How to Install LEMP Stack (Nginx, MariaDB, PHP8.4) on Ubuntu 25.10

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LEMP Stack is a collection of open-source software used for hosting dynamic web applications and websites.
It stands for Linux, Nginx, MariaDB/MySQL, and PHP, all of which work together to serve web content efficiently.

Update the System

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Before installing any packages, make sure your system is up to date.

apt update
apt upgrade -y

Install Nginx

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Install the Nginx web server using:

apt install nginx -y

Once installed, enable and start Nginx:

systemctl enable nginx
systemctl start nginx
systemctl status nginx

Output:

root@server:~# systemctl enable nginx
systemctl start nginx
systemctl status nginx
Synchronizing state of nginx.service with SysV service script with /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install.
Executing: /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install enable nginx
● nginx.service - A high performance web server and a reverse proxy server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; preset: en>
     Active: active (running) since Wed 2025-10-22 15:07:17 UTC; 15s ago
 Invocation: 1aa7895860b34b77ac628f87de8761d4
       Docs: man:nginx(8)
   Main PID: 9452 (nginx)
      Tasks: 3 (limit: 8799)
     Memory: 3M (peak: 7M)
        CPU: 82ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service
             ├─9452 "nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx -g daemon on; master>
             ├─9454 "nginx: worker process"
             └─9455 "nginx: worker process"

Oct 22 15:07:17 server systemd[1]: Starting nginx.service - A high performance >

Check Nginx version:

nginx -v

Output:

nginx version: nginx/1.28.0 (Ubuntu)

Make Nginx the owner of the default web directory:

chown www-data:www-data /usr/share/nginx/html -R

Verify by visiting your server’s IP in a browser:

http://your-server-ip

Note: Replace the4 IP_address with your actual IP Addres

Install MariaDB Server

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Install MariaDB:

apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client mariadb-client-compat -y

Start and enable MariaDB:

systemctl start mariadb
systemctl enable mariadb
systemctl status mariadb

Output:

root@server:~# systemctl start mariadb
systemctl enable mariadb
systemctl status mariadb
Synchronizing state of mariadb.service with SysV service script with /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install.
Executing: /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install enable mariadb
● mariadb.service - MariaDB 11.8.3 database server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/mariadb.service; enabled; preset: >
     Active: active (running) since Wed 2025-10-22 15:13:12 UTC; 19s ago
 Invocation: e62a156fbbb34c5f8e1f8544db8abd00
       Docs: man:mariadbd(8)
             https://mariadb.com/kb/en/library/systemd/
   Main PID: 10436 (mariadbd)
     Status: "Taking your SQL requests now..."
      Tasks: 13 (limit: 58076)
     Memory: 93.1M (peak: 97.7M)
        CPU: 3.009s
     CGroup: /system.slice/mariadb.service
             └─10436 /usr/sbin/mariadbd

Secure the MariaDB installation:

mysql_secure_installation

During the setup:

• Set a root password
• Remove anonymous users
• Disallow remote root login
• Remove test databases
• Reload privileges

Once complete, log in to MariaDB:

mariadb -u root -p

Exit MariaDB:

exit

Check version:

mariadb --version

Output:

mariadb from 11.8.3-MariaDB, client 15.2 for debian-linux-gnu (x86_64) using  EditLine wrapper

Install PHP

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Install PHP and required extensions:

sudo apt install -y php8.4-fpm php8.4-cli php8.4-common php8.4-mysql php8.4-curl php8.4-xml php8.4-zip php8.4-mbstring php8.4-bcmath php8.4-intl php8.4-gd
sudo systemctl enable --now php8.4-fpm
sudo systemctl status php8.4-fpm

Output:

root@server:~# sudo systemctl enable --now php8.4-fpm
sudo systemctl status php8.4-fpm
Synchronizing state of php8.4-fpm.service with SysV service script with /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install.
Executing: /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install enable php8.4-fpm
● php8.4-fpm.service - The PHP 8.4 FastCGI Process Manager
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/php8.4-fpm.service; enabled; prese>
     Active: active (running) since Wed 2025-10-22 15:30:18 UTC; 3min 58s ago
 Invocation: 239c3897e9c545d18edfca59132eef6b
       Docs: man:php-fpm8.4(8)
   Main PID: 24883 (php-fpm8.4)
     Status: "Processes active: 0, idle: 2, Requests: 0, slow: 0, Traffic: 0.00>
      Tasks: 3 (limit: 8799)
     Memory: 33.2M (peak: 34.8M)
        CPU: 306ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/php8.4-fpm.service
             ├─24883 "php-fpm: master process (/etc/php/8.4/fpm/php-fpm.conf)"
             ├─24884 "php-fpm: pool www"
             └─24885 "php-fpm: pool www"

Configure Nginx for PHP-FPM

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Remove the default configuration file:

rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default

Create a new configuration file:

nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf

Add the following configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    server_name _;
    root /var/www/html/;
    index index.php index.html index.htm;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.4-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
    }

    location ~* \.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png|webp|svg|woff|woff2|ttf|css|js|ico|xml)$ {
        access_log off;
        log_not_found off;
        expires 360d;
    }

    location ~ /\.ht {
        deny all;
    }
}

Test Nginx syntax:

nginx -t

If no errors, reload Nginx:

systemctl reload nginx

Test PHP

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Create a test PHP file:

nano /var/www/html/info.php

Add the following code:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Open your browser and visit:

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

Note: Replace the4 IP_address with your actual IP Addres

If you see the PHP information page, PHP-FPM is working correctly.
Remove the file afterward:

rm /var/www/html/info.php

Conclusion

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You have successfully installed the LEMP Stack (Nginx, MariaDB, PHP 8.4) on Ubuntu 25.10.
Your system is now ready to host PHP-based web applications such as WordPress, Laravel, or Nextcloud.