---
title: "How to Install a LAMP Stack on Ubuntu 24.04"
description: "Install Apache, MySQL and PHP on Ubuntu 24.04, open the firewall, create a virtual host for your domain and confirm that PHP can connect to the database."
category: "Application Deployment"
language: en
source: https://cubepath.com/docs/application-deployment/lamp-stack-installation-linux-apache-mysql-php
updated: 2026-09-25
---

# How to Install a LAMP Stack on Ubuntu 24.04

A LAMP stack is the classic combination of Linux, the Apache web server, the MySQL database and the PHP language. It runs a large share of PHP applications, from WordPress and Drupal to custom code. In this tutorial you will install Apache, MySQL 8.0 and PHP 8.3 on Ubuntu 24.04, create an Apache virtual host for your own domain and verify that PHP can talk to MySQL.

## Prerequisites

To follow this tutorial you need:

- A server running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, for example a CubePath VPS, with at least 1 GB of RAM.
- A non-root user with `sudo` privileges.
- Optionally, a domain name with an A record pointing to your server's public IP. This tutorial uses `your_domain` as a placeholder. If you don't have a domain yet, you can use `your_server_ip` everywhere instead.

## Step 1 - Installing Apache and allowing web traffic

Apache is available in Ubuntu's default repositories. Refresh the package index and install it:

```bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2
```

The package starts the service and enables it at boot. Confirm that it is running:

```bash
sudo systemctl status apache2 --no-pager
```

```output
● apache2.service - The Apache HTTP Server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/apache2.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since ...
```

If you use UFW, Apache registers application profiles for it. `Apache` opens port 80 only, `Apache Full` opens ports 80 and 443. Allow SSH first so you don't lock yourself out, then allow Apache Full:

```bash
sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw allow "Apache Full"
sudo ufw enable
```

Check the rules:

```bash
sudo ufw status
```

```output
Status: active

To                         Action      From
--                         ------      ----
OpenSSH                    ALLOW       Anywhere
Apache Full                ALLOW       Anywhere
...
```

Open `http://your_server_ip` in your browser. You should see the "Apache2 Default Page". You can also test from the server itself:

```bash
curl -sI http://localhost | head -n 1
```

```output
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
```

## Step 2 - Installing MySQL

Install the MySQL server package. On Ubuntu 24.04 this installs MySQL 8.0:

```bash
sudo apt install mysql-server
```

Verify that the service is active and check the version:

```bash
sudo systemctl is-active mysql
mysql --version
```

```output
active
mysql  Ver 8.0.x-0ubuntu0.24.04.x for Linux on x86_64 ((Ubuntu))
```

Next, run the included security script. It can enable the password validation component, remove anonymous users, disallow remote root login and remove the test database:

```bash
sudo mysql_secure_installation
```

Answer `Y` to the questions about removing anonymous users, disallowing remote root login, removing the test database and reloading the privilege tables. On Ubuntu the MySQL `root` account authenticates through the `auth_socket` plugin, so the script skips setting a root password. That is expected: only the system root user (or someone using `sudo`) can log in as MySQL root.

Confirm that you can open the MySQL console:

```bash
sudo mysql
```

```output
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
...
mysql>
```

Type `exit` to leave the console.

## Step 3 - Installing PHP

Apache runs PHP through the `libapache2-mod-php` module. Install PHP together with that module and the MySQL extension:

```bash
sudo apt install php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql
```

On Ubuntu 24.04 these meta packages install PHP 8.3. Check the version:

```bash
php -v
```

```output
PHP 8.3.6 (cli) (built: ...) (NTS)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.3.6, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
    with Zend OPcache v8.3.6, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies
```

Most applications also need a few common extensions. Install the ones used by WordPress, Laravel and similar projects:

```bash
sudo apt install php-curl php-gd php-mbstring php-xml php-zip php-intl
```

Restart Apache so it loads the new modules:

```bash
sudo systemctl restart apache2
```

## Step 4 - Creating a virtual host for your domain

Apache serves the default page from `/var/www/html`. Instead of editing it, create a separate directory and virtual host for your site so you can host more sites on the same server later.

Create the document root and give your user ownership of it:

```bash
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/your_domain
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/your_domain
```

Create a new virtual host file:

```bash
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/your_domain.conf
```

Add the following configuration, replacing `your_domain` with your domain name:

```apache
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName your_domain
    ServerAlias www.your_domain
    DocumentRoot /var/www/your_domain

    <Directory /var/www/your_domain>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/your_domain_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/your_domain_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
```

`AllowOverride All` lets applications use `.htaccess` files, which WordPress and many frameworks rely on for pretty URLs. Enable `mod_rewrite` for the same reason, then enable the new site and disable the default one:

```bash
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo a2ensite your_domain
sudo a2dissite 000-default
```

Test the configuration for syntax errors:

```bash
sudo apache2ctl configtest
```

```output
Syntax OK
```

If the test prints `AH00558: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name`, the configuration is still valid. You can silence the warning by adding `ServerName localhost` to `/etc/apache2/apache2.conf`.

Reload Apache to apply the changes:

```bash
sudo systemctl reload apache2
```

## Step 5 - Testing PHP processing

Create a small PHP file in the new document root:

```bash
nano /var/www/your_domain/info.php
```

Add this line:

```php
<?php phpinfo();
```

Visit `http://your_domain/info.php`. You should see the PHP information page, with `Server API` set to `Apache 2.0 Handler`. From the command line you can check it like this:

```bash
curl -s http://your_domain/info.php | grep -o 'PHP Version [0-9.]*' | head -n 1
```

```output
PHP Version 8.3.6
```

This page exposes details about your server, so delete it once you have confirmed that PHP works:

```bash
rm /var/www/your_domain/info.php
```

## Step 6 - Testing the database connection from PHP

To confirm the whole stack works together, create a database and a dedicated user, then connect to it from PHP.

Open the MySQL console:

```bash
sudo mysql
```

Create a database and a user. Replace `your_strong_password` with a strong password of your own; if you enabled the password validation component in Step 2, weak passwords are rejected:

```sql
CREATE DATABASE example_db DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'example_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_strong_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON example_db.* TO 'example_user'@'localhost';
EXIT;
```

Create a test script:

```bash
nano /var/www/your_domain/dbtest.php
```

Add the following code, using the same password:

```php
<?php
$pdo = new PDO(
    'mysql:host=localhost;dbname=example_db;charset=utf8mb4',
    'example_user',
    'your_strong_password',
    [PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION]
);

echo 'Connected to MySQL ' . $pdo->query('SELECT VERSION()')->fetchColumn() . PHP_EOL;
```

Request the page:

```bash
curl http://your_domain/dbtest.php
```

```output
Connected to MySQL 8.0.x-0ubuntu0.24.04.x
```

If you see this line, Apache, PHP and MySQL are working together. Remove the test file, since it contains a password:

```bash
rm /var/www/your_domain/dbtest.php
```

## Step 7 - Securing the site with HTTPS (optional)

If your domain already points to the server, you can get a free Let's Encrypt certificate with Certbot. Install Certbot and its Apache plugin:

```bash
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache
```

Request a certificate for both names. Certbot edits the virtual host and sets up the HTTP to HTTPS redirect for you:

```bash
sudo certbot --apache -d your_domain -d www.your_domain
```

Certbot installs a systemd timer that renews certificates automatically. Test the renewal process with a dry run:

```bash
sudo certbot renew --dry-run
```

Then open `https://your_domain` to confirm the certificate is served.

## Troubleshooting

- **The browser downloads the PHP file instead of running it.** The PHP module is not loaded. Run `sudo a2enmod php8.3` and `sudo systemctl restart apache2`.
- **You still see the Apache default page.** The default site is still enabled or your `ServerName` does not match the address you are using. Run `sudo a2dissite 000-default`, check `ServerName` and reload Apache.
- **`Access denied for user` in the PDO test.** The user or password does not match what you created. Recreate the user with `ALTER USER 'example_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_strong_password';` from `sudo mysql`.
- **Apache fails to start.** Read the exact error with `sudo journalctl -u apache2 --no-pager -n 50` and check the site configuration with `sudo apache2ctl configtest`.

## Conclusion

You now have a working LAMP stack on Ubuntu 24.04: Apache serving your domain from its own virtual host, MySQL 8.0 secured with `mysql_secure_installation`, and PHP 8.3 connecting to the database. From here you can deploy a PHP application such as WordPress into `/var/www/your_domain`, set up regular database backups with `mysqldump`, or switch Apache to PHP-FPM if you need to run several PHP versions side by side.