How to install WordPress + Apache, MariaDB, and HHVM in Ubuntu 16.04

Install WordPress + Apache, MariaDB, and HHVM

HHVM is an open-source virtual machine designed for executing programs written in Hack and PHP. HHVM uses a just-in-time (JIT) compilation approach to achieve superior performance while maintaining the development flexibility that PHP provides.

HHVM supports Hack, PHP 5 and the major features of PHP 7. We are aware of minor incompatibilities, so please open issues when you find them. HHVM also supports many extensions as well.

Installation Steps : -

*Install Apache Web Server
*Install and Configure MariaDB
*Install and Configure HHVM
*Setup WordPress

*Configure WordPress

Install Apache:

Apache package is available from Ubuntu repository, so you can easily install it with apt command.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y apache2 unzip

Once the installation is complete, start the Apache service.

sudo systemctl start apache2

Verify whether Apache service is running.

sudo systemctl status apache2

● apache2.service - LSB: Apache2 web server
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/apache2; bad; vendor preset: enabled)
  Drop-In: /lib/systemd/system/apache2.service.d
           └─apache2-systemd.conf
   Active: active (running) since Sun 2016-10-09 23:14:39 IST; 34s ago
     Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
   CGroup: /system.slice/apache2.service
           ├─2429 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
           ├─2432 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
           └─2433 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start

Oct 09 23:14:37 server systemd[1]: Starting LSB: Apache2 web server...
Oct 09 23:14:37 server apache2[2405]:  * Starting Apache httpd web server apache2
Oct 09 23:14:39 server apache2[2405]:  *
Oct 09 23:14:39 server systemd[1]: Started LSB: Apache2 web server.
Oct 09 23:15:12 server systemd[1]: Started LSB: Apache2 web server.

Now test the Apache with your web browser.

http://your-ip-add-ress/

You should get the following "Apache2 Ubuntu Default Page" page confirms the Apache is up and ready to serve web pages.

Install and Configure MariaDB:

We will use MariaDB instead of MySQL database. MariaDB is a fork of MySQL developed by MariaDB Foundation, led by Michael "Monty"Widenius.

MariaDB is available in Ubuntu base repository.

sudo apt-get install -y mariadb-client mariadb-server

Start MariaDB service.

sudo systemctl start mysql

Verify MariaDB is running as expected.

sudo systemctl status mysql

● mysql.service - LSB: Start and stop the mysql database server daemon
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/mysql; bad; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) since Sun 2016-10-09 23:22:23 IST; 43s ago
     Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
   CGroup: /system.slice/mysql.service
           ├─4428 /bin/bash /usr/bin/mysqld_safe
           ├─4429 logger -p daemon err -t /etc/init.d/mysql -i
           ├─4573 /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/usr --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --plugin-dir=/usr/lib/mysql/plugin --user=mysql --skip-log-error --pid-file=/var/run/mysqld/m
           └─4574 logger -t mysqld -p daemon error

Oct 09 23:22:24 server /etc/mysql/debian-start[4625]: Phase 1/6: Checking and upgrading mysql database
Oct 09 23:22:24 server /etc/mysql/debian-start[4625]: Processing databases
Oct 09 23:22:24 server /etc/mysql/debian-start[4625]: mysql
Oct 09 23:22:24 server /etc/mysql/debian-start[4625]: mysql.column_stats                                 OK
Oct 09 23:22:24 server /etc/mysql/debian-start[4625]: mysql.columns_priv                                 OK
Oct 09 23:22:24 server /etc/mysql/debian-start[4625]: mysql.db                                           OK
Oct 09 23:22:24 server /etc/mysql/debian-start[4625]: mysql.event                                        OK
Oct 09 23:22:24 server /etc/mysql/debian-start[4625]: mysql.func                                         OK
Oct 09 23:22:24 server /etc/mysql/debian-start[4625]: mysql.gtid_slave_pos                               OK
Oct 09 23:22:24 server /etc/mysql/debian-start[4664]: Triggering myisam-recover for all MyISAM tables and aria-recover for all Aria tables

sudo mysql -u root -p
create database testdb;
grant all privileges on testdb.* to wpdbuser@localhost identified by 'wp@123';
flush privileges;
quit

Install and Configure HHVM:

Let’s add HHVM repository to your system.

sudo apt-get install -y software-properties-common
sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 0x5a16e7281be7a449 
sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://dl.hhvm.com/ubuntu $(lsb_release -sc) main"

Update the Ubuntu repositories and Install HHVM

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y hhvm

Once the installation is complete, configure Apache web server to use HHVM.

sudo /usr/share/hhvm/install_fastcgi.sh

Run below command to start HHVM automatically on system boot up.

sudo update-rc.d hhvm defaults

Here, We’ll use HHVM as a PHP alternative.

sudo /usr/bin/update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/php php /usr/bin/hhvm 60

Now start HHVM service.

sudo systemctl start hhvm

Verify the php version. You should get the similar output like below.

$ php -v

HipHop VM 3.15.1 (rel)
Compiler: tags/HHVM-3.15.1-0-g87901df9ba74204dda149af0cfbbb016d85df67e
Repo schema: 426da75d3ec1fb57c98ed95ba8f0ca26a3605b82

Setup WordPress:

Download WordPress archive and extract it.

cd /tmp
wget https://wordpress.org/latest.zip
unzip latest.zip
sudo mv wordpress/* /var/www/html/
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/

Configure Apache to take any file that ends in .hh or .php and sent it to HHVM via FasrCGI

Edit the following file to enable the said feature.

sudo vi /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/hhvm_proxy_fcgi.conf
ProxyPassMatch ^/(.+\.(hh|php)(/.*)?)$ fcgi://127.0.0.1:9000/var/www/html/$1
sudo systemctl restart apache2
sudo systemctl restart hhvm

Configure WordPress:

Now try to access the WordPress installation through a web browser.

http://your-ip-add-ress/

You should now see the WordPress installation wizard.

Follow the wizard and set up the WordPress.

Enter the database connection details.
Enter the blog information including admin user and password.

After the successful completion of setting up, you could be able to access the WordPress blog home page.