How to Install Apache, MySQL, and PHP (LAMP) Stack on Fedora 34

Introduction

The LAMP stack is a software bundle composed of Linux, Apache, MySQL or MariaDB, and PHP. These free open-source software applications drive dynamic web applications such as WordPress, Joomla, Magento, and more.

In this guide, you'll install Apache as the HTTP server, MySQL or MariaDB as a relational database management system, and PHP as the server-side scripting language. On the Linux part, you'll use Fedora 34 operating system. After completing this guide, your Apache web server will run a PHP script, connect to a database, and return a successful response.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

• A Fedora 34 server.
• A non-root sudo user.

1. Install Apache Web Server

SSH to your server and ensure your system is up to date.

$ sudo dnf -y upgrade

In Fedora, the Apache HTTP server runs as an httpd daemon. Install the package by running the command below.

$ sudo dnf -y install httpd

Start the httpd service.

$ sudo systemctl start httpd

Visit your server's domain name or public IP address in a web browser to test the installation.

http://192.0.2.1

You should now see a Fedora Web Server Test Page as shown below.

Enable the web server to start automatically.

$ sudo systemctl enable httpd

You may also find these control command useful:

• To stop the web server when performing maintenance:

    $ sudo systemctl stop httpd
  

• To stop the web server momentarily and restart it after changing the configuration files:

    $ sudo systemctl restart httpd
  

• To reload the web server's configurations without interrupting active connections:

    $ sudo systemctl reload httpd

After installing Apache, you can locate the httpd service main configuration file from this location.

/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

When working in a system architecture that calls for separation of concerns, you can include different configuration files under the directory below.

/etc/httpd/conf.d/

By default, Apache serves all requests from /var/www/html.

2. Install MySQL/MariaDB Server

When setting up a LAMP stack, you have a choice of either MySQL or MariaDB server. Both are compatible with most popular content management systems.

Please note: MariaDB is a fork of the MySQL package, and installing both packages on the same server causes conflicts.

Option 1: Install the MariaDB Server

To set up the MariaDB server, run the command below.

$ sudo dnf install -y mariadb-server

After installation, the MariaDB server runs under the daemon mariadb. Start the mariadb service.

$ sudo systemctl start mariadb

Enable the service to start automatically when your server boots.

$ sudo systemctl enable mariadb

You can find the main MariaDB configuration file in the location below.

/etc/my.cnf

You can add more configuration files that load when the MariaDB server starts in /etc/my.cnf.d/.

If you make any changes to the MariaDB configuration file, you must always restart the mariadb service using the command below.

$ sudo systemctl restart mariadb

To stop the mariadb service, use the command below.

$ sudo systemctl stop mariadb

To continue testing this guide, make sure the MariaDB server is running.

$ sudo systemctl start mariadb

Option 2: Install the MySQL Server

If you have a particular need for MySQL server or prefer it over the MariaDB server, follow these installation steps.

To install the MySQL server, pull the community-mysql-server package from the main Fedora repository.

$ sudo dnf install -y community-mysql-server

After completing the installation, start the MySQL service. It runs under the service - mysqld

$ sudo systemctl start mysqld

Enable the MySQL server to run automatically when your server boots.

$ sudo systemctl enable mysqld

You can locate the main MySQL configuration file in the location below.

/etc/my.cnf.d/community-mysql-server.cnf

Also, you can place fragmented configuration files under the directory below.

/etc/my.cnf.d/

Remember to restart the mysqld service if you make any configuration changes.

$ sudo systemctl restart mysqld

To stop the MySQL server at any time, run the command below.

$ sudo systemctl stop mysqld

To proceed with this guide, ensure the MySQL server is running.

$ sudo systemctl start mysqld

Secure the Database Server

Secure the database server by running the command below. This applies to both MySQL and MariaDB.

$ sudo mysql_secure_installation

Answer the prompts depending on the package that you're configuring. Replace EXAMPLE_PASSWORD with a strong value for the root user. For this guide, you may skip setting up the validate_password component that validates the strength of passwords in the MySQL server. However, in a production environment, you can enable it to avoid using weak passwords.

After you've finished securing MySQL/MariaDB server, log in to the database server as a root user.

$ sudo mysql -u root -p

Enter your root password for the MySQL/MariaDB server and press Enter to proceed. Then, issue the command below to create a sample_db database and a test_user user.

• MySQL server.

    mysql> CREATE DATABASE sample_db;
           CREATE USER 'test_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_native_password BY 'EXAMPLE_PASSWORD';
           GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON sample_db.* TO 'test_user'@'localhost';
           FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
  

• MariaDB server.

    MariaDB> CREATE DATABASE sample_db;
             GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES on sample_db.* TO 'test_user'@'localhost' identified by 'EXAMPLE_PASSWORD';

Output:

Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
...

Exit from the database server command-line interface.

• MySQL server.

    mysql> QUIT;
  

• MariaDB server.

    MariaDB> QUIT;

3. Install PHP

Install the php package.

$ sudo dnf install -y php

Install some common PHP extensions required to create dynamic websites and web applications.

$ sudo dnf install -y php-cli php-fpm php-common php-mbstring php-curl php-gd php-mysqlnd php-json php-xml php-intl php-pecl-apcu php-opcache

You can locate the main PHP configuration file in this location.

/etc/php.ini

In case you make any changes to the PHP configuration file, remember to reboot the Apache web server. PHP also scans the directory below for configuration files.

/etc/php.d

Restart the httpd service to load the PHP package.

$ sudo systemctl restart httpd

Install nano text editor and open a new /var/www/html/test.php to test PHP connectivity to the MySQL/MariaDB database.

$ sudo dnf install -y nano
$ sudo nano /var/www/html/test.php

Paste the content below into the file.

<?php

$con = new mysqli('localhost', 'test_user', 'EXAMPLE_PASSWORD', 'sample_db');

if ($con->connect_error) {
    die("Failed to connect to the database: " . $con->connect_error);
}

echo "Connection to the database was successful";

Save the file by pressing Ctrl + X, then Y and Enter.

Visit your web server's domain name or IP address in a web browser.

http://192.0.2.1/test.php

You should see a success message. Your PHP script is now able to connect to the MySQL/MariaDB database.

Connection to the database was successful

Your Apache web server is serving the web content from the /var/www/html directory. Up to this point, your LAMP stack is working as expected.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you've installed a LAMP stack on your Fedora 34 server. With this setup in place, you can now upload your website/web application or probably install a content management system like WordPress.