How to Install a LAMP Stack on Ubuntu (October 2026)

Installing a LAMP stack on Ubuntu takes one apt command per component and about 20 to 40 minutes. You update the system, install Apache, add MySQL or MariaDB, install PHP with its Apache module, then verify each layer with a real test page before you trust it.

This guide targets the current Ubuntu LTS releases. Ubuntu 24.04 LTS ships PHP 8.3 by default, 22.04 LTS ships PHP 8.1, and the commands differ slightly in the package names they need. I flag every version-specific difference as you go.

What You Need

You need a machine running a supported Ubuntu LTS release. Both 22.04 LTS and 24.04 LTS work fine with this walkthrough; 20.04 LTS reaches end of standard support soon, so pick one of the two newer releases if you can.

On sizing, 1 GB of RAM and 5 GB of free disk is enough for a development server with light traffic. Anything heavier wants 2 GB or more, because MySQL and PHP both hold memory they do not return promptly.

• A user account with sudo capability. Installing packages writes to system directories, and that needs root.
• A working internet connection so apt can reach the Ubuntu archive mirrors.
• A terminal and a plain text editor. nano ships with Ubuntu and is enough.
• A public IP address and correctly forwarded ports, but only if the server has to be reachable from the internet.

For a desktop install, skip the IP and router talk entirely and test on localhost. For a VPS, everything you do here works the same way; your provider has already assigned the public IP and opened the firewall above your instance.

Have a real text editor available before you start. You will write an Apache virtual host file and a PHP test script, and both need exact file paths.

How to Install a LAMP Stack on Ubuntu: Step-by-Step

LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP. Linux is the operating system you are already on. Apache is the web server that receives HTTP requests and serves files from a document root directory at /var/www/html. MySQL is the relational database that stores persistent data. PHP is the server-side scripting language that generates dynamic pages by reading that data and rendering HTML.

A single page request travels through all four layers: Apache accepts it, hands it to PHP, PHP queries MySQL, and the finished HTML goes back to the browser. Each layer can fail on its own, which is exactly why this guide verifies them separately.

1. Update Ubuntu and Confirm Your Privileges

Refresh the package index and apply pending updates before installing anything new.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
lsb_release -a
sudo -v

lsb_release -a prints the release codename and version number. If it reports 24.04 you get PHP 8.3 by default; on 22.04 you get PHP 8.1. Reading that line now saves you guessing later.

sudo -v refreshes your sudo timestamp and asks for your password once. If the command is not found, you are not root and no install command further down will work.

You know this step worked when apt update prints a summary of package lists read or updated with no errors in the last few lines.

2. How to Install a LAMP Stack on Ubuntu with Apache

Install the Apache web server, then confirm the service is running and enabled at boot.

sudo apt install apache2 -y
sudo systemctl enable apache2
sudo systemctl start apache2
systemctl status apache2 --no-pager
sudo apache2ctl configtest

On 24.04 LTS the default version is Apache 2.4. The Ubuntu package starts the service automatically, but running the enable and start commands yourself makes the state explicit and survives a later package change.

A healthy systemctl status apache2 shows active: (running) in green. apache2ctl configtest should print Syntax OK.

Open a browser on that machine and visit http://localhost. The default page reads “It works!” with an Apache logo. You can also test from another terminal with curl -I http://localhost, which should return HTTP/1.1 200 OK.

If localhost fails, work through the layers in order rather than reinstalling. First run apache2ctl configtest to rule out a broken configuration file. If that says Syntax OK, check whether the firewall is blocking port 80 with sudo ufw status. If the firewall is open and the port is free, the remaining suspect is port forwarding or DNS, which only applies to a public server.

3. Install and Secure MySQL or MariaDB

Ubuntu offers two choices here, and both are legitimate. MySQL Server is the Oracle-maintained version and is the literal letter in LAMP. MariaDB is a drop-in fork that some distributions and smaller hosting providers default to.

sudo apt install mysql-server -y
sudo systemctl enable mysql
sudo systemctl start mysql
systemctl status mysql --no-pager
sudo mysql_secure_installation

To use MariaDB instead, run sudo apt install mariadb-server -y and secure it with sudo mariadb-secure-installation. The service name changes from mysql to mariadb, and that difference is the single most common cause of a “no such service” error.

The secure installation script asks five questions. Here is what each answer does rather than a list of yeses.

• Press Enter for the root password if you use socket authentication, or set a password if you want one for root.
• Answer Y to remove the anonymous user accounts, which exist so a failed login cannot be distinguished from a bad username.
• Answer Y to disallow remote root logins. Root should work locally through the socket.
• Answer Y to remove the test database called test.
• Answer Y to refresh the privilege tables so the changes take effect.

On Ubuntu the root account normally authenticates through a local unix socket, which means sudo mysql logs you straight in with no password. That is intentional and safe while the database listens only on localhost, which is the default.

You know this step worked when systemctl status mysql reports active and sudo mysql -e "SELECT VERSION();" prints a version number.

4. Install PHP and the Apache PHP Module

Install PHP, the Apache module that runs it inside the web server process, and the MySQL extension PHP needs to talk to the database.

sudo apt install php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql -y
sudo a2enmod php
sudo systemctl restart apache2
php -v

On 24.04 LTS this gives you PHP 8.3, on 22.04 LTS you get PHP 8.1. If you need a specific version, the package name changes accordingly, for example php8.1, and the old style names like php5-mysql simply do not exist on modern releases.

This guide uses libapache2-mod-php rather than PHP-FPM because it is one moving part instead of three. The module runs inside Apache, so there is no separate service to start and no pool to keep in sync. PHP-FPM plus a FastCGI or nginx front end makes more sense under real concurrent load, and it is the right choice for most production setups.

Verify it with php -v for the CLI version and php -m | grep mysql to confirm the database extension loaded. Restarting Apache after enabling the module is what makes it take effect.

5. Configure a Test PHP File and Database Connection

Create a temporary file in the document root that prints PHP’s configuration.

echo '<?php phpinfo(); ?>' | sudo tee /var/www/html/info.php
sudo chown www-data:www-data /var/www/html/info.php
curl http://localhost/info.php | head -20

Open http://localhost/info.php in a browser. You should see the PHP information page with a table of loaded modules. If you see the literal text <?php on the page, Apache is serving the file as plain text, and the fix is in the Common Mistakes section below.

Remove that file as soon as you have read it. It exposes your file paths, loaded modules and environment settings to anyone who reaches the server.

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

Next, create a database and a dedicated user for your application rather than connecting as root. Least privilege means the application account can only touch its own database.

sudo mysql
CREATE DATABASE appdb CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'appuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'a-strong-password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON appdb.* TO 'appuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Test that connection from PHP with a short script rather than assuming it works.

<?php
try {
  $pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=appdb', 'appuser', 'a-strong-password');
  echo "Database connection OK";
} catch (PDOException $e) {
  echo "Connection failed: " . $e->getMessage();
}

Save it as /var/www/html/dbtest.php, load it in a browser, and then delete it. A successful run prints Database connection OK.

6. Configure the Firewall Without Locking Yourself Out

Allow SSH before you enable the firewall, every single time. If you enable UFW without an SSH rule, your existing session survives but no new session can connect, and on a VPS that means a console login to recover.

sudo ufw status
sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw allow 'Apache Full'
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw status verbose

OpenSSH keeps port 22 reachable. Apache Full opens ports 80 and 443. On a local development machine you can stop there.

For a public site, add the certificate tool before enabling the firewall so you never open 443 later:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y

Confirm with sudo ufw status verbose. You want to see OpenSSH, Apache Full and Status: active. Before you walk away from a remote server, open a second terminal and confirm you can start a new SSH session from it.

7. Test the Complete LAMP Stack

Run through this list once and every layer is accounted for.

• sudo apt update completes without errors.
• systemctl is-active apache2 mysql prints active twice.
• systemctl is-enabled apache2 mysql prints enabled twice, meaning both start after a reboot.
• apache2ctl configtest prints Syntax OK.
• php -v reports the expected version for your Ubuntu release.
• sudo mysql -e "SHOW DATABASES;" lists appdb.
• sudo ufw status shows OpenSSH and Apache Full.
• http://localhost serves the Apache default page.

Test locally first, then by IP. Running curl -I http://localhost on the server proves the software works. Opening the same address from a second machine proves the network path works. When localhost responds and the IP address times out, the fault is in the firewall, the router, or missing port forwarding, not in LAMP.

Confirm persistence with a restart when you are not working through an SSH session:

sudo reboot

After it comes back, run systemctl is-active apache2 mysql again. Two actives means your stack survives a reboot, which is the actual test of whether it is set up correctly.

For a copy-and-paste rebuild, the whole sequence in order:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install apache2 mysql-server php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql -y
sudo systemctl enable apache2 mysql
sudo systemctl restart apache2
sudo mysql_secure_installation
sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw allow 'Apache Full'
sudo ufw enable

Common Mistakes

Symptom	Cause	Fix
403 Forbidden in the browser	File or parent directory is not readable by the web server user	sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html and sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html
Browser downloads the PHP file instead of running it	The PHP module is disabled or Apache was not restarted after installing it	sudo a2enmod php then sudo systemctl restart apache2
Page is not the one you edited	The site is serving a different DocumentRoot, often a virtual host	Check the active site with sudo apache2ctl -S and edit the matching file in /etc/apache2/sites-enabled
Access denied for user root	Trying to log in over TCP with a socket-only root account	Use sudo mysql locally, or create a dedicated user with a password
Unable to start mysql.service, unit not found	Service name differs between MySQL and MariaDB, or across releases	Check with systemctl list-units --type=service | grep -E 'mysql|maria' and use the name printed there
Address already in use on port 80	Another web server or process holds the port	sudo ss -ltnp | grep :80, then stop the other process or change the listening port
Permission denied on a package install	Commands run without sudo, or the account is not in the sudo group	Prefix with sudo; confirm the account belongs to the sudo group
SSH connection refused after firewall changes	UFW enabled without an OpenSSH rule	Use your provider’s console, then sudo ufw allow OpenSSH and sudo ufw reload
Works on localhost, times out from another machine	Firewall, router NAT, or the VM network mode is blocking traffic	Allow the port in UFW, forward it on the router, and set the VM network to bridged or a host-only adapter with port forwarding
Package php5-mysql or similar not found	The package name changed in a newer Ubuntu release	Use php-mysql, then confirm with php -m | grep mysql

After that, a few hardening habits keep a new server boring in the best way. Delete test pages the day you create them. Keep the database bound to localhost and never open port 3306 to the world.

Turn off version disclosure so scanners learn nothing about your patch level. Add ServerTokens Prod and ServerSignature Off to /etc/apache2/conf-available/security.conf, then reload Apache. In /etc/php/8.3/apache2/php.ini on 24.04, set expose_php = Off.

Enable mod_rewrite if your application needs clean URLs, with sudo a2enmod rewrite and a restart. Run sudo apt upgrade on a regular schedule, since most Linux compromises come from unpatched packages rather than clever attacks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Start by updating the package index, then install Apache and confirm the default page loads at localhost. From there it is one layer at a time: MySQL or MariaDB with a secure installation run, PHP with libapache2-mod-php, a test file that proves both work together, and a firewall that permits SSH and HTTP without cutting you off.

Knowing how to install a LAMP stack on Ubuntu is the base skill behind WordPress sites, custom PHP applications and internal dashboards, and the same commands move straight to a VPS. Before you deploy anything real, delete the PHP test pages, keep the database reachable only from localhost, confirm both services are enabled so they survive a reboot, and set up a schedule for security updates.