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PHP is a scripting language that is specifically suitable for web development. A lot of websites you visit today are based out of PHP. PHP offers multiple programming options and one of the most highlighting features of PHP is that it is quite simple to use, even for new programmers. There are more than one PHP version available currently, so you might want to consider the version that is supported by your application. The following article will guide you on how to install PHP 7.4 version with Apache and Nginx.

How to install PHP 7.4 with Nginx

PHP-FPM (“fastCGI process manager) shall be used here for managing the PHP files. This is required because Nginx cannot support processing PHP files, as we will see later for Apache. For installation of PHP and PHP-FPM, run the command below:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install php-fpm

The FPM service will start running as soon as the installation is done. To check its status use:

systemctl status php7.4-fpm

And then you will receive an output such as the below:

php7.4-fpm.service - The PHP 7.4 FastCGI Process Manager
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/php7.4-fpm.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Tue 2020-06-09 19:07:05 UTC; 37s ago

The lines below can then be added for enabling Nginx to process the PHP files:

server {

 # . . . other code

   location ~ \.php$ {

     include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;

     fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;

  }

}

For the new settings to produce full effect, restarting the Nginx service is necessary:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

How to install PHP 7.4 with Apache

For the installation of PHP  along with Apache module, the following command can be used:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install php libapache2-mod-php

Now restart the Apache for the effects to take place completely:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

How to install PHP extensions

PHP extensions are useful since they can expand the range of the PHP function. apt can be used to install the PHP extensions:

sudo apt install php-[extname]

In order to install the 2 extensions MySQL and GD , run the command below:

sudo apt install php-mysql php-gd

Once you have installed the new extensions then restart your system to let the changes take place completely, or restart your web server service.

Test PHP Processing

In order to find out if the configuration has been  done appropriately for PHP processing or not, you need to create the new file info.php within the /var/www/html  directory using the code below:

<?php
phpinfo();

Once this step is concluded and the file has been saved, go to  http://your_server_ip/info.php to see whether the configuration has been done properly or not.

What to if your application doesn’t support PHP 7.4

In such a scenario, you can download the previous PHP versions as follows:

A repository containing various PHP versions can be run as follows:

sudo apt install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

Now attach the version number to the package name to install any version you want

sudo apt install php[version]

Here let us take an example as to how you can get the 7.1 version of PHP:

sudo apt install php7.1 php7.1-common php7.1-opcache php7.1-mcrypt php7.1-cli php7.1-gd php7.1-curl php7.1-mysql

We hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to install PHP on Nginx or Apache on a Ubuntu based system. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to leave them in the comments section below!

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raindog308

Dread Lord of LowEnd Content at LowEndBox

I'm raindog308, techno polymath and long-time LowEndTalk community Administrator. My technical interests include all things Unix, perl, python, golang, shell scripting, vintage operating systems such as MVS, and relational database systems such as Oracle, PostgreSQL, and MySQL.

I also enjoy using LEBs! I have an empire of little guys for VPNs, larger guys for apps, and big guys for databases and storage. When I'm not in front a screen I'm into German Shepherd dogs, quality knives, target shooting, theology, tabletop roleplaying games, and forest hiking.

I enjoy writing technical articles here on LowEndBox to help people get more out of their systems. You can find me on LowEndTalk @raindog308

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