Build notes for installing Apache, MariaDB, PHP.

Install Apache

sudo apt-get install apache2

Install PHP

Install PHP with extra modules.

sudo apt-get install php libapache2-mod-php php-mcrypt php-mysql

Install Maria DB

Use the online respository configuration tool. Select a local mirror.

Based on Ubuntu Xenial, stable release:

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 0xF1656F24C74CD1D8
sudo add-apt-repository 'deb [arch=amd64,i386,ppc64el] http://ftp.heanet.ie/mirrors/mariadb/repo/10.1/ubuntu xenial main'

# Once the key is imported, install MariaDB:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mariadb-server

Secure MariaDB by removing anonymous users, removing the test database and disallowing external access:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Install PHP Extras

For extensions available, enable with phpenmod:

sudo phpenmod mcrypt
sudo service apache2 restart

Extra extensions may be required. For example, if multibyte functions are used in apps, you will need php-mbstring:

sudo apt-get install php-mbstring
sudo phpenmod mbstring
sudo apt-get install php-xml
sudo service apache2 restart

Install PHPMyAdmin

Install phpMyAdmin:

sudo apt-get install phpmyadmin apache2-utils

An ncurses window will open that enables phpMyAdmin to be configured.

• To select a server, hit space then tab/return
• Choose “yes” when asked “Configure database for phpmyadmin with dbconfig-common?”
• Enter a password for phpMyAdmin when prompted

Once installed, PHPMyAdmin needs to be added to the Apache config file:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

# Add the following line to the end of apache2.conf:

Include /etc/phpmyadmin/apache.conf

Restart apache:

sudo service apache2 restart

When installing phpMyAdmin on Xenial Xerus, you may encounter a blank white screen of death. Try checking the Apache error log to determine the problem:

tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log

In my case, the relevant error was:

[Fri Jun 17 20:04:50.205836 2016] [:error] [pid 8089] [client 127.0.0.1:34540] PHP Fatal error:  require_once(): Failed opening required '/usr/share/php/php-gettext/gettext.inc' (include_path='.:/usr/share/php') in /usr/share/phpmyadmin/libraries/select_lang.lib.php on line 477

This means that the php-gettext extension is required. Install this and restart Apache to fix:

sudo apt-get install php-gettext
sudo service apache2 restart