Configure NGINX to Read PHP on Ubuntu 16.04

What is NGINX?

NGINX is an open source Linux web server that accelerates content while using low resources. NGINX provides:

• Performance.
• Stability.
• Load balancing.
• Reverse proxy.
• Mail proxy.
• HTTP cache.

NGINX does not execute PHP scripts by default and must be configured to do so.  This tutorial helps with your NGINX and PHP configuration to enable and test PHP capabilities with your server.

Before Getting Started

• Log in as root on your Ubuntu 16.04 LTS server, or add sudo before each command that does not already have it.
• Install NGINX on your Ubuntu 16.04 server.
• This tutorial uses NGINX 1.10.3. While older versions may work, it is a good idea to update to the latest version available before trying to configure PHP.
• This tutorial is running php7.0-fpm. PHP 5.6 is end of life and no longer supported.

Step 1: Update All Packages

Run the following command to update all Linux packages.

sudo apt-get update && apt-get upgrade

Use the following command to check the current version of NGINX.

nginx -v

The result is the following output.

Test your NGINX configuration file for syntax errors with the following command.

nginx -t

If successful, you get a similar output to the following.

The nginx -t command gives you a starting point to look for errors if this was unsuccessful.

NGINX starts on its own after install. However, here are some commands to have on hand for controlling NGINX.

sudo systemctl stop nginx.service

sudo systemctl start nginx.service

sudo systemctl enable nginx.service

sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

Step 2: PHP Install and Version Check

If you need to install PHP, you can run the following line.

sudo apt-get -y install php7.0 php7.0-fpm

Replace 7.0 with whatever version of PHP is the most recent. You can check for updates here.

Alternatively, if you need to update PHP to the latest version, make a backup before any changes, then run the following.

sudo apt-get upgrade

Now it is time to check that PHP is running and what version. Do so with the following command.

sudo systemctl status php7.0-fpm

You will see a similar output to this.

Step 3: NGINX PHP Configuration

Once NGINX and PHP are running on your system setup, configure the PHP settings.

From home, change directories into your NGINX folder using the cd command.

cd ~

cd /etc/nginx

To configure your NGINX PHP setup settings, cd into the etc/php folder.

cd etc/php/

We are looking for a file called the php.ini file. Access the file from your text editor using the following command.

vim 7.0/fpm/php.ini

Or

vim 7.1/fpm/php.ini

The php.ini is a large file that allows customization of your environment. The best practice is to make a copy of this file before making any changes. Use the following command to make a copy of the file.

cp php.ini php.ini_copy

Here are some of the recommended values for the php.ini file.

max_execution_time = 300

max_input_time = 60

memory_limit = 256M

upload_max_filesize = 100M

Find these variables in the file and update the values.

Before Edit :

After edit:

Step 4: Default Sites Configuration

Now it is time to set your default sites environment. Open your sites configuration file. By default, it is at the following path.

/etc/nginx/sites-available/default

You can use the cd command to get there or open it using vim.

Remove the following commented out lines for both PHP7.0 and PHP 7.1.

PHP 7.0
#
server {
listen 80 default_server;
listen [::]:80 default_server;
# SSL configuration
#
# listen 443 ssl default_server;
# listen [::]:443 ssl default_server;
#
# Note: You should disable gzip for SSL traffic.
# See: https://bugs.debian.org/773332
#
# Read up on ssl_ciphers to ensure a secure configuration.
# See: https://bugs.debian.org/765782
#
# Self signed certs generated by the ssl-cert package
# Don't use them in a production server!
#
# include snippets/snakeoil.conf;
root /var/www/html;
# Add index.php to the list if you are using PHP
index index.html index.htm index.nginx-debian.html;
server_name _;
location / {
# First attempt to serve request as file, then
# as directory, then fall back to displaying a 404.
try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
}
# pass the PHP scripts to FastCGI server listening on 127.0.0.1:9000
#
     location ~ \.php$ {
include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
#
#     # With php7.0-cgi alone:
#     fastcgi_pass 127.0.0.1:9000;
#     # With php7.0-fpm:
            fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php7.0-fpm.sock;
}

PHP 7.1
server {
listen 80;
listen [::]:80;
root /var/www/html;
index  index.php index.html index.htm;
server_name  example.com www.example.com;
location / {
try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
}
# pass PHP scripts to FastCGI server
#
     location ~ \.php$ {
             include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
  #
#     # With php-fpm (or other unix sockets):
            fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.1-fpm.sock;
#     # With php-cgi (or other tcp sockets):
#     fastcgi_pass 127.0.0.1:9000;
}
}

Step 5: Testing PHP on NGINX

Once you have made the necessary edits, restart NGINX and PHP with the following lines.

sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

Use this syntax to test your PHP configuration by creating a  phpinfo.php file in the /var/www/html file path.

sudo vim /var/www/html/phpinfo.php

Add the following inside the file and save.

<?php phpinfo( ); ?>

To test your setup, type your server IP followed by /phpinfo.php in your web browser.

http://yourserverip/phpinfo.php

If you see the following, you have successfully setup your NGINX PHP configuration.