Install a LAMP Stack on Ubuntu 22.04

The LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) is a classic web application platform. This guide installs and configures all four components on Ubuntu 22.04.

Step 1 — Update System Packages

$apt update && apt upgrade -y

Step 2 — Install Apache

$apt install -y apache2
$systemctl enable apache2
$systemctl start apache2

Allow Apache through UFW:

$ufw allow 'Apache Full'

Verify Apache is running by visiting http://YOUR_SERVER_IP in a browser. You should see the Apache2 Ubuntu Default Page.

Step 3 — Install MySQL

$apt install -y mysql-server
$systemctl enable mysql
$systemctl start mysql

Run the security script:

$mysql_secure_installation

Follow the prompts to set a root password, remove anonymous users, and disable remote root login.

Create a database and user for your application:

$mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE myapp CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'myapp_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPassword123!';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON myapp.* TO 'myapp_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 4 — Install PHP

$apt install -y php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql php-cli php-curl php-gd php-mbstring php-xml php-zip

Verify the PHP version:

$php --version

PHP 8.1.2-1ubuntu2.18 (cli) (built: Jan 12 2026 00:00:00) ( NTS )
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.1.2, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies

Step 5 — Test PHP Processing

Create a PHP info file:

$echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" > /var/www/html/info.php

Visit http://YOUR_SERVER_IP/info.php to see the PHP configuration page.

[!WARNING] Remove the info.php file after testing — it exposes sensitive server configuration information.

$rm /var/www/html/info.php

Step 6 — Configure a Virtual Host

$mkdir -p /var/www/myapp/public
$chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/myapp
$nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/myapp.conf

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName myapp.example.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/myapp/public

    <Directory /var/www/myapp/public>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog  ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/myapp_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/myapp_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

$a2ensite myapp.conf
$a2enmod rewrite
$systemctl reload apache2

Step 7 — Test the Full Stack

Create a test PHP file that connects to MySQL:

$nano /var/www/myapp/public/index.php

<?php
$conn = new mysqli('localhost', 'myapp_user', 'StrongPassword123!', 'myapp');
if ($conn->connect_error) {
    die('Connection failed: ' . $conn->connect_error);
}
echo '<h1>LAMP Stack is working!</h1>';
echo '<p>MySQL connection: <strong>OK</strong></p>';
echo '<p>PHP version: ' . phpversion() . '</p>';
$conn->close();

[!TIP] For production applications, use environment variables or a configuration file outside the web root to store database credentials — never hardcode them in PHP files.