How to Install LEMP on Debian 10

In this tutorial we will learn how to install LEMP Server on Debian 10 Buster OS. LEMP Server is an open source software stack. It is one of the most popular open source stack currently used by many developers as well as operation teams. It is used for testing and deployment of dynamic websites. The abbreviation LEMP is a short form  of Linux operating system [L], Nginx (Which is pronounced as Engine-X) Server [E], MySQL or MariaDB database server [M]and PHP programming language [P].

Nginx Web Server

Nginx Web Server is one of the most powerful, high performance and open source web server. It is deployed to host high traffic websites. It has the ability to handle many thousands of concurrent requests simultaneously.

MariaDB Database Server & Client

As far as database server is concerned, we have the choice between MySQL and MariaDB database Server. MariaDB database server is an opensource database management application. MariaDB is developed by the same set of developers who were earlier associated with the development of MySQL database server. This Server has more features and enhancements. Therefore we will chose MariaDB over MySQL for this tutorial.

PHP & PHP-FPM

The final part of the software stack is PHP. PHP is a server side scripting language.

Prerequisites for Installation of LEMP on Debian 10 Buster

For installation of LEMP on Debian 10 Buster following requirements have to be fulfilled.

• We will require a machine with Debian 10 Buster Server or Desktop installed
• We will need a root / sudo user and password for performing administrative jobs on the server.
• A working, stable and fast internet connection. This will allow us to download and install the additionally required software packages.

Step by Step Installation of LEMP Server on Debian 10

Update Debian 10 Buster

To update the Debian 10 Buster Server / Desktop system. Open the terminal windows and issue the following command.

sudo apt-get update

Installation of Nginx  Web Server on Debian 10 Buster

After the completion of the server update process. Start the Nginx Web Server Installation by issuing the following command in the terminal windows.

sudo apt-get install nginx

This will start installing Nginx web Server. The other required libraries and dependencies will be downloaded and installed automatically along win the server installation process. After the installation of the web server, the Nginx server automatically starts the web service.

To verify and check the status of the newly installed webserver we have to issue the following command in the terminal windows.

sudo systemctl status nginx

As the web service is automatically started after the installation, Nginx web server should be up and running the output of the above command should look like as shown below.

Although it is unlikely but if, Nginx web server is not running, start it by issuing the following command.

sudo systemctl start nginx

Furthermore, we may like to configure Nginx web server to start automatically on OS boot. To achieve this, we must enable it by issuing the command in the terminal window as shown below.

sudo systemctl enable nginx

If UFW firewall is enabled and running, we have to allow port 80 which Nginx listens to. For this issue the following command in the terminal windows.

UFW Settings

sudo ufw allow 80/tcp

We can also allow the Nginx web server profile by issuing the following command as shown below.

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx HTTP'

We can now check the status of the UFW firewall and can confirm whether the Nginx traffic is allowed as shown below.

sudo ufw status

Now to check and make sure whether the web server is running open the browser and type the server IP in the browser address bar or just type localhost in the browser address bar.

http://Server –IP or http://localhost

The output will be like the shown below.

Installation of  MariaDB server on Debian 10

MariaDB Database Server is a relational database management system. We will now see the step by step installation of MariaDB Server and Client on Debian 10 operating System. To install the MariaDB Server, open the Terminal window and issue the following command.

sudo apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client

After the completion of the above command MariaDB Server and Client system along with all its libraries and dependencies will be installed on the Debian system.

Now to  start and enable the MariaDB Database Server issue the following command in the terminal window as shown below:

sudo systemctl start mariadb

sudo systemctl enable mariadb

Now let use confirm whether our MariaDB database server is running or not. To do this issue the following command in the terminal windows as shown below:

sudo systemctl status mariadb

If the MariaDB Database Server is up and running then the output of the above command will be similar to the output shown below:

MySQL Secure Installation

After the installation of MariaDB Server and Client, we will run mysql_secure_installation script. This script will be used to set the database root user password, remove test database, remove anonymous users and flush privileges. Using this script we will be able to restrict the access to the database and secure our installation.

sudo mysql_secure_installation

The above script will prompt us a series of questions. Through our responses to these questions we will be able to change and make secure our MariaDB default installation.

The first prompt will be to enter the existing password of the MariaDB root User. If this is a fresh installation of the MariaDB Server the the root user’s password will be blank. Therefore we have to just press the enter key.

With the completion of the above command we have completed the installation and initial security configuration of MariaDB Server on Debian 10.

Change the Password Authentication Method in MariaDB

By default MariaDB use the UNIX socket plugin to authenticate users.

Now we will set the password authentication method in MariaDB Server to native. Later when we will install PHPMyAdmin, this will enable us to connect as root user. To do this login to MariaDB Server as root user and issue following commands step by step.

sudo mysql -u root –p

The output will be similar to given below.

The output of the above command will be similar to shown below and we will get the MariaDB command prompt.

update mysql.user set plugin = 'mysql_native_password' where User = 'root'; 

MariaDB [(none)]> flush privileges; 

MariaDB [(none)]> quit Bye

The MariaDB Server installation is now complete.

Test the Newly Installed MariaDB Database Server

Now test the MariaDB installation. Run the following command.

sudo systemctl status mariadb

The output of the command will be like given below.

How to Start, Stop and Restart MariaDB Database Server

To start, stop and restart MariaDB Database Server run the following command in the terminal as root user.

sudo systemctl start mariadb

sudo systemctl stop mariadb

sudo systemctl restart mariadb

That it, we have successfully installed and configured the MariaDB Database Server and Client on Debian 10.

The final step of installing PHP on Debian 10

Now we are on the final step of installing PHP on Debian 10. The LEMP stack installation will be completed after this step. We will be installing PHP along with FastCGI Process Manager. The FastCGI Process Manager (FPM ) enables the Nginx Web Server to handle big workloads.

Now, to install PHP and FPM, we will first, add ondrej repository by issuing the command in the terminal window as shown below:

sudo apt install software-properties-common

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/nginx-mainline

Further, update the package lists and then install PHP7.3-FPM by issuing the following commands in the terminal window as shown below:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install php7.3 php7.3-fpm

After the installation is complete the PHP-FPM should run automatically. Check and verify this issue the following command in the terminal window as shown below:

sudo systemctl status php7.3-fpm

The output of the above command will be similar to the given below:

If the the PHP process is not running we can start and enable it by issuing the following command:

sudo systemctl start php7.3-fpm

sudo systemctl enable php7.3-fpm

Configuration of Nginx web server  to work with PHP

The Nginx Web Server’s settings are configured by default to work with Apache webserver. Because we are using Nginx, therefore some tweaks will be needed so that Nginx can serve PHP content.

Open the default virtual host file in your favorite text editor. We are using nano text editor.

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

Now find the line that beginning with the word – ‘index’ and now insert – ‘index.php’ before – ‘index.html’.

Also append the following lines:

location ~ \.php$ {
include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.3-fpm.sock;
}

After modifications, finally the file should look like this.

root /var/www/html;
# Add index.php to the list if you are using PHP
index index.php index.html index.htm index.nginx-debian.html;
server_name _;
location / {
# First attempt to serve request as file, then
# as directory, then fall back to displaying a 404.
try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
}
location ~ \.php$ {
include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.3-fpm.sock;
}

Now is the time to test our Nginx configuration and ensure that everything is in order as shown below:

sudo nginx -t

If  everything is ok, we should get the output as shown below.

sudo nginx -t

Now we have to restart the Nginx Web Server for the changes to take effect. Issue the  following command in the terminal window to do this:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Now again, verify if Nginx Web Server is working with PHP. To test our Nginx webserver whether it can serve PHP content or not, we will create an phpinfo.php file in the /var/www/html folder also know as web root folder as shown below:

sudo nano /var/www/html/phpinfo.php

Now add the following content in the file and save and exit the editor.

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Now open your favorite browser and type the following line in the address bar of the browser as shown below:

http://server-ip/phpinfo.php        or            http://localhost/phpinfo.php

The output should be similar to the image given below:

Nginx web server is ready. Now it can serve PHP files.

Our LEMP stack is also ready to host any dynamic website.