Walkthrough · Intermediate · 45 minutes
How to Install a LAMP Stack
How to get Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP serving a real page on your own server, without the guessing — the steps in order, the snag ahead of time, and the tip our support team repeats daily.
The short answer
One line covers it: get Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP serving a real page on your own server — a intermediate-level job of roughly 45 minutes.
Below is the full run of steps, the error most people trip over, and the short cut worth remembering. On Hosting & Domains plans several steps are already automated away — the guide marks each one.
By the Hosting & Domains team · Reviewed 18 August 2026
Intermediate
Skill rating
45 minutes
Time budget
5
Steps in total
24/7
Support on call
No prior knowledge assumed — a hosting account, a browser and 45 minutes of attention is the whole entry requirement. Every instruction runs on our platform exactly as printed, and carries over to any standard cPanel host.
A promise before step one: nothing here is a one-way door. Any step with teeth is flagged, and the way back is printed beside it.
The route, mapped end to end
Over the whole job, you will install apache and check port 80, add the database, install php and its extensions, configure a virtual host and prove the stack end to end.
Every stage is a few minutes of unhurried clicking — the total depends mostly on how well you already know the control panel. The detailed instructions are further down; read the whole path once before you begin.
Where it comes off, and how to stay on
Leaving phpinfo() reachable. Anyone who guesses the filename gets your PHP version, module list, paths and configuration, which amounts to a map for picking an exploit. Useful for ten seconds during setup and a liability every second after that.
Forewarned is genuinely forearmed here. This one mistake accounts for most of the frustration the topic ever causes — and it disappears entirely once somebody points it out.
The support desk's own short cut
Decide between Apache and LiteSpeed before you build habits around either. LiteSpeed runs our shared platform for the sake of its caching engine; on a VPS of your own, Apache is gentler to learn and OpenLiteSpeed quicker to finish with.
A minute spent now repays itself every time this job comes round again — and like almost every hosting job, come round it will.
The parts that look after themselves here
Some steps in this guide exist only because hosting traditionally forced them on you. Here the SSL issues itself, the copy is taken daily without being asked, and one-click installers remove the manual setup. What is left is the part that was always genuinely yours.
Stopped mid-guide at an awkward hour? That is exactly what round-the-clock support is for — say which step you are on and we take it from there.
A quick platform makes for a short guide
Every walkthrough in this library is run on the platform we actually operate — cPanel, LiteSpeed, NVMe, one-click installs — so the instructions match your screen rather than gesturing at it from a distance.
Support means a person at any hour, and the remit covers the awkward practical questions other hosts hand straight back.
- Every step checked exactly as published
- The snag named before it arrives
- The dull steps taken out of your way
- People reachable at any hour you stall
Why Hosting & Domains
Standard on every plan
Works exactly as printed
Every step is proven on the platform we run — none of the 'your host may vary' hedging.
Taken from real tickets
These guides came out of the support queue, so every snag flagged is one people genuinely hit.
The dull parts automated
SSL, backups and installs look after themselves here, leaving the guide to cover only what is genuinely yours.
Jargon never charges you
Every term is defined on the spot or linked to the jargon buster — nothing assumes prior knowledge.
Every undo written out
Any step that could bite is marked, together with the exact way to wind it back.
5 steps, nothing padded
Each stage is a few minutes of steady clicking, and the fiddly moments are labelled fiddly.
Quick Start
Order placed to site online
- 1
Install Apache and check port 80
Put the web server on, then open the machine's IP in a browser. The default page appearing confirms that the service, the firewall rule and your DNS assumptions all agree.
- 2
Add the database
Install MySQL, then run its secure-installation script. That script removes the anonymous users, the test database and the empty root password, which are the three defaults that make a fresh install indefensible.
- 3
Install PHP and its extensions
PHP 8.x along with whichever modules your application lists; mysql, curl, mbstring, xml and gd will cover most CMS work. Missing extensions show up as blank pages far more often than as helpful errors.
- 4
Configure a virtual host
A file for each site, aiming one domain at one document root. Enable it and reload Apache, and the default page stops answering for everything.
- 5
Prove the stack end to end
Write a few lines that open the database and print a row, and all four layers get exercised together. Remove it when you are done, since a diagnostic file abandoned in a web root is a present to whoever stumbles on it.
Built In
Fitted to every plan
- PHP versions set per site from the control panel
- Your existing site brought across by our engineers, at no charge
- Webmail in the browser plus IMAP, POP and SMTP for any client
- cPanel, which is what most of the industry already runs
- DDoS filtering absorbed at the network edge
- SSH, Git and Composer on the developer plans
- NVMe SSD storage on every tier, not only the dear ones
- People on the support desk every hour of every day
- Spam and virus screening on every mailbox by default
- Money back within 30 days on hosting plans, 7 on reseller
Frequently Asked
The questions that come up most
Should I install a control panel instead?
Wanting cPanel's convenience is fair enough, and licensing it on a VPS is perfectly legitimate and saves weeks of study. Against that, a panel is a large privileged application you now have to keep patched. A hand-built stack stays smaller and more predictable, while a panel stays easier. Let the amount of time you want to spend at a terminal decide it.
Does choosing between LAMP and LEMP matter?
Nginx handles many idle connections more efficiently and is the usual choice under heavy load, while Apache's per-directory configuration is what most CMS documentation assumes you have. On a first server, Apache clears away more obstacles than it puts up.
What happens when I outgrow the plan?
You upgrade in place. Plan changes are made from the client area with no migration and no downtime, and the range runs from small shared accounts through VPS to full dedicated machines. Growth becomes a setting on the account rather than a search for a new host.
Where does the hardware physically sit?
The platform runs from a London datacentre with redundant power, cooling and several upstream carriers, with server-level caching in front that keeps cached pages quick for visitors anywhere. For most sites how the platform is built — NVMe disks, LiteSpeed, restrained account density per machine — counts for far more than where it sits.
Keep reading
How to Create a Subdomain
Put blog.yourdomain or app.yourdomain live in less time than it takes to make coffee — beginner level, about 5 minutes.
How to Minify CSS and JavaScript
Slim down and reorder how code reaches the browser, without wrecking the site on the way — intermediate level, about 30 minutes.
Best LiteSpeed Hosting
The same call put as a buyer's guide: what to verify, what to ignore, and the plan we would sign.
Web Hosting
cPanel hosting on NVMe drives — SSL, the migration and year one of the name all included.
VPS Hosting
KVM virtual servers — root access, DDoS filtering, one flat monthly figure.
Changing hosts? Run through our checklist first.
A plain order of work for a move nobody visiting will notice: which files go over first, how to carry the mail across without losing a message, when exactly to repoint DNS, and the two mistakes behind nearly every outage we are asked to rescue.
Do it properly this time.
NVMe hosting with SSL and the migration included, people answering at any hour, and a price that stays where it was.
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