Setting Up LAMP (Linux, Apache, MariaDB and PHP) on Fedora 24 Server

Having installed Fedora 24 server edition, you might probably want to host a website on your server and for you to be able to do that on Linux, you will need to install LAMP.

In this tutorial, we shall go through steps you can follow to install LAMP (Linux, Apache, MariaDB and PHP) stack, a web service software that you can setup on your Fedora 24 server. For starters, you can think of it as similar to WAMP in Windows.

Step 1: Updating System Packages

As usual, it is important and recommended that you update your system packages using the command below:

# dnf update 

Let us now go through the actual installation of LAMP packages.

Step 2: Install Apache Web Server

Apache is a popular and most reliable web server on the Linux platform powering multiple websites and web based applications on the web. It comes in with several modules to enhance its functionality under different categories including security modules, server access modules plus so much more.

To install Apache, issue the command below on your terminal:

# dnf install httpd 

After installation is complete, you need to perform a few tasks to get your Apache web server running.

First you need to set it to start automatically at boot time:

# systemctl enable httpd.service

Then start the service:

# systemctl start httpd.service

Next, to be sure that the service is running, you can issue the command below:

# systemctl status httpd.service

In order to access your web server over HTTP/HTTPS, you need to enable access to it through the system firewall. To do that, run the following command:

# firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
# firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https

Then reload the system firewall configurations as follows:

# systemctl reload firewalld

One last thing to do under Apache installation is to check whether the default Apache installation index page can load in your web browser, therefore open your web browser and enter your server IP address as shown:

http://server-ip-address

If you don’t know your server IP address, you can find using the below ip command.

# ip a | grep "inet" 

You should be able to view this page below:

Note: The Apache default root directory is /var/www/html, and this is where you can drop your web files.

Step 3: Install MariaDB Server

MariaDB is a fork of the popular MySQL relational database server, it is free software and conforms to the GPU general public license.

To install MariaDB on Fedora 24 server, issue the command below:

# dnf install mariadb-server

After completing the installation, you need to enable the service to run automatically at system startup, also start it for you to be able to create and use databases on your server.

To enable it to start at boot time, run the command below:

# systemctl enable mariadb.service  

To start the service, use the command below:

# systemctl start mariadb.service  

Then, check whether MariaDB service is running as follows:
# systemctl status mariadb.service  

Now that MariaDB is running on your server, you need to secure it’s installation using the command below:

# mysql_secure_installation

After running this command, you will be asked a few questions demanding you to make a few changes and these include:

Enter current password for root(enter for none): Here, Simply press [Enter]
Next you will be asked to set a root user password for your MariaDB server.
Set root password? [Y/n]: y and hit [Enter]
New password: Enter a new password for root user
Re-enter new password: Re-enter the above password 
Remove anonymous users? [Y/n]: y to remove anonymous users
It is not always good to keep your system open to remote access by root user, in case an attacker lands on your root user password, he/she can cause damage to your system. 
Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n]: y to prevent remote access for root user. 
Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n]: y to remove the test database
Finally, you need to reload privileges tables on your database server for the above changes to take effect.
Reload privileges tables now? [Y/n]: y to reload privileges tables 

You can also install MariaDB server database where it will store all server information, simply run the command below:

# mysql_install_db

Step 4: Install PHP and Modules

PHP is a serve side scripting language that handles and sends user requests to the web and database server.

To install PHP on Fedora 24, use the command below:

# dnf install php php-common 

In order for PHP to work well with mysql databases, you need to install some PHP modules therefore, execute the command below to install required PHP modules:

# dnf install php-mysql php-gd php-cli php-mbstring

When the installation process is complete, you need to restart the Apache web server, this will allow all the changes to take effect before you can have a complete working LAMP stack.

To restart Apache, issue the command below:

# systemctl restart httpd 

Now you can test it all, using your favorite editor, create a called file info.php in your Apache root directory as follows:

# vi /var/www/html/info.php

Add the following lines in the file, save it and exit.

<?php
phpinfo()
?>

Then open your web browser and enter the following URL:

http://server-ip-address/info.php

In case everything is set, then you should be able to view this PHP information below:

I believe all is well at this point, you can now use LAMP on your Fedora 24 server. For any questions, please use the comment section below to express your thoughts and always remember to stay connected to TecMint.