How to Install LAMP and LEMP Stack on Ubuntu (EC2)

By Ravindra Bagale, trainer · LinkedIn · Last updated: 18 October 2026

1. Why: dynamic sites need a database

A static site only shows files. A dynamic site takes data from you and keeps it:

1. A sign-up form saves your name, email and password.
2. A login form checks them against what was saved.
3. An upload form stores your photo or document details.

All of that is saved in a database, such as MySQL. The PHP code talks to the database in a language called SQL, which we learn in coming chapters. In this chapter we install the whole stack, so it's ready for that.

2. What changes on Ubuntu

The stack is the same: Linux, a web server, a database, PHP. The names around it change:

1. Package manager: apt-get instead of yum.
2. Apache is the package apache2 (not httpd), and its service is apache2.
3. Database: Ubuntu offers mysql-server (MySQL itself). Its service is mysql.
4. PHP: install php and php-fpm. Ubuntu installs its own default PHP version; you don't type a version.
5. The php-fpm service has the version in its name, for example php8.3-fpm. Find your version with php -v (it prints PHP 8.3.x ...) or ls /run/php/ (it shows php8.3-fpm.sock).
6. Ubuntu's Apache puts a default index.html in /var/www/html.
7. Apache doesn't hand PHP to php-fpm until you switch it on (section 5).

3. How: the Ubuntu lamp.sh script

Launch an Ubuntu EC2 server with SSH (22) from your IP and HTTP (80) allowed, and connect as ubuntu.

Step 1. In your home folder, open a new file. Don't use sudo here; the script should belong to you:

cd ~
nano lamp.sh

Step 2. Type the script:

#!/bin/bash
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install apache2 mysql-server php php-fpm -y
PHPV=$(php -r 'echo PHP_MAJOR_VERSION.".".PHP_MINOR_VERSION;')
sudo service apache2 start
sudo service mysql start
sudo service php$PHPV-fpm start
cd /var/www/html
sudo rm -f index.html
sudo touch index.html index.php
echo "html page" | sudo tee index.html
echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" | sudo tee index.php

What each part does:

1. sudo apt-get update refreshes Ubuntu's package list first.
2. One line installs Apache, MySQL, PHP and php-fpm, with -y so the script never stops at a question.
3. PHPV=... asks PHP for its own version (for example 8.3) and keeps it in a variable. So php$PHPV-fpm becomes php8.3-fpm on your server, and the script works whatever version Ubuntu installs. (If you type a version yourself, such as php8.5-fpm, and your Ubuntu doesn't have it, you get Unable to locate package or Unit php8.5-fpm.service not found.)
4. The three service ... start lines start Apache, MySQL and php-fpm.
5. sudo rm -f index.html removes Ubuntu's default Apache page, so you see your own page.
6. The tee lines write the two test pages as root (exactly as in the previous chapter).

Writing a file with several lines. For a longer page, use a heredoc: everything up to the EOF line goes into the file.

cat <<'EOF' | sudo tee index.php
<?php
phpinfo();
?>
EOF

Step 3. Save, make it executable and run it:

chmod +x lamp.sh
./lamp.sh

4. Two errors you may meet while running it

4.1 chmod says "Operation not permitted"

If you created the file with sudo nano lamp.sh, it belongs to root. Then chmod +x lamp.sh (or chmod u+x lamp.sh) as ubuntu fails with Operation not permitted: only the owner or root can change permissions.

1. Check the owner: ls -l lamp.sh shows root root.
2. Use sudo: sudo chmod +x lamp.sh.
3. Better next time: create your scripts in ~ without sudo.

4.2 apt says "Could not get lock"

Symptom. E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend. It is held by process 1234 (apt-get).

Cause. Another install is still running. On a new Ubuntu server, the automatic updates often run in the first minutes after boot, or an earlier apt-get of yours hasn't finished.

Fix:

1. Wait a few minutes and run the command again.
2. Check what is running: ps aux | grep -i apt.
3. If it's still stuck after a long wait, reboot the server: sudo reboot.
4. Never delete the lock files while apt is running. Two installs writing at once can break the package database.

5. Ubuntu Apache downloads index.php: switch on the PHP hand-off

Step 1. Open http://PUBLIC_IP/index.html. You see html page.

Step 2. Open http://PUBLIC_IP/index.php. On Ubuntu, the browser downloads the file instead of showing the PHP page.

Why? php-fpm is installed and running, but Ubuntu's Apache has no rule yet that sends .php files to it. So Apache sends the file as it is.

Step 3. Switch the hand-off on (use your version from php -v):

sudo a2enmod proxy_fcgi setenvif
sudo a2enconf php8.3-fpm
sudo service apache2 restart

1. a2enmod switches on Apache modules: proxy_fcgi lets Apache talk to php-fpm, setenvif is needed by its config.
2. a2enconf switches on the config file php8.3-fpm.conf that sends .php to the php-fpm socket.
3. The restart loads both.

Step 4. Refresh http://PUBLIC_IP/index.php. The PHP information page appears, with Server API: FPM/FastCGI and Build Provider: Ubuntu.

The final lamp.sh. Add the fix to the script, after the start lines, so a new server works first time:

sudo a2enmod proxy_fcgi setenvif
sudo a2enconf php$PHPV-fpm
sudo service apache2 restart

6. Read the error: four messages, and the bottom lines

Errors look scary, but each one tells you what went wrong. Read the message before you try anything.

1. command not found: a typo in the command, or the program isn't installed. Example: ngnix -t. Check the spelling, or install the package.
2. Operation not permitted (or Permission denied): you need sudo, or you aren't the owner of the file. Example: chmod +x lamp.sh on a root-owned file (section 4.1).
3. Unit ... not found: that service isn't installed, or its name is wrong. Example: sudo service php-fpm start on Ubuntu gives Unit php-fpm.service not found, because the name is php8.3-fpm.
4. Job for ... failed: the service is installed but crashed while starting. The reason is in its status.

The status habit. When a service fails, look at the status of that service:

sudo service apache2 status

1. The top says what happened: Active: failed.
2. The bottom lines say why. Two common ones:
   • Address already in use ... could not bind to address [::]:80: another web server already has port 80. Stop it.
   • unknown directive or Invalid command: a typo in a config file. The line number is in the message.
3. Fix the reason, then start the service again.

7. LEMP: switch the same website to Nginx

Why. Many companies run Nginx instead of Apache. You can switch a server to Nginx and keep the same website files.

Step 1. Free port 80. Only one web server can own it:

sudo service apache2 stop
sudo systemctl disable apache2

(disable stops Apache from taking the port again at the next boot.)

Step 2. Install and start Nginx:

sudo apt-get install nginx -y
sudo service nginx start

Step 3. Check the web root. Open /etc/nginx/sites-available/default and find the root line. On Ubuntu it is already root /var/www/html;, the same folder Apache used. (If yours points elsewhere, change it to /var/www/html.)

Step 4. Test and reload:

sudo nginx -t
sudo service nginx reload

Step 5. Open http://PUBLIC_IP/index.html. The same html page, now served by Nginx.

A lemp.sh for new servers. Copy the script and swap the web server:

cp lamp.sh lemp.sh
nano lemp.sh

Change the install line to sudo apt-get install nginx mysql-server php-fpm -y, change apache2 to nginx in the start line, and delete the three a2en.../apache2 restart lines (they are Apache-only). Then add the Nginx PHP block from section 9.

Still seeing the old page? The browser cache

After switching servers or editing a page, the browser may still show the old copy it saved earlier. Turn the cache off while you work:

1. Right-click the page, Inspect.
2. Open the Network tab.
3. Tick Disable cache.
4. Keep the developer tools open and refresh.

8. Why Nginx also downloads .php

Open http://PUBLIC_IP/index.php on Nginx: the browser downloads it again. Nginx, like Ubuntu's Apache, needs a rule that sends .php files to php-fpm.

9. How: the Nginx PHP location block

Step 1. Find your php-fpm socket:

ls /run/php/

It shows something like php8.3-fpm.sock.

Step 2. Edit the site file (the real file is in sites-available; sites-enabled/default is only a link to it):

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

Step 3. In the index line, add index.php:

index index.php index.html index.htm index.nginx-debian.html;

Step 4. Further down, find the commented block under # pass PHP scripts to FastCGI server. Remove the # from the location line, the include line, the php-fpm fastcgi_pass line and the closing }. Leave the 127.0.0.1:9000 line commented. Put your socket in fastcgi_pass:

location ~ \.php$ {
    include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
    fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
}

1. location ~ \.php$ matches every URL that ends in .php. (~ means a regular expression, \. is a real dot, $ is the end.)
2. include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf; adds Ubuntu's standard PHP settings.
3. fastcgi_pass is where php-fpm listens. A wrong version here (for example php8.5-fpm.sock when you have 8.3) gives a 502 Bad Gateway.

Step 5. Test the config, then reload:

sudo nginx -t
sudo service nginx reload

nginx -t must say syntax is ok and test is successful. If it shows an error, it names the file and line; fix it before reloading. A reload keeps the site up while Nginx reads the new config.

Step 6. Refresh http://PUBLIC_IP/index.php (with Disable cache ticked). The PHP information page appears, now through Nginx: your LEMP stack works.

10. First steps in MySQL

What is SQL? SQL (Structured Query Language) is the language for working with relational databases: creating tables, saving rows, reading them back. MySQL and MariaDB both use it. Common SQL databases:

1. Open source: MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL.
2. Commercial: Oracle Database (common in large enterprises such as banks), Microsoft SQL Server, IBM Db2.
3. Managed on AWS: Amazon Aurora (compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL) and Amazon RDS.

MySQL is one of the most widely used of all.

Step 1. Open the database shell. On Ubuntu, the MySQL root user logs in through the Linux root account at first, so use sudo:

sudo mysql

The prompt changes to mysql>. You are now inside the database, not in Linux.

Step 2. Give the database admin a password:

ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED WITH caching_sha2_password BY 'YOUR_STRONG_PASSWORD';

1. 'root' is the database administrator (a MySQL user, not the Linux root).
2. 'localhost' means this login is allowed only from the same server.
3. IDENTIFIED WITH caching_sha2_password BY switches root to normal password login with this password.
4. Use a long, unique password that you don't use anywhere else, and keep the quotes and the ; at the end.

Step 3. Leave the shell:

exit;

Step 4. Log in again, now with the password:

mysql -u root -p

-u root is the user, and -p makes MySQL ask for the password. Never type the password after -p on the command line: it would be saved in your shell history.

Step 5. At Enter password:, type the password. Nothing appears while you type, not even stars. That's normal; it isn't stuck. Press Enter, and you are back at mysql>.

11. Web server and database on separate servers

In practice we run everything on one server. Real websites usually keep the database on its own server (or on Amazon RDS), which accepts connections only from the web server.

Why? If an attacker breaks into the web server, the data isn't sitting on the same machine. The database server also gets its own size, backups and security rules. We build this later with Amazon RDS.

12. Clean up: stop the instance

When you finish practising, Instance state > Stop instance in the EC2 console (check the region first). A stopped instance doesn't charge for running time; terminate test servers you don't need any more.

13. The whole flow on one page

1. Ubuntu LAMP: sudo apt-get update, then sudo apt-get install apache2 mysql-server php php-fpm -y.
2. Start apache2, mysql and php8.x-fpm (find the version with php -v or ls /run/php/); remove Ubuntu's default index.html.
3. .php downloads on Apache: a2enmod proxy_fcgi setenvif, a2enconf php8.x-fpm, restart apache2.
4. Root-owned script: sudo chmod +x. apt lock: wait, never delete lock files.
5. Read the message; for a failed service, read the status bottom lines.
6. LEMP: stop and disable apache2, install and start nginx, root stays /var/www/html.
7. Nginx PHP: index.php in the index line, location ~ \.php$ with your socket, nginx -t, reload.
8. Old page? DevTools, Network, Disable cache.
9. MySQL: sudo mysql, ALTER USER ... ;, exit;, mysql -u root -p (the password stays hidden).
10. Real setups put the database on its own server. Stop instances after practice.

14. Try at home

Recap

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