Installing Apache, MySQL, and PHP on Linux

                                                                         

Get the sourceballs -

 

The first thing you need to  do is obtain the sourceballs for each package, we will be compiling each package  from scratch here, and, while there are also binary packages available for some  distributions, I find your end results are usually better when building each  package for your machine. Make sure you get the source files.

Here are the links and the  package versions available at the time this tutorial was written

Apache
URL : http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi
Current Version – 2.0.48

MySQL
URL : http://www.mysql.com/downloads/mysql-4.0.html
Current Version – 4.0.16

PHP
URL : http://www.php.net/downloads.php
Current Version – 4.3.4

Ok, so you've got the files  now what ?, well now the fun begins..

Installation –

The first thing we need to  do is extract the sourceballs so we can work with the files included in them.  Beginning now we will be working as root, so open a terminal window, change to  the directory in which you saved your downloaded files and become root by  issuing the su command, enter the root password and you should be good to  go.

To extract the sourceballs  type the following commands;

#tar -zxf  httpd-2.0.48.tar.gz (enter)

#tar -zxf  mysql-4.0.16.tar.gz (enter)

#tar -zxf  php-4.3.4.tar.gz (enter)

The commands above will  extract the sourceballs into their own separate directories. Now lets move on to  compiling the source into usable programs. We'll start  with Apache.

Compiling Apache –

Change into the directory  created when you untarred the sourceball as follows;

#cd httpd-2.0.48 (enter)

Follow this command by  typing;

#./configure –prefix=/usr/local/apache2  –enable-mods-shared=most (enter)

This tells Apache to  install in the /usr/local/apache2 directory, and to build most of the  available loadable modules. There are a ton of options with Apache, but these  should work for the most part. Once the configure is done and the system returns  the prompt to you, issue the following command;

#make

This will take a few  minutes, once the prompt comes back again issue the following command;

#make install

Wait for a few minutes and  viola !, Apache is installed with the exception of a few minor changes we still  need to make. They are as follows..

Issue the following  command;

#vi /usr/local/apache2/conf/httpd.conf

Check to make sure the  following line is present in the file at the bottom of the LoadModule list, if  it is not there add it;

LoadModule php4_module  modules/libphp4.so

Find the DirectoryIndex  line and edit it so it looks like the following;

DirectoryIndex  index.html index.html.var index.php

Find the AddType  application section and add the following line;

AddType application/x-httpd-php  .php

Thats it, save the file and  we are done with Apache. Now, on to MySQL !

Compiling MySQL -

Change into the MySQL  source directory as follows;

#cd mysql-4.0.16 (enter)

Follow this command by  typing;

#./configure –prefix=/usr/local/mysql  –localstatedir=/usr/local/mysql/data –disable-maintainer-mode –with-mysqld-user=mysql  –enable-large-files-without-debug (enter)

Sit back and wait for a  while while configure does its thing, once the system returns the prompt to you  issue the following command;

#make (enter)

Unless you have a very fast  machine this will take some time, so spend time with your family, grab a beer,  go for a walk, or whatever you're into. When you get back, assuming the system  has returned the prompt to you issue the following command;

#make install (enter)

Cool !, MySQL is installed,  there are only a couple things left to do to get it working, first we need to  create a group for MySQL as follows;

#/usr/sbin/groupadd  mysql (enter)

Then we create a user  called mysql which belongs to the mysql group;

#/usr/sbin/useradd -g  mysql mysql (enter)

Now we install the database  files as follows;

#./scripts/mysql_install_db  (enter)

Then we make a couple minor  ownership changes;

# chown -R root:mysql /usr/local/mysql  (enter)

<
p># chown -R mysql:mysql /usr/local/mysql/data  (enter)

Last but not least, we use  vi to add a line the ld.so.conf file as follows;

#vi /etc/ld.so.conf

And we add the following  line;

/usr/local/mysql/lib/mysql

Thats it, MySQL is  installed, you can run it by issuing the following command;

#/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqld_safe  –user=mysql &

And as long as we're here  we might as well set a root password for MySQL as follows;

#/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqladmin  -u root password new_password

Where new_password is the  password you want to use.

Ok, so far so good, on to  PHP !

Compiling PHP -

Change into the PHP source  directory as follows;

#cd php-4.3.4 (enter)

Follow this command by  typing;

#./configure –prefix=/usr/local/php  –with-apxs2=/usr/local/apache2/bin/apxs –with-mysql=/usr/local/mysql (enter)

Once the prompt comes back  to you issue the following command;

#make (enter)

Hang out for awhile, and  then yep, you guessed it, once you have the prompt back;

#make install (enter)

Once the install finishes  and you have the prompt back issue the following command;

#cp php.ini-recommended  /usr/local/php/lib/php.ini (enter)

Then edit that file;

#vi /usr/local/php/lib/php.ini  (enter)

And change the following;

Find the doc_root  section and enter the correct path for the directory which serves your web  content, such as;

doc_root= "/usr/local/apache2/htdocs/"

(this is default for  apache2)

Then find the file_uploads  section and change it to reflect the following;

file_uploads=Off

(for security reasons)

Thats if for PHP, now lets  see if it all works..

Testing –

Assuming your MySQL process  is still running from earlier, lets start Apache by issuing the following  command;

#/usr/local/apache2/bin/apachectl  start (enter)

This starts the Apache web  server, now change into the following directory;

#cd /usr/local/apache2/htdocs  (enter)

And using vi create a file  called test.php;

 

#vi test.php

 

Add the following line to  the file;

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Save the file, then fire up  your browser and point it to localhost/test.php. You should see a listing  of all kinds of cool info about Apache, PHP, etc. If you do then your set !, if  you don't, then take a look at your logs for Apache and MySql, and remember Google  is your friend. But hopefully you do, and now you have a fully functioning  setup.

Ok, one last step and we'll  be done, you have everything running now, but you had to start Apache and MySql  manually, that's something you don't want to have to remember to do everytime  you reboot your machine, so lets fix it.

 

 Causes of Access denied Errors

        If you encounter problems when you try to connect to the MySQL         server, the following items describe some courses of action you         can take to correct the problem.      

# /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqladmin -u root test
/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqladmin: connect to server at 'localhost' failed
error: 'Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: NO)'