Install a LAMP stack on RHEL 6-based distributions

This article provides instructions for installing a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack on your server. Linux (CentOS 6, Fedora 21, or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6) is your operating system, and Apache is your web daemon, which serves information that is stored in your MySQL database through PHP scripting for your users. This article shows you how to create a fully operational LAMP server, ready to serve out multiple virtual hosts.

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of Secure Shell (SSH).
• Sudo or admin access to your server.
• A Cloud Server with CentOS 6, Fedora 21, or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Install the LAMP stack

Log on to your server via SSH, elevate to root, and then complete the following steps for your preferred set up method.

One-line command method

1. Use the following one-line command for an expedient set up of your LAMP stack on your server operating system:

    sudo sh -c "yum install httpd httpd-devel mysql mysql-server mysql-devel php php-mysql php-common php-gd php-mbstring php-mcrypt php-devel php-xml -y; service mysqld start && mysql_secure_installation && service mysqld restart && service httpd start && chkconfig httpd on && chkconfig mysqld on && iptables -I INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT && iptables -I INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT && /etc/init.d/iptables save"
   

2. Provide answers for the following system prompts:

   • Enter current password for root (enter for none): Leave blank.
   • Set root password? [Y/n]: Select Yes
   • New password: You decide, but make it secure.
   • Remove anonymous users? [Y/n]: Select Yes.
   • Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n]: Select Yes.
   • Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n]: Select Yes.
   • Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n]: Select Yes.

Individual commands method

The following steps break the preceding one-line command into individual steps.

1. Install the necessary packages:

   sudo yum install httpd httpd-devel mysql mysql-server mysql-devel php php-mysql php-common php-gd php-mbstring php-mcrypt php-devel php-xml -y
   

2. Run the following command to start and secure the MySQL server:

   sudo sh -c "service mysqld start && mysql_secure_installation"
   

3. Provide answers for the following system prompts:

   • Enter current password for root (enter for none): Leave blank.
   • Set root password? [Y/n]: Select Yes
   • New password: You decide, but make it secure.
   • Remove anonymous users? [Y/n]: Select Yes.
   • Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n]: Select Yes.
   • Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n]: Select Yes.
   • Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n]: Select Yes.

4. Enter the following command to restart mysqld, start httpd, and configure httpd and mysqld to start on boot.

   sudo sh -c "service mysqld restart && service httpd start && chkconfig httpd on && chkconfig mysqld on"
   

5. Allow web traffic through the firewall:

   sudo sh -c "iptables -I INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT && iptables -I INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT && service iptables save"
   

   This command allows port 80 (web) and port 443 (secure web) inbound traffic through the firewall, and saves the rule for reboots.

The installation is complete. To test it, browse to https://serverIpAddress/.