This guide will walk you through how to install LEMP stack on Rocky Linux 9|AlmaLinux 9. LEMP is a collection of open-source software that is free to use. The acronym LEMP refers to the first letters of Linux (operating system), Nginx Server, MySQL (database software), and PHP, PERL, or Python, which are the main components of a functional general-purpose web server. The LEMP stack is commonly used to host highly scalable, high-traffic websites.
How does LEMP Stack work?
The Webserver(Nginx) receives the web requests from the browser. If the file requested is a PHP file, it passes the request to PHP which loads and executes the code in the requested file as desired. PHP is also responsible for database linking to obtain any data referenced in the code.
The PHP executions and fetched data from the DB are then used to create HTML scripts appearing as web pages to the user. The LEMP stack components work together to handle both static and dynamic web pages.
The results are finally passed by PHP to Nginx which then sends them back to the web browser. That is a simple explanation of how the LEMP Stack works.
The following steps will guide you on how to install the Nginx on Rocky Linux 9| AlmaLinux 9 successfully.
Step 1 – Install Nginx on Rocky Linux 9|AlmaLinux 9
Begin by updating all of your system’s available packages, as shown below.
sudo dnf updateThis powerful web server is available in the default Rocky Linux 9|AlmaLinux 9 repositories and can be installed with the command below.
sudo dnf install nginxSample results:
Last metadata expiration check: 2:21:18 ago on Sun 23 Oct 2022 03:42:37 PM EAT.
Dependencies resolved.
=====================================================================================
Package Architecture Version Repository Size
=====================================================================================
Installing:
nginx x86_64 1:1.20.1-10.el9 appstream 594 k
Installing dependencies:
nginx-filesystem noarch 1:1.20.1-10.el9 appstream 11 k
rocky-logos-httpd noarch 90.11-1.el9 appstream 24 k
Transaction Summary
=====================================================================================
Install 3 Packages
Total download size: 629 k
Installed size: 1.8 M
Is this ok [y/N]: yStart the Nginx webserver after installation and set it to launch automatically.
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx Check the service’s status.
$ systemctl status nginx
● nginx.service - The nginx HTTP and reverse proxy server
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; disabled; vendor preset:>
Active: active (running) since Sun 2022-10-23 18:16:03 EAT; 7s ago
Process: 8352 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/rm -f /run/nginx.pid (code=exited, status=0/>
Process: 8353 ExecStartPre=/usr/sbin/nginx -t (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Process: 8354 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/nginx (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 8355 (nginx)
Tasks: 3 (limit: 23450)
Memory: 2.8M
CPU: 48ms
CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service
├─8355 "nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx"
├─8356 "nginx: worker process"
└─8357 "nginx: worker process"
Oct 23 18:16:03 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: Starting The nginx HTTP and revers>
Oct 23 18:16:03 localhost.localdomain nginx[8353]: nginx: the configuration file /et>
Oct 23 18:16:03 localhost.localdomain nginx[8353]: nginx: configuration file /etc/ng>
Oct 23 18:16:03 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: Started The nginx HTTP and reverseThe following command can be used to determine the version of Nginx that is currently installed:
$ nginx -v
nginx version: nginx/1.20.1Allow HTTP and HTTPS through the firewall.
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service={http,https}
sudo firewall-cmd --reloadTest if Nginx is able to server web pages using the URL http://IP_Address on the web browser. If all is okay, you should be able to see the page below:
Step 2 – Install MariaDB Server on Rocky Linux 9|AlmaLinux 9
On Rocky Linux 9 |AlmaLinux 9, MariaDB can be installed as shown below.
sudo dnf install mariadb-server mariadb -yOnce the installation is complete, enable MariaDB (to start automatically upon system boot), start the MariaDB, and verify the status using the commands below.
sudo systemctl start mariadb
sudo systemctl enable mariadbCheck the status of the service:
$ systemctl status mariadb
● mariadb.service - MariaDB 10.5 database server
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/mariadb.service; enabled; vendor p>
Active: active (running) since Sun 2022-10-23 19:27:01 EAT; 1min 34s ago
Docs: man:mariadbd(8)
https://mariadb.com/kb/en/library/systemd/
Main PID: 10645 (mariadbd)
Status: "Taking your SQL requests now..."
Tasks: 8 (limit: 23450)
Memory: 98.4M
CPU: 871ms
CGroup: /system.slice/mariadb.service
└─10645 /usr/libexec/mariadbd --basedir=/usrFinally, you should secure your MariaDB installation by running the command below.
sudo mysql_secure_installationProceed as shown:
NOTE: RUNNING ALL PARTS OF THIS SCRIPT IS RECOMMENDED FOR ALL MariaDB
SERVERS IN PRODUCTION USE! PLEASE READ EACH STEP CAREFULLY!
.....
Enter current password for root (enter for none):PRESS ENTER
OK, successfully used password, moving on...
....
Switch to unix_socket authentication [Y/n] y
Enabled successfully!
Reloading privilege tables..
... Success!
....
Change the root password? [Y/n] y
New password:
Re-enter new password:
Password updated successfully!
Reloading privilege tables..
... Success!
Remove anonymous users? [Y/n] y
... Success!
.....
Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n] y
... Success!
.......
Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n] y
- Dropping test database...
... Success!
.....
Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n] y
... Success!
Cleaning up...
All done! If you've completed all of the above steps, your MariaDB
installation should now be secure.
Thanks for using MariaDB!Using the following command, you can log in to MySQL after it has been secured.
$ mysql -u root -p
Enter password:
Welcome to the MariaDB monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MariaDB connection id is 13
Server version: 10.5.16-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)]> Check out the current databases on your database server.
MariaDB [(none)]> SHOW DATABASES;
Enter password:
+--------------------+
| Database |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| mysql |
| performance_schema |
+--------------------+
MariaDB [(none)]> QUIT
ByeStep 3 – Install PHP on Rocky Linux 9|AlmaLinux 9
The default PHP version available in Rocky Linux 9|AlmaLinux 9 default repositories is PHP 8.0. This version and its extensions can be installed using the command:
sudo dnf install php php-mysqlnd php-fpm php-opcache php-gd php-xml php-mbstring -yOnce the installation is complete, use the following commands to start PHP-FPM, enable it (so that it starts automatically when the system boots), and check its status.
sudo systemctl start php-fpm
sudo systemctl enable php-fpmSample results:
$ systemctl status php-fpm
● php-fpm.service - The PHP FastCGI Process Manager
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/php-fpm.service; enabled; vendor p>
Active: active (running) since Sun 2022-10-23 19:55:36 EAT; 46s ago
Main PID: 12868 (php-fpm)
Status: "Processes active: 0, idle: 5, Requests: 0, slow: 0, Traffic: 0req>
Tasks: 6 (limit: 23450)
Memory: 14.1M
CPU: 138ms
CGroup: /system.slice/php-fpm.service
├─12868 "php-fpm: master process (/etc/php-fpm.conf)"
├─12876 "php-fpm: pool www"
├─12877 "php-fpm: pool www"
├─12878 "php-fpm: pool www"
├─12879 "php-fpm: pool www"
└─12880 "php-fpm: pool www"The default user for PHP-FPM is Apache. We must modify the following line because we are using the Nginx web server.
Edit the file /etc/php-fpm.d/www.conf with your preferred editor.
Look at the lines below:
$ sudo vim /etc/php-fpm.d/www.conf
user = nginx
group = nginxOnce modified, you must reload php-fpm.
sudo systemctl reload php-fpmNow create a simple PHP file in the /usr/share/nginx/html directory.
sudo vim /usr/share/nginx/html/info.phpInsert the following content into the file.
<?php
phpinfo();
?>To make the changes take effect, restart Nginx.
sudo systemctl restart nginxUse the URL http://IP address/info.php or http://domain name/info.php
You will find a comprehensive list of PHP and its extensions.
Step 4 – Configure Nginx Server Block on Rocky Linux 9|AlmaLinux 9.
Nginx allows users to run several sites by configuring their virtual host file to point to their site.
In this guide, I will give a demonstration of how to create and configure a simple server block for Nginx.
Begin by creating the site directory:
sudo mkdir /var/www/example.tutornix.comNow create a simple HTML script for your site:
$ sudo vim /var/www/example.tutornix.com/index.html
<html>
<head>
<title>Welcome to Tutornix.com!</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>The LEMP server is working perfectly!Voila! </h1>
</body>
</html>Then create a virtual host file to point to your site:
sudo vim /etc/nginx/conf.d/example.tutornix.com.confAdd the below lines to the file:
server {
listen 80;
server_name example.tutornix.com www.example.tutornix.com;
location / {
root /var/www/example.tutornix.com;
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;
}
}Save the file and restart nginx:
sudo systemctl restart nginxYou may need to modify your /etc/hosts to accommodate your domain name:
$ sudo vim /etc/hosts
192.168.100.10 example.tutornix.comNow try accessing your site with the URL http://domain_name.
The end!
Conclusion
You have successfully installed the LEMP stack on Rocky Linux 9 or AlmaLinux 9 after reading this guide. Cheers!
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