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LAMP Stack on Ubuntu: Apache, MySQL, PHP Multi-Version, VirtualHost, phpMyAdmin

Target: Local development environment with multiple PHP versions, clean VirtualHost per project, .htaccess support (Laravel/Symfony/CodeIgniter compatible).

Ubuntu 24.04 critical differences vs 22.04 are marked with ⚠️ 24.04 throughout this document.

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1. Apache

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install apache2 -y

Firewall

sudo ufw allow in "Apache Full"   # opens port 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS)
sudo ufw status

Verify

sudo systemctl status apache2
# Visit http://127.0.0.1 - should show Apache default page

Essential Apache commands

sudo systemctl start apache2
sudo systemctl stop apache2
sudo systemctl restart apache2    # full restart - reloads config + workers
sudo systemctl reload apache2     # graceful reload - no downtime, config only
sudo apache2ctl configtest        # always run this before restarting

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2. MySQL

sudo apt install mysql-server -y
sudo systemctl enable --now mysql

⚠️ Authentication plugin changes - critical for 24.04

Ubuntu	MySQL version	Default auth plugin	mysql_native_password
22.04	MySQL 8.0	caching_sha2_password	Available but deprecated
24.04	MySQL 8.0 (repo default)	caching_sha2_password	Available but deprecated
24.04 + MySQL 8.4	MySQL 8.4	caching_sha2_password	Disabled by default

mysql_native_password is deprecated in MySQL 8.0 and not loaded at all in MySQL 8.4. PHP 7.4+ supports caching_sha2_password natively - use it for all new users.

Set root password

sudo mysql

-- Check current auth plugin
SELECT user, host, plugin FROM mysql.user WHERE user = 'root';

-- Set root password with caching_sha2_password (correct for MySQL 8.0 and 8.4)
ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED WITH caching_sha2_password BY 'your_password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

⚠️ If you need mysql_native_password (legacy apps, PHP < 7.4 only)

Only do this if you have a specific reason. Not recommended for new setups.

sudo nano /etc/mysql/conf.d/enable-native-password.cnf

[mysqld]
mysql_native_password=ON

sudo systemctl restart mysql

This workaround will stop working entirely on MySQL 9.0, which removes mysql_native_password completely.

Create a project database and dedicated user

CREATE DATABASE myproject CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'myuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'strongpassword';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON myproject.* TO 'myuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

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3. PHP - Multi-Version Setup

⚠️ Default PHP version by Ubuntu release

Ubuntu	Default PHP (apt)
22.04	PHP 8.1
24.04	PHP 8.3

Add ondrej/php PPA (required for multiple versions and latest releases)

sudo apt install software-properties-common -y
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php -y
sudo apt update

Install PHP versions

# Current stable
sudo apt install php8.3 -y

# Older versions for legacy projects
sudo apt install php8.2 php8.1 php7.4 -y

Note: PHP 5.6 and earlier are not available on Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 even via the ondrej PPA. Minimum supported is PHP 7.4.

Install Apache module + MySQL extension per version

sudo apt install libapache2-mod-php8.3 php8.3-mysql -y
sudo apt install libapache2-mod-php8.2 php8.2-mysql -y
sudo apt install libapache2-mod-php7.4 php7.4-mysql -y

⚠️ Explicitly enable the PHP module after install (24.04 does not always auto-enable)

sudo a2enmod php8.3
sudo systemctl restart apache2

# Verify
apache2ctl -M | grep php

Common extensions (replace 8.3 with your target version)

sudo apt install \
  php8.3-cli php8.3-common php8.3-fpm \
  php8.3-curl php8.3-gd php8.3-imagick \
  php8.3-intl php8.3-mbstring php8.3-xml \
  php8.3-zip php8.3-bcmath php8.3-bz2 \
  php8.3-soap php8.3-redis php8.3-memcached \
  php8.3-mysql php8.3-sqlite3 \
  -y

To install the same set for another version: Ctrl+H → find 8.3 → replace with target version.

Explore available packages:

apt search php8.3- | less

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4. Apache Configuration

Set index.php priority

sudo nano /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/dir.conf

Change the DirectoryIndex line:

DirectoryIndex index.php index.html index.cgi index.pl index.xhtml index.htm

Enable mod_rewrite and mbstring (required for Laravel, Symfony, WordPress)

sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo phpenmod mbstring

Enable .htaccess overrides globally

sudo nano /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

Find the /var/www/ block and change AllowOverride None to All:

<Directory /var/www/>
    Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
    AllowOverride All
    Require all granted
</Directory>

Suppress FQDN warning

echo "ServerName 127.0.0.1" | sudo tee -a /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

Apply all changes

sudo apache2ctl configtest   # must say "Syntax OK"
sudo systemctl restart apache2

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5. VirtualHost - One Per Project

Create project directory

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/myproject
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/myproject
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/myproject

Create VirtualHost config

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/myproject.local.conf

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName myproject.local
    ServerAlias www.myproject.local
    DocumentRoot /var/www/myproject/public

    <Directory /var/www/myproject/public>
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/myproject-error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/myproject-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Laravel/Symfony: DocumentRoot must point to the public/ subdirectory, not the project root.

Enable the site

sudo a2ensite myproject.local.conf
sudo apache2ctl configtest
sudo systemctl reload apache2

Add to /etc/hosts

echo "127.0.0.1 myproject.local" | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts

Disable a site

sudo a2dissite myproject.local.conf
sudo systemctl reload apache2

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6. Switch PHP Version (CLI + Apache)

# Switch CLI
sudo update-alternatives --set php /usr/bin/php8.2

# Switch Apache module
sudo a2dismod php8.3
sudo a2enmod php8.2
sudo systemctl restart apache2

# Verify
php -v
apache2ctl -M | grep php

Per-VirtualHost PHP version via PHP-FPM (recommended over global switch)

Run different PHP versions per site without touching the global Apache module:

sudo apt install php8.3-fpm php8.2-fpm -y
sudo a2enmod proxy_fcgi setenvif
sudo a2enconf php8.3-fpm
sudo systemctl restart apache2

In your VirtualHost config:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName myproject.local
    DocumentRoot /var/www/myproject/public

    <FilesMatch \.php$>
        SetHandler "proxy:unix:/run/php/php8.2-fpm.sock|fcgi://localhost"
    </FilesMatch>

    <Directory /var/www/myproject/public>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Change the socket path to target any installed PHP-FPM version.

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7. phpMyAdmin

⚠️ Ubuntu 24.04: apt package is outdated and has known dependency issues

The phpmyadmin package in Ubuntu 24.04’s universe repo ships version 5.2.1 and frequently fails with unmet dependencies or throws errors about deprecated PHP constructs. The manual install method is more reliable on 24.04.

Method A - apt (works reliably on 22.04)

sudo apt install phpmyadmin php-mbstring gettext -y

During installation:

• Select apache2 (Space to select, Tab → OK)
• Configure with dbconfig-common: Yes
• Enter your MySQL root password

sudo ln -s /etc/phpmyadmin/apache.conf /etc/apache2/conf-available/phpmyadmin.conf
sudo a2enconf phpmyadmin
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Access at: http://127.0.0.1/phpmyadmin

Method B - Manual install (recommended for 24.04)

# Download latest stable release
cd /tmp
wget https://www.phpmyadmin.net/downloads/phpMyAdmin-latest-all-languages.tar.gz
tar xzf phpMyAdmin-latest-all-languages.tar.gz
sudo mv phpMyAdmin-*-all-languages /usr/share/phpmyadmin

# Set permissions
sudo mkdir /usr/share/phpmyadmin/tmp
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /usr/share/phpmyadmin/tmp
sudo chmod 770 /usr/share/phpmyadmin/tmp

# Configure
sudo cp /usr/share/phpmyadmin/config.sample.inc.php /usr/share/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php
sudo nano /usr/share/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php

Set a random 32-character blowfish secret:

$cfg['blowfish_secret'] = 'your_32_character_random_string__';

Create Apache config:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/conf-available/phpmyadmin.conf

Alias /phpmyadmin /usr/share/phpmyadmin

<Directory /usr/share/phpmyadmin>
    Options SymLinksIfOwnerMatch
    DirectoryIndex index.php
    AllowOverride All
    Require all granted
</Directory>

<Directory /usr/share/phpmyadmin/libraries>
    Require all denied
</Directory>

<Directory /usr/share/phpmyadmin/setup>
    Require all denied
</Directory>

sudo a2enconf phpmyadmin
sudo systemctl restart apache2

⚠️ Do not log into phpMyAdmin as root - create a dedicated user

CREATE USER 'pmauser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'strongpassword';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'pmauser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Log in with pmauser. Root login via phpMyAdmin often fails due to auth_socket / caching_sha2_password requiring a secure channel.

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8. Useful Apache Management

# List enabled sites
ls /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/

# List enabled modules
apache2ctl -M

# Check which process is using port 80
sudo ss -tlnp | grep :80

# Tail logs
sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log
sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/myproject-error.log
sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/access.log

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Troubleshooting

403 Forbidden

• DocumentRoot path doesn’t exist or is wrong
• AllowOverride All not set in the Directory block
• Permissions: sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/myproject

500 Internal Server Error

• .htaccess syntax error: sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log
• PHP extension missing - check log for Call to undefined function
• Wrong PHP version active: php -v and apache2ctl -M | grep php

Site not resolving locally

• /etc/hosts missing: grep myproject.local /etc/hosts
• VirtualHost not enabled: ls /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/
• Apache not reloaded: sudo systemctl reload apache2

⚠️ PHP module not loading after install on 24.04

apache2ctl -M | grep php   # check if loaded

sudo a2enmod php8.3
sudo systemctl restart apache2

⚠️ “Plugin ‘mysql_native_password’ is not loaded” (MySQL 8.4)

# Recommended: migrate user to caching_sha2_password
sudo mysql
ALTER USER 'youruser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED WITH caching_sha2_password BY 'password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

# Temporary workaround: re-enable native password plugin
echo -e "[mysqld]\nmysql_native_password=ON" | sudo tee /etc/mysql/conf.d/enable-native-password.cnf
sudo systemctl restart mysql

⚠️ phpMyAdmin 404 after install on 24.04

ls /etc/apache2/conf-enabled/ | grep phpmyadmin   # confirm enabled

sudo a2enconf phpmyadmin
sudo systemctl restart apache2

MySQL access denied after reboot

sudo mysql
ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED WITH caching_sha2_password BY 'your_password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

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Notes

• a2enmod, a2dismod, a2ensite, a2dissite, a2enconf all require reload or restart to take effect.
• For production servers, use PHP-FPM over mod_php - better isolation, per-site PHP version, pool-level resource limits.
• mysql_native_password will be completely removed in MySQL 9.0. Migrate all users to caching_sha2_password now.
• On 24.04, after switching PHP versions always run apache2ctl configtest before restarting - module conflicts can cause silent failures.
• Apache per-VirtualHost log files (as shown in the config) make debugging much easier than relying on the global log when running multiple projects.

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