How To Install Nginx, MariaDB, PHP (LEMP stack) on Debian 9
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.
Install LEMP Stack
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 v1.14, PHP v7.3, MariaDB v10.3) on Debian 9.
Install Nginx
Install the packages for Nginx installation.
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install -y curl wget gnupg2 ca-certificates lsb-release apt-transport-https
Download the Nginx repository signing key.
wget http://nginx.org/keys/nginx_signing.key
Add the Nginx public key to the system.
sudo apt-key add nginx_signing.key
Append Nginx repository to the system.
echo "deb http://nginx.org/packages/debian/ stretch nginx" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nginx.list
Install Nginx package using the following command.
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get -y install nginx
Start the Nginx service after the installation.
sudo systemctl start nginx
Open a web browser and visit the below URL.
You should see the following page. This page confirms 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.
Install MariaDB
We will now install the MariaDB server by issuing the following command.
sudo apt-get -y install mariadb-server mariadb-client
Next, make the MariaDB server secure by using the mysql_secure_installation command.
Install PHP-FPM
PHP-FPM (PHP-FastCGI Process Manager), an alternative PHP FastCGI implementation. It provides additional features useful for sites of any size, especially busier sites.
Debian 9 comes with PHP 7.0 by default, and is already the end of life. So, we will use SURY repository to get PHP 7.3.
wget https://packages.sury.org/php/apt.gpg sudo apt-key add apt.gpg echo "deb https://packages.sury.org/php/ $(lsb_release -sc) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/php7.3.list
Update the repository index.
sudo apt-get update
Install php-fpm by issuing the following command.
sudo apt-get -y install php-fpm php-mysql php-cli
Edit php.ini.
sudo nano /etc/php/7.3/fpm/pool.d/www.conf
PHP-FPM listens on the socket /var/run/php7.3-fpm.sock by default. To make PHP-FPM use a TCP connection, open the file /etc/php/7.3/fpm/pool.d/www.conf.
Change the listen parameter.
FROM:
listen = /run/php/php7.3-fpm.sock
TO:
listen = 127.0.0.1:9000
Restart PHP-FPM service.
sudo systemctl restart php7.3-fpm
Create Virtual Host
Let’s create name-based virtual host on Nginx server for the following details.
Domain Name : server.itzgeek.local
Document Root : /usr/share/nginx/html/itzgeek.local
Create a virtual host configuration file /etc/nginx/conf.d/virtual.conf.
sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/virtual.conf
Add the following content.
server { server_name server.itzgeek.local; root /usr/share/nginx/html/itzgeek.local; location / { index index.html index.htm index.php; } location ~ \.php$ { 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 the root directory for the virtual host.
sudo mkdir /usr/share/nginx/html/itzgeek.local
For testing the PHP, place a PHP file onto the document root of the created virtual host.
echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" | sudo tee /usr/share/nginx/html/itzgeek.local/index.php
Restart the services and enable them to start automatically on system startup.
sudo systemctl restart nginx sudo systemctl restart php7.3-fpm
Test LEMP Stack
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.
192.168.1.10 server.itzgeek.local
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. You can also see the database support informations down the page.
Conclusion
That’s all. Share your feedback in the comments section.