the `/var/www/html` directory as you please. If you want to host multiple sites and domains on Apache, please see [Installing Apache on Ubuntu 18.04 with Multiple Domains](https://notes.leetdev.net/installing-apache-on-ubuntu-18.04-with-multiple-domains-or-leetdev). ## 4. Install MySQL Let’s begin by updating the repository and installing the MySQL package using `apt`. APT (Advanced Package Tool) is the command line tool used in Ubuntu 18.04 to interact with the packaging system. You can see below we have two commands combined into one using `&&`. ``` sudo apt update && sudo apt install mysql-server ``` Press `y` and `ENTER` when prompted to install the MySQL package. Once the package installer has finished, we can check to see if the MySQL service is running. ``` sudo service mysql status ``` If running, you will see a green Active status like below. ``` ● mysql.service - MySQL Community Server Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/mysql.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled) Active: active (running) since Mon 2018-04-02 02:40:59 CEST; 2min 47s ago Main PID: 18476 (mysqld) Tasks: 27 (limit: 4915) CGroup: /system.slice/mysql.service └─18476 /usr/sbin/mysqld --daemonize --pid-file=/run/mysqld/mysqld.pid Apr 02 02:40:59 ubuntu1804 systemd[1]: Starting MySQL Community Server... Apr 02 02:40:59 ubuntu1804 systemd[1]: Started MySQL Community Server. ``` You may need to press `q` to exit the service status. ## 5. Configure MySQL Security You should now run `mysql_secure_installation` to configure security for your MySQL server. ``` sudo mysql_secure_installation ``` If you created a root password in Step 1, you may be prompted to enter it here. Otherwise you will be asked to create one. You will be asked if you want to set up the Validate Password Plugin. It’s not really necessary unless you want to enforce strict password policies for some reason. ``` Securing the MySQL server deployment. Connecting to MySQL using a blank password. VALIDATE PASSWORD PLUGIN can be used to test passwords and improve security. It checks the strength of password and allows the users to set only those passwords which are secure enough. Would you like to setup VALIDATE PASSWORD plugin? Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No: ``` **Press `ENTER` here if you don’t want to set up the validate password plugin.** ``` Please set the password for root here. New password: Re-enter new password: ``` If you didn’t create a root password in Step 1, you must now create one here. [**Generate a strong password**](https://passgen.co/) **and enter it.** Note that when you enter passwords in Linux, nothing will show as you are typing (no stars or dots). ``` By default, a MySQL installation has an anonymous user, allowing anyone to log into MySQL without having to have a user account created for them. This is intended only for testing, and to make the installation go a bit smoother. You should remove them before moving into a production environment. Remove anonymous users? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : ``` **Press `y` and `ENTER` to remove anonymous users.** ``` Normally, root should only be allowed to connect from 'localhost'. This ensures that someone cannot guess at the root password from the network. Disallow root login remotely? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : ``` **Press `y` and `ENTER` to disallow root login remotely.** This will prevent bots and hackers from trying to guess the root password. ``` By default, MySQL comes with a database named 'test' that anyone can access. This is also intended only for testing, and should be removed before moving into a production environment. Remove test database and access to it? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : ``` **Press `y` and `ENTER` to remove the test database.** ``` Reloading the privilege tables will ensure that all changes made so far will take effect immediately. Reload privilege tables now? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : ``` **Press `y` and `ENTER` to reload the privilege tables.** **All done!** As a test, you can log into the MySQL server and run the `version` command. ``` sudo mysqladmin -p -u root version ``` Enter the MySQL root password you created earlier and you should see the following: ``` mysqladmin Ver 8.42 Distrib 5.7.21, for Linux on x86_64 Copyright (c) 2000, 2018, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Server version 5.7.21-1ubuntu1 Protocol version 10 Connection Localhost via UNIX socket UNIX socket /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock Uptime: 2 hours 34 min 19 sec Threads: 1 Questions: 15 Slow queries: 0 Opens: 113 Flush tables: 1 Open tables: 106 Queries per second avg: 0.001 ``` You have now successfully installed and configured MySQL! ## 6. Install PHP Let’s begin by updating the repository and installing the PHP package using `apt`. We will also install two more packages `libapache2-mod-php` and `php-mysql`, which will allow PHP to communicate with the MySQL database. ``` sudo apt update && sudo apt install php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql ``` Press `y` and `ENTER` when prompted to install the PHP package. ## 7. Test PHP Once the package has finished installing, we can test PHP in the command line. ``` php -version ``` If PHP installed correctly, you should see something similar below: ``` PHP 7.2.3-1ubuntu1 (cli) (built: Mar 14 2018 22:03:58) ( NTS ) Copyright (c) 1997-2018 The PHP Group Zend Engine v3.2.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2018 Zend Technologies with Zend OPcache v7.2.3-1ubuntu1, Copyright (c) 1999-2018, by Zend Technologies ``` Great! Now, let’s test PHP for Apache. Create a new file called `info.php` in your **document root** directory. The default document root in Ubuntu 18.04 is `/var/www/html/`, or if you followed our previous Apache guide on setting up Virtual Hosts, your document root may be in somewhere like `/var/www/mytest1.com/public_html` where **mytest1.com** is the name of your own domain. Once you’ve confirmed the location of you document root directory, create a new file called `info.php` using the `nano` text editor. In this example, we will create a new file in `/var/www/html/` ``` sudo nano /var/www/html/info.php ``` Once `nano` editor has opened, paste in the following PHP code. (If using PuTTY, click to right mouse button to paste) /var/www/html/info.php ``` ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. 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