LEMP-stack-basic-implementation

Pre-requisites

Setting Up AWS EC2 Instance with Ubuntu Server

To complete this project, you will need an AWS account and a virtual server with Ubuntu Server OS.

AWS Account Setup

1. Register a new AWS account.
2. Launch a new EC2 instance in your preferred region using the t2.micro family and Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS (HVM).

IMPORTANT: Save your private key (.pem file) securely and do not share it.

Connecting to the EC2 Instance

MAC/Linux Users

1. Open Terminal.
2. Use the same key downloaded from AWS; no need to convert it.
3. Change directory to the location of your PEM file (likely in the Downloads folder): cd ~/Downloads
4. Change permissions for the private key file (.pem): sudo chmod 0400 <private-key-name>.pem
5. Connect to the instance: ssh -i <private-key-name>.pem ubuntu@<Public-IP-address>

AWS Free Tier Limits

• You can use 750 hours (31.25 days) of t2.micro server per month for the first 12 months FOR FREE.
• Stop your EC2 instance when not in use.
• By default, there is a soft limit of maximum 5 running instances at the same time.
• Note: Every time you stop and start your EC2 instance, you will have a new IP address. Update your SSH credentials accordingly.

STEP 1 - INSTALLING THE NGINX WEB SERVER

Install Nginx using apt package manager:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

Check the status of the Nginx service:

sudo systemctl status nginx

Open TCP port 80 to allow incoming traffic:

# Add a rule to EC2 configuration
# to open inbound connection through port 80

Verify the installation locally:

# Access server via DNS name
curl http://localhost:80

# Access server via IP address
curl http://127.0.0.1:80

Access the server from the internet:

# Access using Public IP address
curl -s http://<Public-IP-Address>:80

If the server responds, it is correctly installed and accessible. Also can check it on browser

STEP 2 - INSTALLING MYSQL

Install MySQL using apt package manager:

sudo apt install mysql-server

Log in to the MySQL console:

sudo mysql

Run a security script and set the root user password:

ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_native_password BY 'PassWord.1';
exit

Run the interactive script to secure the installation:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Answer the prompts to configure password validation and set a root password.

Test if you can log in to the MySQL console:

sudo mysql -p

To exit the MySQL console:

exit

For increased security, create dedicated user accounts for each database.

Note: PHP applications on MySQL 8 require mysql_native_password as the authentication method.

MySQL is now installed and secured. Next, we will install PHP.

STEP 3 - INSTALLING PHP

Install PHP-FPM and PHP-MySQL packages:

sudo apt install php-fpm php-mysql

Confirm the installation by typing Y and pressing ENTER.

PHP components are now installed. Next, you will configure Nginx to use them.

STEP 4 - CONFIGURING NGINX TO USE PHP PROCESSOR

Create a new server block configuration file for your domain:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/projectLEMP

Paste the following configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name projectLEMP www.projectLEMP;
    root /var/www/projectLEMP;
    index index.html index.htm index.php;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;
    }

    location ~ /\.ht {
        deny all;
    }
}

Save and close the file. Then, activate the configuration:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/projectLEMP /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Test the configuration for syntax errors:

sudo nginx -t

If no errors are reported, reload Nginx:

sudo systemctl reload nginx

Verify that your website is working by opening it in a browser using your server's IP address or public DNS name.

Your Nginx server is now configured to use PHP processing.

STEP 5 - TESTING PHP WITH NGINX

Create a test PHP file named info.php in your document root:

sudo nano /var/www/projectLEMP/info.php

Add the following PHP code to the file:

<?php
phpinfo();

Save and close the file.

Access the page in your web browser using your server's domain name or public IP address, followed by /info.php:

http://server_domain_or_IP/info.php

You will see a page with detailed information about your PHP server.

After reviewing the information, remove the file for security reasons:

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

Nginx can handle .php files by successfully executing the PHP code.

STEP 6 - RETRIEVING DATA FROM MYSQL DATABASE WITH PHP (CONTINUED)

Create a test database and configure access:

1. Connect to the MySQL console using the root account:

   sudo mysql

2. Create a new database:

   CREATE DATABASE `example_database`;

3. Create a new user with full privileges on the database:

   CREATE USER 'example_user'@'%' IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_native_password BY 'password';
   GRANT ALL ON example_database.* TO 'example_user'@'%';

4. Exit the MySQL shell:

   exit

5. Test the new user's permissions:

   mysql -u example_user -p
   SHOW DATABASES;

Create a test table and insert sample data:

CREATE TABLE example_database.todo_list (
    item_id INT AUTO_INCREMENT,
    content VARCHAR(255),
    PRIMARY KEY(item_id)
);

INSERT INTO example_database.todo_list (content) VALUES ("My first important item");

Create a PHP script to retrieve and display the data:

1. Create a new PHP file:

   nano /var/www/projectLEMP/todo_list.php

2. Add the following PHP code to the file:

   <?php
   $user = "example_user";
   $password = "password";
   $database = "example_database";
   $table = "todo_list";
   
   try {
     $db = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=$database", $user, $password);
     echo "<h2>TODO</h2><ol>";
     foreach($db->query("SELECT content FROM $table") as $row) {
       echo "<li>" . $row['content'] . "</li>";
     }
     echo "</ol>";
   } catch (PDOException $e) {
       print "Error!: " . $e->getMessage() . "<br/>";
       die();
   }

3. Save and close the file.

Access the page in your web browser using your server's domain name or public IP address, followed by /todo_list.php:

http://server_domain_or_IP/todo_list.php

You should see a page displaying the content from your test table.