Initial Server Setup for Debian 12

Setting up a web server on Debian 12 allows you to host dynamic PHP applications such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and OpenCart as part of a LAMP stack. In this guide learn how to install Apache, MariaDB, PHP, and SSL using simple commands giving you a secure and fully functional web server ready to deploy PHP-based applications in just a few steps.

Install Apache, PHP, MariaDB and Certbot

Update your package list and install all required components in one go using the following command ( you can also add the -y flag to skip confirmation).

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2 mariadb-server mariadb-client php php-fpm php-intl php-mbstring php-gd php-xml php-curl php-mysql php-zip php-xmlrpc

These packages include:

Apache: Web server software
MariaDB: MySQL-compatible database engine
PHP-FPM: Fast PHP handler
Certbot: For managing SSL certificates

Turn on PHP-FPM to improve performance and resource handling.

sudo a2enconf php8.2-fpm

Configure Apache on Debian 12

Enable the default SSL site:

sudo a2ensite default-ssl

Edit the Apache config to allow .htaccess overrides:

Open both configuration files:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/default-ssl.conf

In the file navigate to the <VirtualHost> block and, insert:

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

Restart Apache to apply changes:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

It will look like the image below.

Default Apache Page in Debian 12 — Apache Active on Debian 12

Run MySQL secure installation

To get MariaDB set up as your database you’ll need to run the mysql_secure_installation command.

First off from your terminal window enter the command as shown above.
Follow on with the installation prompts including entering a root password and choosing to keep or remove certain defaults i.e. anonymous users and remote logins.
With that completed you should be able to login with mysql -u root and your password.

Activate Certbot

Finally we can activate certbot with the following command, this will automatically configure using your virtual hosts and issue a free SSL certificate from Lets Encrypt.