Lighttpd is a secure, fast, and flexible HTTP server with a small memory footprint compared to other webservers. Its event-driven architecture is optimized for a large number of parallel connections (keep-alive) which is important for high-performance dynamic applications. Also, if you’re going to be developing any PHP-based application, you’re mostly going to need PHP server scripts installed. PHP is an open-source server scripting language for creating dynamic, powerful web applications and websites. PHP is a widely used, free, and efficient alternative to competitors such as Microsoft’s ASP. With this setup, you can run WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla CMS platforms easily.

Install Lighttpd HTTP Server

After installing Lighttpd, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable Lighttpd service to always startup when the server boots up.

Install MariaDB Database Server

OrangeHRM also requires a database server. and MariaDB database server is a great place to start. To install it run the commands below. After installing, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable the MariaDB service to always start up when the server boots. After that, run the commands below to secure the MariaDB server. When prompted, answer the questions below by following the guide.

Enter current password for root (enter for none): Just press the Enter Set root password? [Y/n]: Y New password: Enter password Re-enter new password: Repeat password Remove anonymous users? [Y/n]: Y Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n]: Y Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n]:  Y Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n]:  Y

Restart MariaDB server

PHP 7.1 isn’t available on Ubuntu default repositories… to install it, you will have to get it from third-party repositories. Run the commands below to add the below third party repository to upgrade to PHP 7.1 Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.1 After that, run the commands below to install PHP7.1-FastCGI and related PHP modules. PHP-FastCGI is a version for Lighttpd web servers while PHP is Apache2. Nginx is PHP-FPM. Many PHP modules perform different functions. however, some important ones are always needed when developing PHP-based websites. The line above will allow PHP to function with many popular PHP-based websites and applications. After installing PHP7.1-FastCGI, you can enable PHP-FastCGI modules by running the commands below If the commands above fail, install the package below. Then run the commands to enable the modules again, this time they should work.

Configure Lighttpd PHP-FastCGI Settings

Now that Lighttpd and PHP0-FastCGI are installed, you may want to configure Lighttpd to use PHP server scripting properly. The default Lighttpd PHP-FastCGI configuration file is located at /etc/php/7.1/cgi/php.ini Open the PHP Lighttpd configuration file by running the commands below Then edit the file to suit your environment. Some important lines to consider: Next, open the Lighttpd site configuration file. by default, it’s stored at /etc/Lighttpd/lighttpd.conf Use the main configuration file to set up advanced server global settings. Lighttpd PHP-FastCGI configuration file is stored at /etc/lighttpd/conf-available/15-fastcgi-php.conf Run the commands below to open Lighttpd PHP-FastCGI default site configuration file Then confirm that PHP-FastCGI is configured as shown in the highlighted portion below. Restart Lighttpd services

Test PHP-CGI Setup

At this point, Lighttpd and PHP-FastCGI should be installed and ready. to test your Lighttpd PHP settings, create a blank file with the line below: Then add the line in the file and save. Save the file and open your browser and browse to the server name or IP address followed by phpinfo.php You should see something similar to the image below. if you do, then you’re all good! Enjoy! Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed and configured Lighttpd and PHP on Ubuntu servers You may also like the post below: