How To Install Nginx, MariaDB, PHP (LEMP stack) on Debian 9 Stretch
LEMP (a server stack) stands for Linux, Nginx, MariaDB, and PHP. Nginx is a free, open-source, high-performance HTTP web server; known for its stability, rich feature set, simple configuration, and low resource consumption.
Here, we will talk about how to install LEMP Stack on Debian 9 with PHP support (via PHP-FPM) and MariaDB support. PHP-FPM is an alternative PHP FastCGI implementation, and it has a lot of additional features useful for websites of any size, especially busier sites.
Install Linux
Here is the post about Step by Step installation of Debian 9 and Upgrading Debian 8 Jessie to Debian 9 Stretch. Proceed to the installation of AMP (Nginx version 1.12, PHP version 7, MariaDB version 10.2) on Debian 9.
The first thing you need to do is to log in as root or switch to root user.
$ su
OR
$ sudo su -
Install MariaDB Server
Update the system repository index.
apt-get update
First, we will install the MariaDB server by issuing the following command.
apt-get -y install mariadb-server
Start MariaDB server.
systemctl start mariadb.service
Auto-start the MariaDB service during every boot. Type the following on terminal and hit enter.
systemctl enable mariadb.service
Next, make the MariaDB server secure by using the mysql_secure_installation command.
Install Nginx
Download the Nginx repository signing key.
wget http://nginx.org/keys/nginx_signing.key
Add the Nginx public key to the system.
apt-key add nginx_signing.key
Append Nginx repository to /etc/apt/sources.list file.
echo "deb http://nginx.org/packages/debian/ stretch nginx" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list echo "deb-src http://nginx.org/packages/debian/ stretch nginx" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list
Install Nginx package using the following command.
apt-get update; apt-get -y install nginx
Start the Nginx service after the installation.
systemctl start nginx.service
Firewall
Issue the following commands to allow HTTP and HTTPS requests through the firewall.
ufw allow 80/tcp ufw allow 443/tcp ufw reload ufw enable
Open a web browser and visit the below URL, you should see the following page; this will confirm you that the Nginx is successfully installed on the server.

Nginx’s default document root on Debian 9 is /usr/share/nginx/html/. The configuration files are found under /etc/nginx/ directory.
Auto-start Nginx at system startup.
systemctl enable nginx.service
Install PHP5-FPM
Install PHP through PHP-FPM (PHP-FastCGI Process Manager), an alternative PHP FastCGI implementation. It provides additional features useful for sites of any size, especially busier sites. Install php-fpm by issuing the following command.
apt-get -y install php-fpm php-mysql php-cli
Edit /etc/php.ini.
vi /etc/php/7.0/fpm/php.ini
set cgi.fix_pathinfo to 0.
cgi.fix_pathinfo=0
PHP-FPM listens on the socket /var/run/php7-fpm.sock by default. To make PHP-FPM use a TCP connection, open the file /etc/php/7.0/fpm/pool.d/www.conf.
Change the listen parameter.
FROM:
listen = /run/php/php7.0-fpm.sock
TO:
listen = 127.0.0.1:9000
Restart PHP-FPM service.
systemctl restart php7.0-fpm.service
Enable PHP-FPM Support on Virtual Host
Let’s create name-based virtual host on Nginx server for the following details.
Server Name : server.itzgeek.local
Document Root : /usr/share/nginx/html/itzgeek.local
Create a virtual host configuration file /etc/nginx/conf.d/virtual.conf.
vi /etc/nginx/conf.d/virtual.conf
Add the following content.
server { server_name server.itzgeek.local; root /usr/share/nginx/html/itzgeek.local; location / { index index.html index.htm index.php; } location ~ \.php$ { include /etc/nginx/fastcgi_params; fastcgi_pass 127.0.0.1:9000; fastcgi_index index.php; fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME /usr/share/nginx/html/itzgeek.local$fastcgi_script_name; } }
Create a host entry for your domain (server.itzgeek.local) in the /etc/hosts file.
vi /etc/hosts
Add host entry; the line should look like below.
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost server.itzgeek.local
Testing PHP-FPM support on the Virtual Host
Create the root directory for the virtual host.
mkdir /usr/share/nginx/html/itzgeek.local
For testing the PHP, place a PHP file onto the document root of the created virtual host.
vi /usr/share/nginx/html/itzgeek.local/index.php
Copy/Paste the below line into the index.php file.:
<?php phpinfo(); ?>
Save and close the file. Use Esc + ;wq for saving the file.
Restart the services and enable them to start automatically on system startup.
systemctl restart nginx.service systemctl restart php7.0-fpm.service systemctl enable php7.0-fpm.service
Open up your web browser and type your domain name in the web address. Ex.
The page will look like below:

From the above screenshot, PHP is working through FPM/FastCGI, as shown in the Server API line.
That’s all.