How to Set Up a LEMP Stack on Ubuntu 24.04

A LEMP stack combines Linux, Nginx, MariaDB or MySQL, and PHP-FPM to run PHP websites and applications. On Ubuntu 24.04, you can build the stack from the standard Ubuntu repositories without adding third-party package sources. This tutorial sets up a production-oriented LEMP stack on a Raff Linux VM, creates a dedicated local database user, connects Nginx to PHP-FPM, verifies PHP execution, adds a basic firewall and HTTPS path, and finishes with end-to-end checks and cleanup instructions.

The current Ubuntu 24.04 package line uses PHP 8.3, and Ubuntu's Noble package repository provides MariaDB 10.11. You can verify those package baselines in the official Ubuntu PHP package listing and Ubuntu MariaDB package listing. This guide uses MariaDB, but the same LEMP architecture can use MySQL when your application requires it.

You need an Ubuntu 24.04 server with at least 2 GB RAM, SSH access, and a non-root user with sudo privileges. A domain is optional for the initial stack test but required for the HTTPS step.

Step 1 — Update Ubuntu and Confirm the Server Baseline

Update package metadata and install available updates:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

Check the operating system release:

cat /etc/os-release

If the upgrade reports that a reboot is required, reboot and reconnect before continuing:

sudo reboot

Verify: /etc/os-release should identify Ubuntu 24.04, and sudo apt update should complete without repository errors.

Step 2 — Install and Start Nginx

Install Nginx:

sudo apt install -y nginx

Enable it at boot and start it now:

sudo systemctl enable --now nginx

Check the service and installed version:

systemctl is-active nginx
nginx -v

If UFW is already active, allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic only after confirming that your SSH rule is present:

sudo ufw status
sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'

For a deeper Nginx-only setup, see How to Install Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04.

Verify: systemctl is-active nginx should return active, and curl -I http://127.0.0.1 should return an HTTP response from Nginx.

Step 3 — Install and Secure MariaDB

Install MariaDB from the Ubuntu repositories:

sudo apt install -y mariadb-server

Enable and start the service:

sudo systemctl enable --now mariadb

Run MariaDB's security helper:

sudo mariadb-secure-installation

For a single-server LEMP stack, keep local administrative access protected, remove anonymous users and the test database, and avoid unnecessary remote root access. Applications should never connect using the MariaDB root account.

Check the database version:

sudo mariadb -e "SELECT VERSION();"

Do not expose MariaDB port 3306 publicly for this architecture.

Verify: systemctl is-active mariadb should return active, and the version query should return a MariaDB 10.11 release from the Ubuntu 24.04 package line.

Step 4 — Install PHP-FPM and Common PHP Extensions

Install PHP-FPM, the CLI, MySQL/MariaDB support, and common PHP modules:

sudo apt install -y \
  php-fpm \
  php-cli \
  php-mysql \
  php-curl \
  php-gd \
  php-intl \
  php-mbstring \
  php-xml \
  php-zip \
  php-bcmath

Ubuntu 24.04's standard PHP branch is 8.3. Check the CLI version and PHP-FPM service:

php -v
systemctl is-active php8.3-fpm

Confirm the PHP-FPM Unix socket exists:

ls -l /run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock

If you deliberately install another PHP branch later, update both the service name and Nginx socket path consistently.

Verify: php -v should report PHP 8.3.x on the standard Ubuntu 24.04 package line, php8.3-fpm should be active, and /run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock should exist.

Step 5 — Create a Dedicated Database and Application User

Generate a strong password and save it in a password manager:

openssl rand -hex 24

Open MariaDB:

sudo mariadb

Create an application database and local-only user. Replace use_a_unique_password with the generated password:

CREATE DATABASE example_app
  CHARACTER SET utf8mb4
  COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

CREATE USER 'example_user'@'localhost'
  IDENTIFIED BY 'use_a_unique_password';

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON example_app.*
  TO 'example_user'@'localhost';

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Test the application account:

mariadb -u example_user -p example_app

Then run:

SELECT DATABASE(), CURRENT_USER();
EXIT;

Verify: The query should show example_app and example_user@localhost. Keep port 3306 closed to the public internet.

Step 6 — Create the Website Directory

This tutorial uses example.com. Replace it with your domain if you have one.

Create the document root:

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example.com/public
sudo chown -R "$USER":www-data /var/www/example.com
sudo find /var/www/example.com -type d -exec chmod 750 {} \;
sudo find /var/www/example.com -type f -exec chmod 640 {} \;

Create a basic HTML page:

cat <<'EOF' | sudo tee /var/www/example.com/public/index.html >/dev/null
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <title>LEMP stack ready</title>
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Nginx is serving the LEMP site</h1>
</body>
</html>
EOF

Verify: Run ls -ld /var/www/example.com/public and confirm that the directory exists, then confirm index.html is present with ls -l /var/www/example.com/public/index.html.

Step 7 — Configure the Nginx Server Block for PHP-FPM

Create the site configuration:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com

Add:

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;

    server_name example.com www.example.com;
    root /var/www/example.com/public;
    index index.php index.html;

    access_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.error.log;

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

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

    location ~ /\.(?!well-known).* {
        deny all;
    }
}

Enable the site and remove the default site symlink:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com \
  /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/example.com
sudo rm -f /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default

Test before reloading:

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Never reload Nginx after a failed nginx -t check.

Verify: sudo nginx -t should report successful syntax, and this request should return the site response:

curl -I http://127.0.0.1 -H 'Host: example.com'

Step 8 — Verify PHP Processing Without Leaving phpinfo() Exposed

Create a temporary PHP test file:

cat <<'EOF' | sudo tee /var/www/example.com/public/health.php >/dev/null
<?php
header('Content-Type: text/plain');
echo "php-fpm-ok\n";
EOF

Test it locally through Nginx:

curl http://127.0.0.1/health.php -H 'Host: example.com'

You should see:

php-fpm-ok

Delete the temporary PHP file immediately after verification:

sudo rm -f /var/www/example.com/public/health.php

This avoids leaving a phpinfo() page or other diagnostic endpoint exposed.

Verify: The PHP request should return php-fpm-ok, and test ! -f /var/www/example.com/public/health.php && echo removed should print removed after cleanup.

Step 9 — Verify PHP Can Reach MariaDB

Create a temporary database connectivity test outside the public document root:

cat > /tmp/lemp-db-test.php <<'PHP'
<?php
$pdo = new PDO(
    'mysql:host=localhost;dbname=example_app;charset=utf8mb4',
    'example_user',
    'use_a_unique_password',
    [PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION]
);
echo "database-ok\n";
PHP

Replace use_a_unique_password with the application database password, then run it from the CLI:

php /tmp/lemp-db-test.php

Remove the temporary file immediately:

rm -f /tmp/lemp-db-test.php

Because the test runs outside the public web root, the database credential is never intentionally exposed over HTTP.

Verify: The command should print database-ok, and the temporary test file should be removed afterward.

Step 10 — Add HTTPS When the Domain Points to the VM

If you have a public domain whose A or AAAA records point to this server, install Certbot and its Nginx plugin:

sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Request a certificate and redirect HTTP to HTTPS:

sudo certbot --nginx --redirect \
  -d example.com \
  -d www.example.com

Check the certificate and renewal process:

sudo certbot certificates
sudo certbot renew --dry-run

For certificate troubleshooting, use How to Secure Nginx with Let's Encrypt on Ubuntu 24.04.

Verify: curl -I https://example.com should complete over HTTPS, and curl -I http://example.com should redirect to HTTPS after Certbot updates the Nginx configuration.

Step 11 — Run the Final End-to-End LEMP Verification

Check all three services:

systemctl is-active nginx mariadb php8.3-fpm

Test the site locally through the configured hostname:

curl -I http://127.0.0.1 -H 'Host: example.com'

Check recent service and site errors:

sudo journalctl -u nginx -n 30 --no-pager
sudo journalctl -u mariadb -n 30 --no-pager
sudo journalctl -u php8.3-fpm -n 30 --no-pager
sudo tail -n 30 /var/log/nginx/example.com.error.log

Confirm MariaDB is not intentionally exposed through UFW:

sudo ufw status

For production workloads, measure actual PHP-FPM worker memory and database usage before tuning process limits. A fixed pm.max_children value is not portable across WordPress, Laravel, Drupal, custom PHP applications, and different plugin or request profiles.

Verify: Nginx, MariaDB, and PHP-FPM should all be active; the configured site should return an HTTP response; logs should not show a repeating fatal configuration error; and port 3306 should not have a public firewall rule.

Step 12 — Clean Up or Roll Back the LEMP Test Site

If you are keeping the stack, there is nothing else to remove after the temporary PHP and database test files from Steps 8 and 9 are deleted.

If this was only a test and you want to remove the example site, first disable the Nginx site:

sudo rm -f /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/example.com
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Remove the example files only if they are no longer needed:

sudo rm -rf /var/www/example.com
sudo rm -f /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com

Drop the test database and user:

sudo mariadb

Then run:

DROP DATABASE example_app;
DROP USER 'example_user'@'localhost';
EXIT;

If you issued a Let's Encrypt certificate specifically for this retired test domain, inspect certificates before deleting anything:

sudo certbot certificates

Then delete only the certificate that belongs to the retired hostname:

sudo certbot delete --cert-name example.com

Verify: After a full rollback, the Nginx site symlink and document root should be gone, and SHOW DATABASES LIKE 'example_app'; should return no test database.

Conclusion

You now have a complete LEMP stack on Ubuntu 24.04 with Nginx serving the application, PHP-FPM handling PHP requests, and MariaDB using a dedicated local application account. The stack has explicit Nginx, PHP, database, firewall, HTTPS, end-to-end verification, and rollback paths rather than stopping after package installation.

Raff Linux VM plans start at $4.99 per month. For a LEMP stack that runs Nginx, PHP-FPM, and MariaDB on one server, start with at least 2 GB RAM and size upward based on PHP concurrency, database usage, application complexity, and traffic. If you need database lifecycle management separated from the VM, compare this architecture with managed versus self-hosted databases. For a concrete application deployment on top of this stack, continue with WordPress on Ubuntu 24.04 with Nginx.