Category: Debian 12

Install Nginx + PHP-FPM + MariaDB at Debian 12

Change Hostname, Update, Upgrade, Install Zip Unzip and Vim

$sudo apt-get update -y && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
$sudo nano /etc/hostname
$sudo apt-get install zip -y && sudo apt-get install unzip -y
$sudo apt-get install vim -y

Enable Vim Copy Paste

Enable vim cut paste Debian 9

Install Nginx + PHP-FPM + MariaDB

$sudo apt install nginx -y
$sudo systemctl enable nginx
$sudo systemctl start nginx

Install PHP first to see the version, then continue PHP-FPM and common extensions

$sudo apt install php -y
$sudo php -v
PHP 8.2.29 (cli) (built: Jul 3 2025 16:16:05) (NTS)

$sudo apt install php8.2 php8.2-fpm php8.2-mysql php8.2-cli php8.2-curl php8.2-mbstring php8.2-xml php8.2-zip unzip -y php8.2-gd

Enable and start PHP-FPM:

$sudo systemctl enable php8.2-fpm
$sudo systemctl start php8.2-fpm

Configure NGINX to Use PHP 8.2-FPM

In your NGINX config:

$sudo vim /etc/nginx/sites-available/default

location ~ \.php$ {
    include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
    fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.2-fpm.sock;
}

Restart NGINX AND PHP 8.2-FPM

$sudo systemctl restart php8.2-fpm
$sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl restart nginx

Add test file:

$sudo echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" | sudo tee /var/www/html/info.php

Visit: http://ipaddress/info.php and look for

Server API → FPM/FastCGI

Install MariaDB

$sudo apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client -y
$sudo systemctl enable mariadb
$sudo systemctl start mariadb
$sudo mysql_secure_installation

Nginx Seo Friendly URL/Permalinks WordPress

Edit your Nginx config, usually /etc/nginx/sites-available/default):

$sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/default

Find this block

location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
}

Replace it with:

location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
}

This line tells Nginx: If the file or folder doesn’t exist, pass the request to index.php (which is how WordPress handles permalinks).

Restart NGINX AND PHP 8.2-FPM

$sudo systemctl restart php8.2-fpm
$sudo systemctl restart nginx

Configure NGINX for multiple domains (virtual hosts) on one server

Create Root Folders for Each Domain

$sudo mkdir -p /var/www/domain1.com
$sudo mkdir -p /var/www/domain2.com
$sudo mkdir -p /var/www/domain3.com

$sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/domain1.com
$sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/domain3.com
$sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/domain3.com

$sudo find /var/www/domain1.com -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
$sudo find /var/www/domain1.com -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

Create Nginx Server Blocks (Virtual Host Configs)

#sudo vim sudo vim /etc/nginx/sites-available/domain1.com
# Virtual Host configuration for domain1.com
#
# You can move that to a different file under sites-available/ and symlink that
# to sites-enabled/ to enable it.
#
server {
       listen 80;
       listen [::]:80;

       server_name domain1.com www.domain1.com;

       root /var/www/domain1.com;
       index index.php index.html;

       #location / {
       #        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
       #}

	location / {
		try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
	}
	
        location ~ \.php$ {
                include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
                fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.2-fpm.sock;
        }
}

Enable the Sites

$sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/domain1.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Test Nginx Configuration

$sudo nginx -t
nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok

Reload Nginx

$sudo systemctl reload nginx

Test by add file then http://domain1.com/index.html

$sudo echo "It Works" | sudo tee /var/www/domain1.com/index.html

Install Certbot SSL HTTPS Using Snap

Install snapd (if not already installed)

#sudo apt update
#sudo apt install snapd -y

Enable and start snap:

$sudo systemctl enable snapd
$sudo systemctl start snapd

Let the system link classic snaps:

$sudo snap install core
$sudo snap refresh core

Install Certbot via Snap

$sudo snap install --classic certbot

Create symlink so certbot works globally:

$sudo ln -s /snap/bin/certbot /usr/bin/certbot

Check Certbot version:

$sudo certbot --version
certbot 2.x.x

Obtain SSL certificate for Nginx, make sure your Nginx config for http is working at http://yourdomain.com, then run:

#certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com
Certbot will: Auto-detect your Nginx config
Request and install a certificate
Ask if you want HTTP to HTTPS redirect (say yes)

Test HTTPS: Open https://yourdomain.com and You should see the lock icon

Auto-renew is set up by Snap

You don’t need to manually configure cron jobs. Snap installs a systemd timer to auto-renew: Check it:

$sudo systemctl list-timers | grep certbot
✅ Done!

You now have:
Fresh Certbot installed via Snap
Nginx auto-configured for HTTPS
Auto-renewals enabled

Delete Certbot SSL Certificate and Domain

Show all certificate

$sudo certbot certificates
Found the following certs:
Certificate Name: mydomainname.com
Serial Number: 6810f862e51702da43e0e1bc2f80f0d1123
Key Type: ECDSA

Delete the  SSL Certificate that you want

$sudo delete --cert-name mydomainname.com
Are you sure you want to delete the above certificate(s)?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(Y)es/(N)o: Y
Deleted all files relating to certificate mydomainname.com.

Would you like to:

Set up SSL hardening / A+ SSL Labs rating?

Force www → non-www redirect (or vice versa)?

Use wildcard SSL with DNS challenge?

I can help with any of those too!

If needed “Add Swap Memory”

Add Swap Memory on Debian 10

If needed “Increase SSH Connection Timeout”

#vim /etc/ssh/sshd_config
ClientAliveInterval 1200
ClientAliveCountMax 3
#systemctl status sshd.service

Configure Iptables Firewall Rules

Debian 11 12 go to this configuration

Iptables Debian 11 Bullseye configuration

Configure UFW Firewall Rules

UFW Firewall Basic Rules and Commands

Setup and Configure Fail2ban

Setup Fail2ban on Debian 9