Step Three—Install PHP
PHP is an open source web scripting language that is widely used to build dynamic webpages.
To install PHP on your virtual private server, open terminal and type in this command:
sudo yum install php php-mysql php-fpm
Once you answer yes to the PHP prompt, PHP will be installed.
PHP Modules
PHP also has a variety of useful libraries and modules that you can add onto your server. You can see the libraries that are available by typing:
yum search php-
Terminal then will display the list of possible modules. The beginning looks like this:
php-bcmath.x86_64 : A module for PHP applications for using the bcmath library php-cli.x86_64 : Command-line interface for PHP php-common.x86_64 : Common files for PHP php-dba.x86_64 : A database abstraction layer module for PHP applications php-devel.x86_64 : Files needed for building PHP extensions php-embedded.x86_64 : PHP library for embedding in applications php-enchant.x86_64 : Human Language and Character Encoding Support php-gd.x86_64 : A module for PHP applications for using the gd graphics library php-imap.x86_64 : A module for PHP applications that use IMAP
To see more details about what each module does, type the following command into terminal, replacing the name of the module with whatever library you want to learn about.
yum info name of the module
Once you decide to install the module, type:
sudo yum install name of the module
You can install multiple libraries at once by separating the name of each module with a space.
Congratulations! You now have LAMP stack on your droplet!
We should also set the processes to run automatically when the server boots (php will run automatically once Apache starts):
sudo chkconfig httpd on
sudo chkconfig mysqld on
Step Four—RESULTS: See PHP on your Server
Although LAMP is installed on your virtual server, we can still take a look and see the components online by creating a quick php info page
To set this up, first create a new file:
sudo nano /var/www/html/info.php
Add in the following line:
<?php phpinfo(); ?>
Then Save and Exit.
Restart apache so that all of the changes take effect on your virtual server:
sudo service httpd restart
Finish up by visiting your php info page (make sure you replace the example ip address with your correct one): http://12.34.56.789/info.php
It should look similar to this.