Install LAMP Stack on Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, and RHEL

A LAMP stack combines Linux, Apache HTTP Server, MariaDB, and PHP to serve dynamic web applications from distribution packages. This guide installs and integrates those components on Rocky Linux using native httpd, mariadb-server, and php-fpm packages, opens HTTP through firewalld, and finishes with a PHP script that reads a row from a local MariaDB database.

The procedure also applies to AlmaLinux, RHEL, Oracle Linux, and CentOS Stream when the same packages are available in your enabled repositories.

Prerequisites

• Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, RHEL, Oracle Linux, or CentOS Stream with BaseOS and AppStream enabled.
• sudo command or root access for packages, services, and firewall changes.
• Outbound access to distribution repositories.
• A host without both MariaDB and MySQL server packages already installed.

Check the available LAMP package versions

Package versions depend on your distribution major release and repository metadata—not on this article’s publication date.

Identify the operating system:

cat /etc/os-release

Sample output:

NAME="Rocky Linux"
VERSION="10.2 (Red Quartz)"
VERSION_ID="10.2"
PLATFORM_ID="platform:el10"
PRETTY_NAME="Rocky Linux 10.2 (Red Quartz)"

Look up the core LAMP packages before you install them. Package discovery and installs use the dnf command.

dnf info httpd mariadb-server php php-fpm

Sample output:

Available Packages
Name         : httpd
Version      : 2.4.63
Release      : 13.el10_2.4
Repository   : appstream
...
Name         : mariadb-server
Version      : 10.11.18
Release      : 1.el10_2
Repository   : appstream
...
Name         : php
Version      : 8.3.31
Release      : 1.el10_2
Repository   : appstream
...
Name         : php-fpm
Version      : 8.3.31
Release      : 1.el10_2
Repository   : appstream

The Repository field should point at AppStream or another enabled distribution repo—not a third-party stream you did not deliberately enable.

This guide uses the unversioned mariadb-server package, which provides MariaDB 10.11 on the tested host. EL 10.2 also offers MariaDB 11.8 through the separate mariadb11.8-server package, but that alternative is outside this baseline stack procedure. Red Hat documents both package families and confirms that only one MariaDB stream can be installed from native RPMs at a time.

Install and test Apache HTTP Server

Install the Apache HTTP Server package from AppStream:

sudo dnf install httpd

Record the installed Apache version:

httpd -v

Sample output:

Server version: Apache/2.4.63 (Rocky Linux)

Enable and start the service with systemctl command:

sudo systemctl enable --now httpd

Confirm the unit is running:

systemctl status httpd

Sample output:

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

When firewalld is active, allow HTTP through the default zone. See the firewalld reference for --permanent, --reload, and --zone= options when an interface uses a non-default zone. This guide opens port 80 only—not HTTPS, which belongs in a separate TLS configuration article.

Add the HTTP service to the permanent ruleset:

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http

Reload so the runtime configuration picks up the change:

sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Confirm that HTTP is allowed in both the active runtime and permanent configurations:

sudo firewall-cmd --query-service=http

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --query-service=http

Sample output:

yes
yes

Red Hat distinguishes runtime and permanent firewalld configurations; permanent verification requires the --permanent option.

Request the default site locally with curl command:

curl -I http://127.0.0.1

Sample output:

HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2026 02:32:10 GMT
Server: Apache/2.4.63 (Rocky Linux)

A default RHEL-family Apache installation can return 403 Forbidden before an index file exists. That response still confirms that HTTP reached Apache. An empty reply or connection refused means the service still needs attention.

The localhost request verifies Apache itself. To verify routing and the host firewall, request http://<server-ip>/ from another machine on the network.

Check that Apache is listening with the ss command:

sudo ss -lntp | grep ':80'

Sample output:

LISTEN 0 511 *:80 *:* users:(("httpd",pid=23965,fd=4))

Install and initialize MariaDB

This guide uses MariaDB from AppStream because it completes the stack with distribution packages alone.

Install the server package:

sudo dnf install mariadb-server

Record the installed MariaDB version:

mariadb --version

Sample output:

mariadb  Ver 15.1 Distrib 10.11.18-MariaDB, for Linux (x86_64) using  EditLine wrapper

Enable and start MariaDB:

sudo systemctl enable --now mariadb

Confirm the service:

systemctl status mariadb

Sample output:

● mariadb.service - MariaDB 10.11 database server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/mariadb.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: active (running)

Optionally review the default MariaDB accounts and authentication settings with the interactive helper:

sudo mariadb-secure-installation

On MariaDB 10.11, local root@localhost access normally uses unix_socket authentication already, so there is usually no need to create a separate database root password. The script remains useful for removing anonymous accounts and the default test database.

Retain unix_socket authentication for the MariaDB root account in this guide. This allows subsequent administrative commands to use sudo mariadb without storing or entering a database root password.

If the script prompts you, expect questions similar to:

• Current root password — press Enter on a fresh install when no password is set yet
• unix_socket authentication — retain it for root@localhost; do not switch to password authentication for this guide
• Remove anonymous users — yes for most lab and production hosts
• Disallow root login remotely — yes when only local administration is required
• Remove test database — yes unless you rely on the default test database
• Reload privilege tables — yes

Verify local administrative access:

sudo mariadb

A MariaDB [(none)]> prompt confirms Unix-socket authentication works. Type EXIT; to leave the shell.

When your policy requires password-based root authentication instead, replace later sudo mariadb commands with mariadb -u root -p. For example, the test-database command would begin with mariadb -u root -p <<'SQL', and cleanup would use:

mariadb -u root -p -e \
  "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS lamp_test;
   DROP USER IF EXISTS 'lamp_app'@'localhost';"

Port 3306 does not need to be opened in firewalld for the PHP-to-database test later—PHP-FPM and MariaDB communicate on the same host.

Install PHP and required extensions

Modern Apache integrations on Enterprise Linux use PHP-FPM over FastCGI. You will not enable legacy mod_php or look for a libphp module in this workflow.

Install the core PHP packages:

sudo dnf install php php-cli php-fpm php-mysqlnd

Many web applications also need common extension RPMs:

Install the optional set when your application needs them:

sudo dnf install php-mbstring php-xml php-gd php-intl php-opcache

Print the installed PHP version:

php -v

List loaded modules and confirm the MySQL drivers are present:

php -m

Sample output:

[PHP Modules]
...
mysqli
mysqlnd
pdo_mysql
...

Show where php.ini and drop-in files live:

php --ini

Sample output:

Configuration File (php.ini) Path: /etc
Loaded Configuration File:         /etc/php.ini
Scan for additional .ini files in: /etc/php.d

The mysqlnd and pdo_mysql entries matter for the database test later.

Verify Apache and PHP-FPM integration

Enable and start PHP-FPM:

sudo systemctl enable --now php-fpm

Validate the FPM configuration syntax:

php-fpm -t

Sample output:

[22-Jul-2026 08:02:13] NOTICE: configuration file /etc/php-fpm.conf test is successful

Test the Apache configuration:

sudo apachectl configtest

Sample output:

Syntax OK

Restart both services so Apache picks up the FPM proxy configuration:

sudo systemctl restart php-fpm httpd

Key integration files on a default install:

/etc/httpd/conf.d/php.conf      Apache FastCGI proxy to PHP-FPM
/etc/php-fpm.conf               Main FPM configuration
/etc/php-fpm.d/www.conf         Default pool; socket at /run/php-fpm/www.sock

Create a small PHP test page under the Apache document root:

echo '<?php echo "PHP " . PHP_VERSION . " via " . php_sapi_name(); ?>' | sudo tee /var/www/html/test.php

Request it locally:

curl --fail-with-body -sS http://127.0.0.1/test.php

Sample output:

PHP 8.3.31 via fpm-fcgi

The fpm-fcgi SAPI confirms Apache forwarded the request to PHP-FPM rather than returning raw source text.

Remove the test file when you are done with this section:

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

If you temporarily use phpinfo() for debugging, delete that file immediately afterward—it exposes environment details.

Test the complete PHP-to-MariaDB stack

This step proves the full path:

Client → Apache → PHP-FPM → PHP MySQL extension → MariaDB

Create a dedicated database and application user. Do not embed the MariaDB root password in PHP. The password below is a temporary lab credential only.

The following administrative commands assume that you retained Unix-socket authentication for the MariaDB root account.

sudo mariadb <<'SQL'
CREATE DATABASE lamp_test;

CREATE USER 'lamp_app'@'localhost'
    IDENTIFIED BY 'LampAppPass_2026';

GRANT SELECT ON lamp_test.*
    TO 'lamp_app'@'localhost';

CREATE TABLE lamp_test.items (
    id INT PRIMARY KEY,
    label VARCHAR(64)
);

INSERT INTO lamp_test.items
    VALUES (1, 'stack-ok');
SQL

The command exits silently when the objects are created successfully.

Create a PDO test script:

sudo tee /var/www/html/db-test.php > /dev/null <<'EOF'
<?php
$dsn = 'mysql:host=localhost;dbname=lamp_test;charset=utf8mb4';
$user = 'lamp_app';
$pass = 'LampAppPass_2026';
try {
    $pdo = new PDO($dsn, $user, $pass, [PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION]);
    $row = $pdo->query('SELECT label FROM items WHERE id = 1')->fetchColumn();
    echo 'Database value: ' . $row;
} catch (PDOException $e) {
    http_response_code(500);
    echo 'Database error';
}
EOF

Request the script through Apache:

curl --fail-with-body -sS http://127.0.0.1/db-test.php

Sample output:

Database value: stack-ok

That response confirms PHP reached MariaDB with the limited application account.

Remove lab-only resources when testing is complete—the test script, application user, and database are not for production use:

sudo rm /var/www/html/db-test.php

Drop the temporary database and user:

sudo mariadb -e "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS lamp_test; DROP USER IF EXISTS 'lamp_app'@'localhost';"

Use your own application database name, user, and grants in production.

Verify services and reboot persistence

Confirm all three stack services are active:

systemctl is-active httpd php-fpm mariadb

Sample output:

active
active
active

Confirm they are enabled for boot:

systemctl is-enabled httpd php-fpm mariadb

Sample output:

enabled
enabled
enabled

Review listening ports:

sudo ss -lntp | grep -E ':80|:3306'

Sample output:

LISTEN 0 80 0.0.0.0:3306 0.0.0.0:* users:(("mariadbd",pid=23732,fd=18))
LISTEN 0 511 *:80 *:* users:(("httpd",pid=23965,fd=4))

After a reboot, repeat a quick HTTP request and the database test if you kept the lab script. On the tested host, enabled units started automatically and the PHP page continued to return the expected value.

The default /var/www/html document root and a local localhost database connection did not require disabling SELinux on Rocky Linux 10.2. Custom document roots or network database hosts may need separate SELinux context work—outside this baseline install.

Troubleshoot LAMP stack problems

Useful log commands—see view logs with journalctl for follow mode and filters.

Recent logs for each stack service:

sudo journalctl -u httpd

sudo journalctl -u php-fpm

sudo journalctl -u mariadb

References

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 — Deploying web servers and reverse proxies
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 — Installing and using dynamic programming languages
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 — Using MariaDB
• Rocky Linux documentation — Web Servers: Apache
• Rocky Linux documentation — PHP and PHP-FPM
• Apache HTTP Server documentation
• MariaDB documentation
• PHP-FPM documentation

Summary

Install a LAMP stack on Rocky Linux and compatible Enterprise Linux releases by enabling AppStream, installing httpd, mariadb-server, and php-fpm, opening HTTP in firewalld, and hardening MariaDB with mariadb-secure-installation. Apache serves PHP through FastCGI and PHP-FPM—not mod_php. Prove the integration with a small PHP script that reads from a dedicated MariaDB user and database, then remove lab-only test files. For Nginx instead of Apache, use install LEMP stack on Rocky Linux. For PHP 8.4 specifically, follow install PHP 8.4 on Enterprise Linux.