How to Install Nginx, MySQL, PHP (LEMP) On Arch Linux

We then would like to continue by installing MySQL. However, in Arch Linux, MySql is replaced with MariaDB. So, after running the following MySql command, hit enter to select one, then Enter, then confirm your installation by tapping Enter.

sudo pacman -S mysql

After the install, you must run the following command to complete the installation fully.

mysql_install_db --user=mysql --basedir=/usr --datadir=/var/lib/mysql

Make sure that the MySql/MariaDB service is on with the following command before proceeding:

sudo systemctl start

mysqld.service

To ensure the security of the default settings of MySQL/MariaDB, continue with the command below:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Note: When prompted with “Enter current password for root,” hit enter for none then Y(Yes) to set the MYSQL password. You will then be prompted with a series of questions. Type Y for yes on all of them. See the screenshot below:

Install PHP On Arch Linux

Finally, we will conclude the LEMP Stack by installing PHP with the following command:

sudo pacman -S php-fpm

Make sure that PHP has started with the following command:

sudo systemctl start

php-fpm.service

We must change the PHP configuration file to activate the specified LEMP module. enabled:

sudo nano /etc/php/php.ini

Using  the Ctrl+w in your text editor(nano), locate the following line and remove the semicolon to activate

;extension=mysqli.so

Now we can configure the Nginx configuration file so that it can recognize PHP files.

sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

The following instructions are crucial and must be completed so  PHP and Nginx work correctly. Locate the following line #location ~ \.php$ { using Ctrl+w, tap enter to create a space in between the # and paste the following code in between:

location ~ \.php$ {
      fastcgi_pass   unix:/var/run/php-fpm/php-fpm.sock;
      fastcgi_index  index.php;
      root   /srv/http;
      include        fastcgi.conf;
 }

Fantastic! You can now save the file and restart Nginx and PHP so all your configuration takes effect.

sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

To verify and test the installation, create a test PHP file in the following directory with the command below:

sudo nano /srv/http/info.php

Insert the following PHP code in the empty file, then save and exit:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Restart the Apache HTTP service one last time, so all the changes will be affected.

sudo systemctl restart httpd.service

You can now verify that PHP is installed correctly by typing the following on your browser.
http:// YOUR.IP.ADD.RESS/info.php

What Next?

Congratulations! You now have a server with a LEMP Stack platform for your web environment. Thank you for following along, and feel free to check back with us for further updates.

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