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How to install LAMP (Linux Apache, MariaDB & PHP) on CentOS 7

In the following tutorial we are going to show you how to install LAMP (Linux Apache, MariaDB & PHP) on a CentOS 7 VPS.

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What is LAMP?

LAMP is actually an acronym for a web services solution stack consisting of Linux, the Apache HTTP Server, the MySQL or MariaDB database engines, and the PHP, Perl or Python programming language. All components are free and open-source software, and the combination is suitable for building dynamic web pages.

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Requirements?

We are using our $20.00/m LAMP VPS Server hosting plan for this set-up, which should be more than enough to run LAMP and host multiple dynamic websites using virtual host directives.

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UPDATE THE SYSTEM

As always, make sure your CentOS 7 VPS is fully up-to-date and you’re in a screen session using the commands below:

## screen -U -S lamp-centos7
## yum update

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INSTALL MARIA DB

MariaDB is the default database server in CentOS 7, so go ahead and install it with yumusing the following command:

## yum install mariadb mariadb-server mysql

Once installed, add bind-address = 127.0.0.1 to /etc/my.cnf.d/server.cnf tobind MariaDB to localhost only:

## vim /etc/my.cnf.d/server.cnf

[mysqld]
#log-bin=mysql-bin
#binlog_format=mixed
bind-address = 127.0.0.1

Restart the MariaDB database server and enable it to start on system start-up using:

## systemctl restart mariadb
## systemctl status mariadb
## systemctl enable mariadb

Finally, you can run the mysql_secure_installation post-installation script to finish the MariaDB set-up. For example:

## mysql_secure_installation

Enter current password for root (enter for none): ENTER
Set root password? [Y/n] Y
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

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INSTALL APACHE

OK so far so good. Next, proceed with the installation of Apache, OpenSSL and mod_ssl using yum as in:

## yum install httpd openssl mod_ssl

Restart Apache and add it to automatically start on your system start-up using:

## systemctl restart httpd
## systemctl status httpd
## systemctl enable httpd

Test the set-up by opening, for example http://YOUR_SERVER_IP/ in your favorite browser. You should see the default Apache page, for example:

Great. Now let’s configure some extra Apache options, for example, hide its version number, its banner etc… by adding the following to /etc/httpd/conf.d/options.conf

## vim /etc/httpd/conf.d/options.conf

TraceEnable off

## Disable Signature
ServerSignature Off

## Disable Banner
ServerTokens Prod

Test Apache configuration file and restart the webserver for the changes to take effect:

## apachectl configtest
## systemctl restart httpd
## systemctl status httpd

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INSTALL PHP

In order to be able to run PHP based web applications, we have to add PHP support to the Apache webserver, so let’s install some required packages with yum:

## yum install php php-mysql

also, you may want to install some other PHP extensions required by your applications. Here is the list:

php-bcmath          : A module for PHP applications for using the bcmath library
php-cli             : Command-line interface for PHP
php-common          : Common files for PHP
php-dba             : A database abstraction layer module for PHP applications
php-devel           : Files needed for building PHP extensions
php-embedded        : PHP library for embedding in applications
php-enchant         : Enchant spelling extension for PHP applications
php-fpm             : PHP FastCGI Process Manager
php-gd              : A module for PHP applications for using the gd graphics library
php-intl            : Internationalization extension for PHP applications
php-ldap            : A module for PHP applications that use LDAP
php-mbstring        : A module for PHP applications which need multi-byte string handling
php-mysql           : A module for PHP applications that use MySQL databases
php-mysqlnd         : A module for PHP applications that use MySQL databases
php-odbc            : A module for PHP applications that use ODBC databases
php-pdo             : A database access abstraction module for PHP applications
php-pear.noarch     : PHP Extension and Application Repository framework
php-pecl-memcache   : Extension to work with the Memcached caching daemon
php-pgsql           : A PostgreSQL database module for PHP
php-process         : Modules for PHP script using system process interfaces
php-pspell          : A module for PHP applications for using pspell interfaces
php-recode          : A module for PHP applications for using the recode library
php-snmp            : A module for PHP applications that query SNMP-managed devices
php-soap            : A module for PHP applications that use the SOAP protocol
php-xml             : A module for PHP applications which use XML
php-xmlrpc          : A module for PHP applications which use the XML-RPC protocol

OK, let’s continue with PHP configuration. Edit /etc/php.ini and set the following:

## vim /etc/php.ini

date.timezone = America/New_York
memory_limit = 64M
expose_php = Off

restart Apache using systemctl for the changes to take effect:

## systemctl restart httpd
## systemctl status httpd

Test if PHP module is loaded in Apache using:

## httpd -M | grep php

also

## php -v

You can create a test info.php script too using the following command:

## echo -e " /var/www/html/info.php

and access it with the following command:

## curl -I $(curl -s icanhazip.com)/info.php

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SET-UP APACHE VHOSTS

Now, you would have to set-up Apache Virtual Host Directives, to be able to host multiple domains, even SSL powered ones using one IP address. So, create/etc/httpd/conf.d/vhosts.conf and add the following:

## cat /etc/httpd/conf.d/vhosts.conf

# Load my vhosts
IncludeOptional vhosts.d/*.conf

This tells Apache, to load the configuration files ending with .conf which reside in/etc/httpd/vhosts.d. As you can guess, this is the place where we put our Virtual Hosts, so let’s set-up one for domain1.com and another for domain2.net

VHOST for domain1.com

## cat /etc/httpd/vhosts.d/domain1.com.conf


    ServerAdmin webmaster@domain1.com
    DocumentRoot "/var/www/html/domain1.com"
    ServerName domain1.com
    ServerAlias www.domain1.com
    ErrorLog "/var/log/httpd/domain1.com-error_log"
    CustomLog "/var/log/httpd/domain1.com-access_log" combined

    
        DirectoryIndex index.html index.php
        Options FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    

VHOST for domain2.net

## cat /etc/httpd/vhosts.d/domain2.net.conf


    ServerAdmin webmaster@domain2.net
    DocumentRoot "/var/www/html/domain2.net"
    ServerName domain2.net
    ServerAlias www.domain2.net
    ErrorLog "/var/log/httpd/domain2.net-error_log"
    CustomLog "/var/log/httpd/domain2.net-access_log" combined

    
        DirectoryIndex index.html index.php
        Options FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    

Finally, restart Apache for the changes to take effect:

## apachectl configtest
## systemctl restart httpd
## systemctl status httpd

Of course you don’t have to do any of this if you use our one of our pre built LAMP servers. Our LAMP servers come pre built with LAMP already installed for you. If you need assistance simply ask our expert Linux admins and they will be happy to take care of your request immediately.

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Tags: php, centos, apache, install, applications, lamp, mariadb, systemctl

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