Vagrant box Debian 12 LAMP

Make a Vagrant box with Debian 12 LAMP stack, plus configure it for development.

• Host: Linux or Mac.

• Guest: Debian 12, Apache 2.4, MariaDB 10.11, PHP 8.2, Python 3.9, NPM 9+, Node.js 18+, Git 2+.

• Leave code and version control files physically outside the VM while virtually accessing them inside the VM.

• Use any GUI tool (IDEs, browsers, database administration applications, Git clients) outside the VM to access code and data inside the VM.

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Details

Read Stemar Vagrant boxes.

Summary

VM = virtual machine

Quick installation

In host machine terminal:

mkdir -p ~/VM && cd $_
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/stemar/vagrant-debian-12.git debian-12
cd ~/VM/debian-12
vagrant up --provision
vagrant ssh

Steps

• Prerequisites
• Vagrant preparation
• Virtual machine provisioning
• Configuration checks

Result

• 64bit Debian 12 virtual machine with virtual 64GB HDD, 3GB RAM and updated LAMP stack from Bento.
• Custom .bash_aliases to modify bash settings inside the virtual machine.
• Configure LAMP settings from the host machine instead of inside the virtual machine.
• Provisioning in bash because the commands can easily be copied/pasted inside a VM or server for troubleshooting.
• Keep multiple Vagrant boxes in a separate location than your projects/code location.
  • .vagrant/ is created independently within each VM directory.
  • Multiple Vagrant boxes can be run concurrently from separate terminal tabs.
  • Avoid port collision by editing :forwarded_ports values in settings.yaml.
• Copied SSH keys to use the same in and out of VM.
• Copied Git configurations to use the same in and out of VM.
• Synchronized projects/code directories.
• Apache serves any local website at http://domain.com.localhost:8000 with VirtualDocumentRoot.
• Add more VirtualHost blocks from the host machine and re-provision the Vagrant box.
• MariaDB and Adminer with no password for username root.
  • Avoid writing a password a zillion times through development.
• Adminer served at http://localhost:8000/adminer.php.
• Development-specific php.ini settings from .htaccess for all local websites.
• Python 3.9 installed.

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Prerequisites

• VirtualBox 6+
• VirtualBox 6+ Extension Pack
• Vagrant 2+

SSH keys, Git config settings from host machine are copied in virtual machine.

Check if you have them on your host machine:

ll ~/.ssh
cat ~/.gitconfig

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Vagrant preparation

Edit values in settings.yaml.

• Edit the :machine values if necessary.
• Add arrays to the :forwarded_ports value if necessary.
  • Ex.: Change the forwarded ports of this virtual machine to avoid port collision if you have multiple virtual machines running at the same time.
• Change :synced_folder values to match your host machine pathname.
• Edit the :copy_files values:
• Edit the :php_error_reporting value if necessary.

Edit config files if needed.

• Edit the VirtualDocumentRoot public directory value in virtualhost.conf.
• Add VirtualHosts in virtualhost.conf.
• Edit php.ini.htaccess values.
• Add/edit lines to bash_aliases.

Edit provision.sh if needed.

• Add/edit Linux tools.
• Add/edit PHP libraries.
• Add anything you need.

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Virtual machine provisioning

Provision the box from the host machine terminal:

cd ~/VM/debian-12
vagrant up --provision

To halt the box:

vagrant halt -f

To boot the box without provisioning:

vagrant up

If anything goes wrong:

vagrant destroy -f
vagrant box update
vagrant up --provision

Check the status of all Vagrant machines on your host machine:

vagrant global-status

Connect to the box through SSH:

vagrant ssh

Bash prompt in virtual machine is now:

vagrant@debian-12:~$

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Configuration checks

Check LAMP settings

Check synchronized folders:

ll ~/Code
ll /vagrant

Check versions:

lsb_release -a
apache2 -v
mysql -V
php -v
git --version
openssl version
curl --version
npm -v
nodejs -v

Check Apache configuration:

apachectl configtest
apachectl -V
cat /etc/hosts
cat /etc/apache2/apache2.conf
cat /etc/apache2/envvars
ll /etc/apache2/conf-available
ll /etc/apache2/conf-enabled
ll /etc/apache2/sites-available
ll /etc/apache2/sites-enabled
cat /etc/apache2/conf-available/localhost.conf
cat /etc/apache2/sites-available/virtualhost.conf
cat /etc/apache2/conf-available/adminer.conf
sudo cat /var/log/apache2/error.log

Check MariaDB databases:

mysql -u root
MariaDB [(none)]> SHOW DATABASES; quit;

Check PHP modules and variables:

php -m
php -i

Browse local websites

Check localhost

http://localhost:8000

You see the "Apache2 Debian Default Page".

Check Adminer

http://localhost:8000/adminer.php

• Username: root
• Password: leave empty

Check your domain(s)

Replace domain.com with your domain and your custom forwarded port number.

http://domain.com.localhost:8000

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