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How to Install a LEMP Stack on Arch Linux

Arch LinuxPHPWeb Servers
Updated on November 21, 2023
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Introduction

This guide explains how to install Nginx, MariaDB, and PHP on Arch Linux (LEMP) and secure the web site with a free Let's Encrypt certificate.

Prerequisites

Before beginning this guide, please:

This guide uses app.example.com as the example DNS name of the server.

Install UFW Firewall

UFW (uncomplicated firewall) is a simple and configurable firewall.

  1. Install UFW.

     $ sudo pacman -S --noconfirm ufw

  2. Configure UFW

    Configure UFW to allow outgoing traffic, but refuse any incoming or routed traffic by default.

     $ sudo ufw default allow outgoing
 $ sudo ufw default deny incoming
 $ sudo ufw default deny routed

    Allow traffic on TCP ports 22 (SSH), 80 (HTTP), and 443 (HTTPS).

     $ sudo ufw allow 22/tcp
 $ sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
 $ sudo ufw allow 443/tcp

  3. Enable the firewall to make the new configuration active. If you are connected over SSH, it will display a warning message about possibly interrupting the connection. You can ignore this warning because TCP port 22 (SSH) was allowed through the firewall in the earlier step.

     $ sudo ufw enable

Install Nginx

  1. Install the Nginx package.

     $ sudo pacman -S --noconfirm nginx

  2. Start the Nginx service and enable it to start automatically on boot.

     $ sudo systemctl start nginx.service
 $ sudo systemctl enable nginx.service

Install MariaDB

  1. Install the MariaDB package.

     $ sudo pacman -S --noconfirm mariadb

  2. Initialize MariaDB's internal database and system tables.

     $ sudo mariadb-install-db --user=mysql --basedir=/usr --datadir=/var/lib/mysql

  3. Start the MariaDB service and enable it to start automatically on boot.

     $ sudo systemctl start mariadb.service
 $ sudo systemctl enable mariadb.service

  4. Run the secure installation script to configure MariaDB security.

     $ sudo mysql_secure_installation

When prompted for the current password for root, press Enter for none. When asked to supply a new root password, use a secure password. Answer Y or press Enter for all remaining prompts.

Install PHP

  1. Install the PHP and PHP-FPM packages.

     $ sudo pacman -S --noconfirm php php-fpm

  2. Start the PHP-FPM service and enable it to start automatically on boot.

     $ sudo systemctl start php-fpm.service
 $ sudo systemctl enable php-fpm.service

Install Certbot

Certbot is used to request free Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS certificates. The recommended way to install Certbot on Arch is with Snap.

Follow the instructions at eff.org to install Certbot for Nginx on Arch Linux.

Request an SSL/TLS certificate with Certbot. Replace user@example.com with your email and app.example.com with your fully-qualified domain name.

    $ sudo certbot certonly --agree-tos --no-eff-email --nginx -m user@example.com -d app.example.com

Test PHP

  1. Create a PHP test page in the web root directory.

     $ sudo nano /srv/http/index.php

  2. Paste the following lines.

     <?php
 phpinfo();

  3. Save and exit the file.

To see the test page, navigate to your fully qualified domain name in a web browser. It should display the PHP version as well as other system information.

The LEMP stack installation is now complete. Next, upload your web pages to /srv/http.

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