LEMP is an acronym for Linux Nginx, MariaDB/MySQL, and PHP. Nginx is a web server, MariaDB/MySQL is a database management application, PHP(Hypertext Pre-processor) is a programming language that is used on the backend to build web applications. All these open-source software make up the LEMP stack which collectively is used to host and serve web pages/applications in a production cycle or any other development stage.
Popularly, the LEMP stack is used to host highly scalable websites with high traffic. In this guide, we will systematically walk through the installation and configuration of LEMP Stack on Rocky Linux 8 / AlmaLinux 8.
Getting Started.
For this guide, you will require the following:
- A Rocky Linux 8|AlmaLinux 8 system.
- A user with sudo access
Begin by updating all the available packages on your system as below.
sudo dnf update -yStep 1 – Install Nginx on Rocky Linux 8|AlmaLinux 8.
This powerful web server exists in the default Rocky Linux 8|AlmaLinux 8 repositories and can be installed using the command below.
sudo dnf install nginx Dependency tree:
Dependencies resolved.
================================================================================
Package Arch Version Repo Size
================================================================================
Installing:
nginx x86_64 1:1.14.1-9.module+el8.4.0+542+81547229 appstream 566 k
Installing dependencies:
nginx-all-modules
noarch 1:1.14.1-9.module+el8.4.0+542+81547229 appstream 22 k
nginx-filesystem noarch 1:1.14.1-9.module+el8.4.0+542+81547229 appstream 23 k
nginx-mod-http-image-filter
x86_64 1:1.14.1-9.module+el8.4.0+542+81547229 appstream 34 k
nginx-mod-http-perl
x86_64 1:1.14.1-9.module+el8.4.0+542+81547229 appstream 45 k
nginx-mod-http-xslt-filter
x86_64 1:1.14.1-9.module+el8.4.0+542+81547229 appstream 32 k
nginx-mod-mail x86_64 1:1.14.1-9.module+el8.4.0+542+81547229 appstream 63 k
nginx-mod-stream x86_64 1:1.14.1-9.module+el8.4.0+542+81547229 appstream 84 k
Enabling module streams:
nginx 1.14
Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Install 8 Packages
Total download size: 870 k
Installed size: 2.0 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Once installed, start and enable the Nginx webserver to run automatically on boot.
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx Check the status of the service.
$ systemctl status nginx
● nginx.service - The nginx HTTP and reverse proxy server
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; disabled; vendor preset: disabled)
Active: active (running) since Wed 2021-12-29 03:00:08 EST; 7s ago
Process: 128762 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/nginx (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Process: 128752 ExecStartPre=/usr/sbin/nginx -t (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Process: 128750 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/rm -f /run/nginx.pid (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 128763 (nginx)
Tasks: 3 (limit: 36449)
Memory: 7.6M
CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service
├─128763 nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx
├─128764 nginx: worker process
└─128765 nginx: worker process
Dec 29 03:00:08 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: Starting The nginx HTTP and reverse proxy server...
Dec 29 03:00:08 localhost.localdomain nginx[128752]: nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
Dec 29 03:00:08 localhost.localdomain nginx[128752]: nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
Dec 29 03:00:08 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: Started The nginx HTTP and reverse proxy server.
The installed version of Nginx can be checked using the command:
$ nginx -v
nginx version: nginx/1.14.1Test if Nginx is able to server web pages using the URL http://IP_Address or http://domain_name
Allow HTTP and HTTPS through the firewall.
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service={http,https}
sudo firewall-cmd --reloadYou should be able to see the below page:
Step 2 – Install MariaDB Server on Rocky Linux 8|AlmaLinux 8.
MariaDB can be installed on Rocky Linux 8|AlmaLinux 8 as below.
sudo dnf -y install @mariadbStart and enable MariaDB on Rocky Linux 8|AlmaLinux 8.
sudo systemctl enable --now mariadbHarden the MariaDB instance as below.
$ sudo mysql_secure_installation
Enter current password for root (enter for none): Press Enter
....
Set root password? [Y/n] y
New password: Enter Password
Re-enter new password: Re-Enter Password
......
Remove anonymous users? [Y/n] y
...
Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n] y
...
Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n] y
....
Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n] y
.....
Thanks for using MariaDB!Login into the MariaDB shell.
$ mysql -u root -p
Enter password:
Welcome to the MariaDB monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MariaDB connection id is 16
Server version: 10.3.28-MariaDB MariaDB Server
Copyright (c) 2000, 2018, Oracle, MariaDB Corporation Ab and others.
Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.
MariaDB [(none)]> show databases;
+--------------------+
| Database |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| mysql |
| performance_schema |
+--------------------+
3 rows in set (0.000 sec)
MariaDB [(none)]> exit
Bye
Step 3 – Install PHP on Rocky Linux 8|AlmaLinux 8.
The AppStream repository has multiple versions of PHP that can be listed using the command:
$ sudo dnf module list php
Last metadata expiration check: 0:50:10 ago on Wed 29 Dec 2021 02:14:25 AM EST.
Rocky Linux 8 - AppStream
Name Stream Profiles Summary
php 7.2 [d] common [d], devel, minimal PHP scripting language
php 7.3 common [d], devel, minimal PHP scripting language
php 7.4 common [d], devel, minimal PHP scripting language
Hint: [d]efault, [e]nabled, [x]disabled, [i]nstalledAs seen, the default version is PHP 7.2 and can be reset as below.
sudo dnf module reset phpEnable the desired version.
# For PHP 7.4
sudo dnf -y module install php:7.4
# For PHP 7.3
sudo dnf -y module install php:7.3
# For PHP 7.2
sudo dnf -y module install php:7.2Proceed as below.
Dependencies resolved.
================================================================================
Package Arch Version Repo Size
================================================================================
Installing group/module packages:
php-cli x86_64 7.4.19-1.module+el8.5.0+696+61e7c9ba appstream 3.1 M
php-common x86_64 7.4.19-1.module+el8.5.0+696+61e7c9ba appstream 701 k
php-fpm x86_64 7.4.19-1.module+el8.5.0+696+61e7c9ba appstream 1.6 M
php-json x86_64 7.4.19-1.module+el8.5.0+696+61e7c9ba appstream 73 k
php-mbstring x86_64 7.4.19-1.module+el8.5.0+696+61e7c9ba appstream 483 k
php-xml x86_64 7.4.19-1.module+el8.5.0+696+61e7c9ba appstream 173 k
Installing dependencies:
httpd-filesystem noarch 2.4.37-43.module+el8.5.0+714+5ec56ee8 appstream 38 k
Installing module profiles:
php/common
Enabling module streams:
httpd 2.4
php 7.4 Also, install PHP extensions.
sudo dnf -y install php php-fpm php-mysqlnd php-opcache php-gd php-xml php-mbstring php-zipVerify the installed version of PHP.
$ php --version
PHP 7.4.19 (cli) (built: May 4 2021 11:06:37) ( NTS )
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v3.4.0, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
with Zend OPcache v7.4.19, Copyright (c), by Zend TechnologiesStart and enable PHP using php-fpm.
sudo systemctl enable --now php-fpmCheck the status of the service.
$ systemctl status php-fpm
● php-fpm.service - The PHP FastCGI Process Manager
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/php-fpm.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
Active: active (running) since Wed 2021-12-29 03:06:55 EST; 6s ago
Main PID: 131753 (php-fpm)
Status: "Ready to handle connections"
Tasks: 6 (limit: 36449)
Memory: 13.7M
CGroup: /system.slice/php-fpm.service
├─131753 php-fpm: master process (/etc/php-fpm.conf)
├─131754 php-fpm: pool www
├─131755 php-fpm: pool www
├─131756 php-fpm: pool www
├─131757 php-fpm: pool www
└─131758 php-fpm: pool www
Dec 29 03:06:55 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: Starting The PHP FastCGI Process Manager...
Dec 29 03:06:55 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: Started The PHP FastCGI Process Manager.Normally PHP-FPM runs as using the APache user by default. Since we are using Nginx, we need to edit the configuration file.
$ sudo vim /etc/php-fpm.d/www.conf
user = nginx
Group = nginxApply the made changes.
sudo systemctl reload php-fpmNow create a simple PHP file in the /usr/share/nginx/html directory.
sudo vim /usr/share/nginx/html/info.phpIn the file, add the below content.
<?php
phpinfo();
?>Restart Nginx for the changes to apply.
sudo systemctl restart nginxAccess the webpage using the URL http://IP_address/info.php or http://domain_name/info.php. You will see a detailed list of PHP and its extensions.
Step 4 – Configure Nginx Server Block on Rocky Linux 8|AlmaLinux 8.
The Nginx server block allows one to run multiple websites by defining the site document root directory. These root document directories contain the website files.
For this guide, we will create a single Nginx server block file using the steps below:
1. Create a Website Directory
This is the first step, ensure that you replace example.geeksforgeeks.org with your domain name.
sudo mkdir /var/www/example.geeksforgeeks.org
sudo vim /var/www/example.geeksforgeeks.org/index.htmlIn the file, add the content:
<html>
<head>
<title>Welcome to geeksforgeeks.org!</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Voila! The LEMP server is working perfectly!</h1>
</body>
</html>2. Create a Nginx Server Block for the Website
This is a configuration file for the site. It spells out how Nginx will serve the requests.
sudo vim /etc/nginx/conf.d/example.neveropen.tech.confAdd the below lines to the file.
server {
listen 80;
server_name example.geeksforgeeks.org www.example.geeksforgeeks.org;
location / {
root /var/www/example.geeksforgeeks.org;
index index.html index.htm;
try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
}
error_page 500 502 503 504 /50x.html;
location = /50x.html {
root /usr/share/nginx/html;
}
}Restart Nginx.
sudo systemctl restart nginxAdd your domain name to the list of known hosts.
$ sudo vim /etc/hosts
192.168.205.2 example.neveropen.techStep 5 – Test the Smaple Website
Now the website can be accessed using the URL http://domain_name.
You should be able to see the below page.
Now that confirms that our LEMP stack is working perfectly and that marks the end of this amazing guide.
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