How to Install PHP and PHP-FPM on Ubuntu 20.04

PHP is a widely-used server-side scripting language for building dynamic web applications. PHP-FPM enhances performance by efficiently managing PHP processes.

This article covers installing PHP and PHP-FPM on Ubuntu 20.04 to set up a PHP environment.

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

• Have an Ubuntu 20.04 server.

• Set up a new A record for your domain that points to the server IP address.

• Access the server using SSH as a non-root user with sudo privileges.

• Update the server.

Install PHP

Ubuntu 20.04 includes PHP in its default APT repositories. Update your server packages and install PHP using the latest available version.

1. Update the server package index.

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   $ sudo apt update

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2. Install PHP.

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   $ sudo apt install php -y

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3. View the installed PHP version on your server.

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   $ php -v

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   Your output should be similar to the one below:

   PHP 7.4.3-4ubuntu2.29 (cli) (built: Mar 25 2025 18:57:03) ( NTS )
   Copyright (c) The PHP Group
   Zend Engine v3.4.0, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
       with Zend OPcache v7.4.3-4ubuntu2.29, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

Install PHP Extensions

PHP extensions add functionality like database support, file handling, and encryption—commonly required by PHP apps and frameworks. Install them to enhance your server’s PHP capabilities.

1. Install common PHP extensions.

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   $ sudo apt install -y php-mysql php-mbstring php-bcmath php-zip php-gd php-curl php-xml

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   The above command installs the following PHP extensions:

   Common PHP extensions include:

   • php-mysql: Connects PHP apps with MySQL.

   • php-mbstring: Handles UTF-8 text.

   • php-bcmath: Supports precision math operations.

   • php-zip: Enables ZIP file support.

   • php-gd: Adds image processing features.

   • php-curl: Supports data transfer via URLs.

   • php-xml: Enables XML handling in PHP.

   • Run the following command to list all PHP extensions you can install based on your server's PHP version.

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   $ sudo apt-cache search php | grep "^php7.4"

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2. View all installed PHP extensions on your server.

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   $ php -m

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   Your output should look like the one below:

   [PHP Modules]
   bcmath
   calendar
   Core
   ctype
   curl
   date
   dom
   exif
   FFI
   .....
   
   [Zend Modules]
   Zend OPcache

Install and Configure PHP-FPM

PHP-FPM is included in Ubuntu's APT repositories and aligns with your installed PHP version. Install it to handle PHP requests efficiently and ensure it starts automatically on boot.

1. Install PHP-FPM.

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   $ sudo apt install php-fpm -y

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2. View the installed PHP-FPM version on your server depending on your PHP version. For example, PHP 7.4.

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   $ php-fpm7.4 -v

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   Output:

   PHP 7.4.3-4ubuntu2.29 (fpm-fcgi) (built: Mar 25 2025 18:57:03)
   Copyright (c) The PHP Group
   Zend Engine v3.4.0, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
       with Zend OPcache v7.4.3-4ubuntu2.29, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

3. List all files in the /etc/php/7.4 directory depending on your installed PHP version. Then, verify that the fpm directory is available.

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   $ ls /etc/php/7.4/

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   Output:

   apache2  cli  fpm  mods-available

   Based on the above output, PHP-FPM fpm is available and the necessary configurations that control how PHP processes requests on your server.

4. Switch to the PHP-FPM pool configurations directory /etc/php/7.4/fpm/pool.d/.

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   $ cd /etc/php/7.4/fpm/pool.d/

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5. Open the default PHP-FPM pool configuration /etc/php/7.4/fpm/pool.d/www.conf using a text editor such as Nano.

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   $ sudo nano www.conf

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   • Find the [www] option to verify your PHP-FPM pool name.

     INI

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     [www]

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   • Find the user and group options to verify the user PHP-FPM runs as. When using a web server, verify that PHP-FPM runs as the www-data user.

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     user = www-data
     group = www-data

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   • Find the listen directive and verify the socket path to access the PHP-FPM service on your server.

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     listen = /run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock

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   • Modify the following configuration to match your PHP-FPM processing needs on your server.

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     pm = dynamic
     pm.max_children = 5
     pm.start_servers = 2
     pm.min_spare_servers = 1
     pm.max_spare_servers = 3

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     PHP-FPM pool settings control how PHP processes handle requests:

     • pm: Defines the process manager type (static, dynamic, or ondemand).
     • pm.max_children: Limits total PHP child processes to manage memory.
     • pm.start_servers, pm.min_spare_servers, pm.max_spare_servers: Control how many PHP processes run or stay idle.
     • pm.process_idle_timeout: Stops idle processes after a set time.
     • access.log: Logs all incoming requests.
     • slowlog and request_slowlog_timeout: Track and log slow PHP requests for performance tuning.

   Save and close the file.

6. Restart PHP-FPM to apply your configuration changes.

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   $ sudo systemctl restart php7.4-fpm

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Test PHP and PHP-FPM

PHP handles dynamic content, while PHP-FPM manages and optimizes request processing. To verify they're working, you can deploy a sample PHP file using the Nginx web server.

1. Switch to your user home directory.

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   $ cd

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2. Create a new sample PHP application file sample.php.

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   $ nano sample.php

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3. Add the following contents to the file.

   PHP

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   <?php
   echo "Greetings from Vultr! PHP is working correctly on this server";
   ?>

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   Save and close the file.

4. Run the application using the PHP CLI utility.

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   $ php sample.php

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   Output:

   Greetings from Vultr! PHP is working correctly on this server

   Based on the above output, PHP processes dynamic web application files on your server correctly.

5. Install the Nginx web server application to test access to the PHP-FPM service.

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   $ sudo apt install nginx -y

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6. Back up the default Nginx virtual host configuration.

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   $ sudo mv /etc/nginx/sites-available/default  /etc/nginx/sites-available/default.BAK

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7. Create a new default Nginx configuration file.

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   $ sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/default

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8. Add the following configurations to the file.

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   server {
       listen 80 default_server;
       listen [::]:80 default_server;
   
       root  /var/www/html/;
       index index.html index.php index.nginx-debian.html;
   
       location ~ \.php$ {
           try_files $uri =404;
           fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
           fastcgi_index index.php;
           include fastcgi.conf;
       }
   }

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   Save and close the file.

   The Nginx config listens on port 80 for all IPs and serves files from /var/www/html. PHP files are handled by FastCGI via the PHP-FPM socket at /run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock.

9. Test the Nginx configuration for errors.

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   $ sudo nginx -t

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   Output:

   nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
   nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful

10. Create a new sample PHP application file test.php in the web root directory /var/www/html specified in your Nginx configuration.

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    $ sudo nano /var/www/html/test.php

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11. Add the following contents to the file.

    PHP

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    <?php 
    phpinfo();
    ?>

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    Save and close the file.

    The above PHP application displays the available PHP version information on your server when accessed in a web browser.

12. Stop the apache2 service that's pre-installed with PHP to unbind the HTTP port 80.

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    $ sudo systemctl stop apache2

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13. Allow connections to the HTTP port 80 through the default UFW firewall utility.

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    $ sudo ufw allow 80

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14. Restart Nginx to apply your configuration changes.

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    $ sudo systemctl restart nginx

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15. Access your server IP address using a web browser such as chrome and load the /test.php URL path to access your PHP application.

    http://SERVER-IP/test.php

    

Install Multiple PHP Versions

To use multiple PHP versions, add the ppa:ondrej/php repository. This allows installing PHP versions like 8.1 that aren't available in Ubuntu 20.04's default repositories.

1. Add the ppa:ondrej/php PPA to your APT repositories.

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   $ sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:ondrej/php

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2. Install a specific PHP and PHP-FPM version on your server. For example, PHP 8.1.

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   $ sudo apt install -y php8.1 php8.1-fpm

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3. View the installed PHP version information on your server.

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   $ php8.1 -v

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   Output:

   PHP 8.1.32 (cli) (built: Mar 13 2025 18:26:45) (NTS)
   Copyright (c) The PHP Group
   Zend Engine v4.1.32, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
       with Zend OPcache v8.1.32, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

4. View the PHP version's PHP-FPM service status and verify that it's running. For example, php8.1-fpm.

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   $ sudo systemctl status php8.1-fpm

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   Output:

   ● php8.1-fpm.service - The PHP 8.1 FastCGI Process Manager
        Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/php8.1-fpm.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
        Active: active (running) since Sun 2025-04-06 16:04:43 UTC; 57s ago
          Docs: man:php-fpm8.1(8)
       Process: 35358 ExecStartPost=/usr/lib/php/php-fpm-socket-helper install /run/php/php-fpm.sock /etc/php/8.1/fpm/pool.d/www.conf 81 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
      Main PID: 35347 (php-fpm8.1)
        Status: "Processes active: 0, idle: 2, Requests: 0, slow: 0, Traffic: 0req/sec"
         Tasks: 3 (limit: 9415)
        Memory: 7.5M
        CGroup: /system.slice/php8.1-fpm.service
                ├─35347 php-fpm: master process (/etc/php/8.1/fpm/php-fpm.conf)
                ├─35356 php-fpm: pool www
                └─35357 php-fpm: pool www

5. Create a new web root directory to store different PHP application files. For example, /var/www/php81-site.

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   $ sudo mkdir -p /var/www/php81-site

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6. Copy the test.php PHP application file you created earlier to the directory as index.php.

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   $ sudo cp /var/www/html/test.php /var/www/php81-site/index.php

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7. Create a new Nginx virtual host configuration to test access to your installed PHP-FPM version. For example, php81-site.conf.

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   $ sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/php81-site.conf

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8. Add the following configurations to the file.

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   server {
       listen 9000;
       listen [::]:9000;
   
       root  /var/www/php81-site;
   
       index index.php index.html;
   
       location ~ \.php$ {
           try_files $uri =404;
           fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;
           fastcgi_index index.php;
           include fastcgi.conf;
       }
   }

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   Save and close the file.

   This Nginx setup listens on port 9000, serves files from /var/www/php81-site, and uses the index directive for default files. It forwards .php requests to the PHP 8.1 FPM socket at /run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock.

9. Link the Nginx configuration file to the /etc/nginx/sites-enabled activate the new virtual host.

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   $ sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/php81-site.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

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10. Test the Nginx configuration for errors.

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    $ sudo nginx -t

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    Output:

    nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
    nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful

11. Allow network connections to the virtual host TCP port 9000 through the firewall.

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    $ sudo ufw allow 9000/tcp

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12. Reload the firewall rules to apply changes.

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    $ sudo ufw reload

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13. Restart Nginx to apply your configuration changes.

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    $ sudo systemctl restart nginx

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14. Access your server IP on port 9000 in a new web browser window to open your index.php web application file.

    http://SERVER-IP:9000

    Verify that your PHP 8.1 version information and modules display in your web browser.

    

15. Access the /test.php URL path using your server IP in a new web browser tab to verify that your default PHP 7.4 version processes requests separately based on your Nginx configuration.

    

Conclusion

You have installed PHP and PHP-FPM on your Ubuntu 20.04 server, enabling multiple PHP versions for different web applications based on project needs. PHP and PHP-FPM can be integrated with applications like Nginx to handle dynamic web requests securely.