Install Apache, MariaDB, PHP, PhpMyAdmin on Debian 12

How to Install Apache, MariaDB, PHP, and PhpMyAdmin on Debian 12 (Step-by-Step Guide)

Apr 18, 2025
by Adel Adouni

Introduction

If you're building a dynamic website or setting up a local server for testing, the LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MariaDB, PHP) is a powerful combo. In this guide, we’ll walk you through installing Apache, MariaDB, PHP, and PhpMyAdmin on Debian 12 — step by step.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you:

Have a Debian 12 system installed.
Have root or sudo user access.
An internet connection to download required packages.

Step 1: Update Your System

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Keep your system up-to-date to avoid compatibility issues.

Step 2: Install Apache Web Server

Apache is one of the most popular and reliable web servers.

sudo apt install apache2 -y

Enable and start Apache:

sudo systemctl enable apache2
sudo systemctl start apache2

Now we will check the status of the apache service using the following command:

 systemctl status apache2

Verify Apache is working by visiting your server's IP address in a browser:

http://your-server-ip

You should see the Apache default page.

You can enable the following modules according to your needs

a2enmod headers
a2enmod rewrite
systemctl reload apache2

Setting Up Virtual Hosts: Recommended

Create the directory for your_domain as follows, using the -pflag to create any necessary parent directories

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/your_domain

Assign ownership of the directory with the $USERenvironmental variable

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/your_domain

The permissions of your web roots should be correct if you haven’t modified your unmaskvalue, but you can make sure by typing

sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/your_domain

Next, create a sample index.html page /var/www/your_domain/index.html

<html>
    <head>
        <title>Welcome to your_domain!</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <h1>Success! Well Done</h1>
    </body>
</html>

Create a virtual host file with the correct directives

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/your_domain.conf

Paste in the following configuration block, which is similar to the default, but updated for our new directory and domain name

<VirtualHost *:80>
     ServerAdmin admin@your_email_domain
     DocumentRoot /var/www/your_domain
     ServerName your_domain
     ServerAlias www.your_domain

     <Directory /var/www/your_domain>
          Options FollowSymlinks
          AllowOverride All
          Require all granted
     </Directory>

     ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/your_domain_error.log
     CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/your_domain_access.log combined

</VirtualHost>

Let’s enable the file with the a2ensite tool

sudo a2ensite your_domain.conf

Disable the default site defined in 000-default.conf

sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf

Next, let’s test for configuration errors

sudo apache2ctl configtest

Restart Apache to implement your changes

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Install a firewall if you haven't already here

Adjusting the Firewall

sudo ufw allow 'WWW'
sudo ufw allow 'OpenSSH'

You can verify the change by typing

sudo ufw status

You should see HTTP traffic allowed in the displayed output

Output
Status: active

To                         Action      From
--                         ------      ----
OpenSSH                    ALLOW       Anywhere
WWW                        ALLOW       Anywhere
OpenSSH (v6)               ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
WWW (v6)                   ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)

Apache should now be serving your domain name. You can test this by navigating to http://your_domain, where you should see something like this:

Step 3: Install MariaDB(Database Server)

sudo apt install mariadb-server -y
sudo systemctl enable mariadb
sudo systemctl start mariadb

Secure your installation:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Follow the prompts to:

Set root password
Remove anonymous users
Disable remote root login
Remove test database

Step 4: Install PHP

We need to start by installing the following packages

apt-get install -y curl wget gnupg2 ca-certificates lsb-release apt-transport-https

Import and add the public key of the sury repositories

wget https://packages.sury.org/php/apt.gpg
sudo apt-key add apt.gpg

Add the sury repositories to your system via apt/sources.list

echo "deb https://packages.sury.org/php/ $(lsb_release -sc) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/php8.list

Update your repository index

apt-get update

Install PHP 8

apt-get install -y php8.3 php8.3-cli php8.3-common

Let's verify the PHP version

php -v

Now we can proceed to install the additional packages necessary for the proper functioning of PHP with your system

sudo apt-get install php8.3 php8.3-cli php8.3-common php8.3-imap php8.3-redis php8.3-snmp php8.3-xml php8.3-mysqli php8.3-zip php8.3-mbstring php8.3-curl libapache2-mod-php -y

We can now test the functionality of our PHP package. To do this, we will create an info.php file and insert the phpinfo into it

echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" | sudo tee /var/www/html/info.php

Visit:

http://your-server-ip/info.php

Step 5: Install PhpMyAdmin (Web Interface for MariaDB)

sudo apt install phpmyadmin -y

During the installation:

Select Apache2 when prompted.
Choose Yes to configure the database for PhpMyAdmin with dbconfig-common.
Set and confirm a password for the phpMyAdmin user.

Enable the PhpMyAdmin configuration:

sudo ln -s /etc/phpmyadmin/apache.conf /etc/apache2/conf-enabled/
sudo systemctl reload apache2

Access PhpMyAdmin:

http://your-server-ip/phpmyadmin

✅ Final Touches

Remove the info.php file after testing for security reasons:

sudo rm /var/www/html/info.php

Conclusion

Congrats! You’ve successfully installed the LAMP stack and PhpMyAdmin on Debian 12. You now have a fully functional environment for hosting PHP applications and managing databases with ease.

Whether you're working on a new project or setting up a development server, you're now equipped with the tools you need.

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Introduction

Prerequisites

Step 1: Update Your System

Step 2: Install Apache Web Server

Step 3: Install MariaDB(Database Server)

Step 4: Install PHP

Step 5: Install PhpMyAdmin (Web Interface for MariaDB)

✅ Final Touches

Conclusion

Take Your Project to the Next Level with Technology Elevator

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How to Install Apache, MariaDB, PHP, and PhpMyAdmin on Debian 12 (Step-by-Step Guide)

Introduction

Prerequisites

Step 1: Update Your System

Step 2: Install Apache Web Server

Step 3: Install MariaDB(Database Server)

Step 4: Install PHP

Step 5: Install PhpMyAdmin (Web Interface for MariaDB)

✅ Final Touches

Conclusion

Take Your Project to the Next Level with Technology Elevator

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