Installing LEMP-Stack (Linux, Nginx, MySQL, PHP) on Ubuntu Focal Fossa

• account
• LEMP-Stack
• Ubuntu-Focal
• Linux
• Nginx
• MySQL
• PHP
• certbot

The LEMP-Stack references a group of software that can be used to serve dynamic web applications and websites. LEMP is an acronym and stands for:

• A Linux operating system
• A Nginx (Pronounced as Engine-X) web server
• A MySQL (or MariaDB, which is a drop-in fork of MySQL) database server
• PHP for dynamic data processing

Installing the stack

1. Connect to your Instance via SSH

2. Use the apt package manager of Ubuntu to install the required packages. Make sure that the system is up to date and has the latest bug-fixes and updates installed by running the following command:

   apt update && apt -y upgrade
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3. Install the software stack:

   apt install -y ufw nginx mariadb-server php-fpm php-mysql
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Configuring the Firewall

1. Enable HTTP and SSH connections in the firewall configuration of the server by running the following command:

   ufw allow 'Nginx HTTP'
   ufw allow 'OpenSSH'
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2. Enable ufw:

   ufw enable
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   You are asked if you want to proceed. Confirm the activation of the firewall by typing y:

   Command may disrupt existing ssh connections. Proceed with operation (y|n)? y
   Firewall is active and enabled on system startup
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3. Check the status of ufw:

   ufw status
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   It will return a list of the allowed services:

   Status: active
   
   To                         Action      From
   --                         ------      ----
   Nginx HTTP                 ALLOW       Anywhere
   OpenSSH                    ALLOW       Anywhere
   Nginx HTTP (v6)            ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
   OpenSSH (v6)               ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
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Configuring MySQL / MariaDB

1. Launch the configuration assistant for the database server:

   mysql_secure_installation
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2. Press “Enter” when prompted for the current root password for the MariaDB server, as the password is not yet set.

3. Press Y to enter a new password for the MariaDB root user:

   Setting the root password ensures that nobody can log into the MariaDB
   root user without the proper authorization.
   
   Set root password? [Y/n]
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4. Enter the new password and press Enter, then repeat this step.

5. Keep the settings proposed by default when prompted by further questions, by pressing Enter each time.

Configuring a Nginx Server-Block

Nginx stores the configuration of virtual hosts in server blocks. All available server blocks are located in the /etc/nginx/sites-available/ directory.

1. Navigate to the relevant directory:

   cd /etc/nginx/sites-available/
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2. Create a new server block configuration file and name it after the domain name that points to your Instance. Here we call it example.com and put the following content into the file:

     server {
           listen 80;
           root /var/www/html;
           index index.php index.html index.htm index.nginx-debian.html;
           server_name example.com;
   
           location / {
                   try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
           }
   
           location ~ \.php$ {
                   include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
                   fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
           }
   
           location ~ /\.ht {
                   deny all;
           }
   }
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   Remember to replace example.com and any other information as necessary as per the overview below:

   Overview:

   • listen — Defines the port Nginx will listen on. Here, it listens on port 80, the default port for HTTP.
   • root — Specifies the document root where all files of the website are stored.
   • index — Gives priority to files named index.php, when an index file is requested.
   • server_name — The domain name relating to this server block.
   • location / — This location block checks the existence of a requested file. It will deliver either the file or return a 404 error.
   • location ~ \.php$ — The second location block handles the PHP processing by pointing Nginx to the fastcgi-php.conf configuration file and the php7.4-fpm.sock file, which declares what socket is associated with php-fpm.
   • location ~ /\.ht — The last location block prevents .htaccess files to be processed by Nginx. Any .htaccess located in the directory root won’t be served to visitors.

3. Save and exit the file.

4. Create a symbolic link to enable the server block. Replace example.com with your domain.

   ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
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5. Test the configuration for syntax errors.

   nginx -t
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6. Reload the Nginx configuration.

   systemctl reload nginx
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Testing PHP

1. Create a test PHP file to test if your LEMP stack is working.

   nano /var/www/html/phpinfo.php
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2. Put the following content in it:

   <?php
   phpinfo();
   ?>
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3. Save the file and point your web browser to http://example.com/phpinfo.php (replacing example.com with your domain name). When you see an output like the following, it means PHP is set up correctly:

Configuring SSL with Let’s Encrypt

By default the connection between your computer and the server is not encrypted and it is possible to read the communication. To secure the connection you can generate an SSL certificate for free, issued by Let’s Encrypt.

Let’s Encrypt provides a certbot to configure Nginx automatically with Let’s Encrypt.

1. Prepare the system.

   apt update && apt -y install software-properties-common
   add-apt-repository ppa:certbot/certbot
   apt update
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   You may be warned that the PPA has been deprecated. You can press [ENTER] to continue adding it nonetheless.

2. Install certbot.

   apt install python3-certbot-nginx
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3. Run certbot.

   certbot --nginx
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4. Answer the prompts.

   Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log
   Plugins selected: Authenticator nginx, Installer nginx
   Enter email address (used for urgent renewal and security notices) (Enter 'c' to
   cancel): webmaster@example.com
   
   Please read the Terms of Service at
   https://letsencrypt.org/documents/LE-SA-v1.2-November-15-2017.pdf. You must
   agree in order to register with the ACME server at
   https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory
   
   (A)gree/(C)ancel: a
   
   Would you be willing to share your email address with the Electronic Frontier
   Foundation, a founding partner of the Let's Encrypt project and the non-profit
   organization that develops Certbot? We'd like to send you email about our work
   encrypting the web, EFF news, campaigns, and ways to support digital freedom.
   
   (Y)es/(N)o: n
   Which names would you like to activate HTTPS for?
   
   1: example.com
   
   Select the appropriate numbers separated by commas and/or spaces, or leave input
   blank to select all options shown (Enter 'c' to cancel): 1
   Obtaining a new certificate
   Performing the following challenges:
   http-01 challenge for example.com
   Waiting for verification...
   Cleaning up challenges
   Deploying Certificate to VirtualHost /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/example.com
   Please choose whether or not to redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS, removing HTTP access.
   
   1: No redirect - Make no further changes to the webserver configuration.
   2: Redirect - Make all requests redirect to secure HTTPS access. Choose this for
   new sites, or if you're confident your site works on HTTPS. You can undo this
   change by editing your web server's configuration.
   
   Select the appropriate number [1-2] then [enter] (press 'c' to cancel): 2
   Redirecting all traffic on port 80 to ssl in /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/example.com
   
   Congratulations! You have successfully enabled https://example.com
   You should test your configuration at:
   https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=example.com
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5. Reload the Nginx configuration.

   systemctl reload nginx
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6. Allow HTTPS in the firewall rules.

   ufw allow 'Nginx HTTPS'
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7. Access your site with https: https://example.com/.