Guide to install Apache, PHP, MariaDB and PhpMyAdmin on your archlinux system and serve php-based database applications

Install Packages

pacman -S apache php php-apache mariadb phpmyadmin

Config PHP

The main PHP configuration file is well-documented and located at /etc/php/php.ini

Error reporting

If you want to display errors in browser set: display_errors = On
You can also enable error reporting in .htaccess file: php_flag display_errors On

Sql Module

If you want to use mysqli operations to connect to a mysql database uncomment theese lines in php.ini

extension=mysqli
extension=pdo_mysql

Sessions

If you want to use sessions go to the [Session] section in php.ini
Uncomment the line:

session.save_path = "/tmp"

Sendmail

Configure how PHP sends mails when usign the mail() function at the [mail function] section in php.ini
For testing you can simulate sending mails to a logfile:

sendmail_path = 'cat >> /your/path/sendmail.log'
mail.log = "/your/path/sendmail.log"

Make sure Apache has permissoins to write to that file

Config Apache

The main Apache configuration file is located at /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf The default Doument Root is /srv/http

On linux lammp installation the httpd.conf is located at /opt/lampp/etc/httpd.conf
The default Document root is: /opt/lampp/htdocs

Make sure to restart apache after a configuration to see it's effects.

Config file for your webapp

To tell apache where your app is located and with which alias it can be accessed create a new config file: /etc/httpd/conf/extra/<YOUR_APP>.conf

Alias /<YOUR_ALIAS> "path/to/application"
<Directory "path/to/application">
    DirectoryIndex index.html
    AllowOverride All
    Options FollowSymlinks
    Require all granted
</Directory>

Now we have to tell apache to use this new config file. Add the following line to your /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

Include conf/extra/<YOUR_APP>.conf

Permissions

This was the main part, but mostly the apache user does not have access rights to the specified folder in your filesystem. The result is a 403 Error.

To fix this, you can give every user full access to your project folder (Attention: make sure if that makes sense in your use case):

chmod -R 777 /path/to/project/

Make sure, that apache has also has access to the folder that contains your project (Read access is enough here) E.g. if your project is located under /home/username/projectuse:

chmod 711 /home/username/

Let Apache use PHP

By default Apache would just serve your php files as plain text files. To make apache execute your php scripts follow theese steps:

mod_mpm

Make sure that the mpm_event module is disabled and the mpm_prefork module is enabled

In your httpd.conf

#LoadModule mpm_event_module modules/mod_mpm_event.so
LoadModule mpm_prefork_module modules/mod_mpm_prefork.so

Enable PHP module

Add to your httpd.conf:

LoadModule php_module modules/libphp.so
AddHandler php-script .php
Include	conf/extra/php_module.conf

Start apache server

systemctl start   httpd.service
systemctl stop    httpd.service
systemctl restart httpd.service
systemctl enable  httpd.service  #autostart service on boot

MariaDB

Run mariadb-install-db --user=mysql --basedir=/usr --datadir=/var/lib/mysql

Start the mariadb service: systemctl enable --now mariadb

Create user and Database

Connect to mysql server from your root systemuser via socket (no password required)

mysql --protocol=socket #run this command as root (e.g. prefixed with sudo)

Create a new user

CREATE USER 'username'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';

Create new database and grant privilleges

CREATE DATABASE `db_name`;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON `db_name` . * TO 'username'@'localhost';

PhpMyAdmin

Create the Apache configuration file:

/etc/httpd/conf/extra/phpmyadmin.conf

Alias /phpmyadmin "/usr/share/webapps/phpMyAdmin"
<Directory "/usr/share/webapps/phpMyAdmin">
    DirectoryIndex index.php
    AllowOverride All
    Options FollowSymlinks
    Require all granted
</Directory>

And include it in /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf:

# phpMyAdmin configuration
Include conf/extra/phpmyadmin.conf

Use your application

Make sure to restart the apache daemon after your configurations: systemctl restart httpd Open your browser and go to: localhost/your-app

geekwolverine/apache_and_php.md