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Cover image for How to Install PHP and MariaDB on Amazon Linux 2
Mohammad Abu Mattar
Mohammad Abu Mattar

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How to Install PHP and MariaDB on Amazon Linux 2

#aws #ec2 #amazonlinux2 #php

Introduction

We will learn how to set up PHP and MariaDB on Amazon Linux 2 in this tutorial. We will also discover how to set up PHP so that it functions with the Apache web server. We will also discover how to set up MariaDB so that it functions with PHP.

Prerequisites

To follow along with this tutorial, you will need:

  • An Amazon Linux 2 EC2 instance with a public IP address.
  • A non-root user with sudo privileges.
  • A domain name pointing to the public IP address of your EC2 instance.
  • Apache web server installed and running. How to Install Apache Web Server on Amazon Linux 2.

Installing PHP/MariaDB, setting up MariaDB, and running a basic PHP demo

Step 1 — Installing PHP

PHP is a free and open-source scripting language that is used to create dynamic web pages. It is the most popular web scripting language in the world.

At first, we will enable amazon-linux-extras so that we can specify the PHP version that we want to install.

sudo amazon-linux-extras enable php7.4 -y
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Next, we will install PHP.

sudo yum install php php-{pear,cgi,common,curl,mbstring,gd,mysqlnd,gettext,bcmath,json,xml,fpm,intl,zip,imap} -y
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We will now verify that PHP has been installed.

php -v
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The output should look like this:

PHP 7.4.30 (cli) (built: Jun 23 2022 20:19:00) ( NTS )
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v3.4.0, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
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Step 2 — Installing MariaDB

MariaDB is a free and open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) that is used to store data for dynamic web pages. It is a fork of MySQL.

At first, we will install MariaDB.

sudo yum install mariadb-server -y
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Next, we will start MariaDB.

sudo systemctl start mariadb
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We will configure MariaDB so that it starts automatically when the system boots.

sudo systemctl enable mariadb
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We will now secure MariaDB.

sudo mysql_secure_installation
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You will be prompted to enter the current root password for MariaDB. Press Enter to continue.

Enter current password for root (enter for none):
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Next, you will be prompted to set a new root password for MariaDB. Enter a new password and press Enter.

Set root password? [Y/n]
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You will be prompted to remove anonymous users. Press Y and then press Enter.

Remove anonymous users? [Y/n]
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You will be prompted to disable remote root login. Press Y and then press Enter.

Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n]
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You will be prompted to remove the test database and access to it. Press Y and then press Enter.

Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n]
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You will be prompted to reload the privilege tables now. Press Y and then press Enter.

Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n]
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Step 3 — Configuring PHP to Work with Apache

At first, we need to restart Apache.

sudo systemctl restart httpd
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We will create a directory for our PHP files.

sudo mkdir /var/www/html/php
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Next, we will create a PHP file.

sudo vi /var/www/html/php/index.php
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We will add the following content to the file.

<?php
  phpinfo();
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We will now open the file in a web browser.

http://your_domain_name/php/index.php
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You should see the following output:

phpinfo

Step 4 — Configuring MariaDB to Work with PHP

At first, we will create a database for our PHP files.

sudo mysql -u root -p
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CREATE DATABASE php;
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Next, we will create a user for our PHP files.

CREATE USER 'php'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
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We will grant all privileges to the user.

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON php.* TO 'php'@'localhost';
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We will now exit MariaDB.

exit
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We will create a PHP file.

sudo vi /var/www/html/php/db.php
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We will add the following content to the file.

<?php
  $db = new mysqli('localhost', 'php', 'password', 'php');
  if ($db->connect_error) {
    die('Connection failed: ' . $db->connect_error);
  }
  echo 'Connected successfully';
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We will now open the file in a web browser.

http://your_domain_name/php/db.php
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You should see the following output:

phpdb

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we learned how to set up PHP and MariaDB on Amazon Linux 2. We also learned how to set up PHP so that it functions with the Apache web server. We also learned how to set up MariaDB so that it functions with PHP.

Resources

Top comments (3)

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abdrehman98 profile image
Abdul Rehman •

Hi @mkabumattar

In step 3 content of index.php should be:

<?php

phpinfo( );

?>

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mkabumattar profile image
Mohammad Abu Mattar •

Hi, @abdrehman98

It is generally recommended to include the closing ?> at the end of a PHP script to prevent accidental whitespace or newline characters from being added to the output, which can cause issues with headers. However, leaving it off does not necessarily introduce any drawbacks to the code itself. It's a matter of personal preference.

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abdrehman98 profile image
Abdul Rehman •

Noted. I am php noob thanks for explaining this.

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