Complete Guide on How to Install PHP Framework CodeIgniter using LAMP Stack on AlmaLinux 8
CodeIgniter is one of the most popular and powerful PHP frameworks widely used for building modern, fast, and secure web applications. In this guide, we'll thoroughly cover how to install CodeIgniter using a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL/MariaDB, PHP) stack on AlmaLinux 8, a highly stable Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)-based Linux distribution suitable for production use.
Prerequisites
- Full root access
- Domain (optional)
- Basic Linux Command Line
Preparation
Make sure the firewall and SELinux have been adjusted or temporarily disabled if you want to avoid problems during the initial installation.
Before starting the CodeIgniter installation, make sure your AlmaLinux 8 server is up to date and ready to install the LAMP Stack (Linux, Apache, MariaDB, PHP).
dnf update -y
dnf install epel-release -y
Install Apache
Apache is a reliable web server and is widely used in production environments. To install it, run the following command:
dnf install httpd -y
Once the installation is complete, enable and start the Apache service with the following command:
systemctl enable --now httpd
To allow access to the server via HTTP and HTTPS, allow the firewall:
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service={http,https}
firewall-cmd --reload
Install PHP
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a server-side programming language that is crucial in this stack. We will install PHP 8 from the Remi Repository to use the latest version of PHP.
Run the following command to install the Remi Repository:
dnf install -y https://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-8.rpm
Then list the available PHP using the following command:
dnf module list php
Output example:
AlmaLinux 8 - AppStream
Name Stream Profiles Summary
php 7.2 [d] common [d], devel, minimal PHP scripting language
php 7.3 common [d], devel, minimal PHP scripting language
php 7.4 common [d], devel, minimal PHP scripting language
php 8.0 common [d], devel, minimal PHP scripting language
php 8.2 common [d], devel, minimal PHP scripting language
Remi's Modular repository for Enterprise Linux 8 - x86_64
Name Stream Profiles Summary
php remi-7.2 common [d], devel, minimal PHP scripting language
php remi-7.3 common [d], devel, minimal PHP scripting language
php remi-7.4 common [d], devel, minimal PHP scripting language
php remi-8.0 common [d], devel, minimal PHP scripting language
php remi-8.1 common [d], devel, minimal PHP scripting language
php remi-8.2 common [d], devel, minimal PHP scripting language
php remi-8.3 common [d], devel, minimal PHP scripting language
php remi-8.4 common [d], devel, minimal PHP scripting language
Hint: [d]efault, [e]nabled, [x]disabled, [i]nstalled
Enable the desired PHP module version. For example, for PHP 8.4, run the following command:
dnf module reset php -y
dnf module enable php:remi-8.4 -y
Once the repository is active, we can proceed with installing PHP along with the commonly used essential modules:
dnf install -y php php-cli php-common php-mysqlnd php-fpm php-opcache php-gd php-curl php-mbstring php-xml php-json php-soap php-bcmath
Check the installed PHP version with the following command:
php -v
Install MariaDB
MariaDB is a replacement for MySQL and is compatible with MySQL-based applications. Run the following command to install it:
dnf module list mariadb
Output example:
AlmaLinux 8 - AppStream
Name Stream Profiles Summary
mariadb 10.3 [d] client, galera, server [d] MariaDB Module
mariadb 10.5 client, galera, server [d] MariaDB Module
mariadb 10.11 client, galera, server [d] MariaDB Module
Hint: [d]efault, [e]nabled, [x]disabled, [i]nstalled
The output above shows that the default version of MariaDB is 10.11 (the latest version from the OS). However, we'll use MariaDB version 11.4.7 using the official repository at https://mariadb.org/download/ and then reset MariaDB to remove it from the OS's default repository:
dnf module reset mariadb
Run the following command to add the MariaDB version 11.4.7 repository:
nano /etc/yum.repos.d/MariaDB.repo
Add the following parameters:
# MariaDB 11.4 RedHatEnterpriseLinux repository list - created 2025-07-31 14:04 UTC
# https://mariadb.org/download/
[mariadb]
name = MariaDB
# rpm.mariadb.org is a dynamic mirror if your preferred mirror goes offline. See https://mariadb.org/mirrorbits/ for details.
# baseurl = https://rpm.mariadb.org/11.4/rhel/$releasever/$basearch
baseurl = https://mirror.its.dal.ca/mariadb/yum/11.4/rhel/$releasever/$basearch
module_hotfixes = 1
# gpgkey = https://rpm.mariadb.org/RPM-GPG-KEY-MariaDB
gpgkey = https://mirror.its.dal.ca/mariadb/yum/RPM-GPG-KEY-MariaDB
gpgcheck = 1
Then run the following command to install MariaDB:
dnf install MariaDB-server MariaDB-client
Enable and activate the MariaDB service:
systemctl enable --now mariadb
systemctl status mariadb
Before using it for production or testing, it is best to secure the MariaDB installation first by running the following command:
mariadb-secure-installation
Then follow the instructions that appear:
- Enter current password for root (enter for none) → [ENTER]
- Switch to unix_socket authentication → Y
- Change the root password? → Y
- Remove anonymous users? → Y
- Disallow root login remotely? Y
- Remove test database and access to it? Y
- Reload privilege tables now? Y
Install CodeIgniter
Before installing the latest version of CodeIgniter 4, we will first create a virtual host and database (to store CodeIgniter content, configuration, and structure). Run the following command to create a virtual host:
Make sure you use a valid domain (FQDN) and also that the DNS A record is directed or pointed according to the server IP used on the server.
nano /etc/httpd/conf.d/focusnic.biz.id.conf
Fill in the following parameters:
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin webmaster@focusnic.biz.id
ServerName focusnic.biz.id
ServerAlias www.focusnic.biz.id
DocumentRoot /var/www/focusnic.biz.id/ciapp/public
<Directory /var/www/focusnic.biz.id>
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
ErrorLog /var/log/httpd/focusnic.biz.id-error.log
CustomLog /var/log/httpd/focusnic.biz.id-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
Then create a directory on the virtualhost above:
mkdir -p /var/www/focusnic.biz.id
Restart Apache to save changes:
apachectl configtest
systemctl restart httpd
Create a database by running the following command:
mariadb
Then run the following command to create a database, user, and password:
create database ci_db;
create user 'ci_user'@'localhost' identified by 'EkZx5OIslz59uTe4';
grant all on ci_db.* to 'ci_user'@'localhost';
flush privileges;
quit;
Download composer and install it with the following command:
Composer will be needed for CodeIgniter management such as installing dependencies and other requirements during development or production.
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer
Check composer version:
composer --version
Output example:
Composer version 2.8.10 2025-07-10 19:08:33
PHP version 8.4.10 (/usr/bin/php)
Download the CodeIgniter file and place it in the directory according to the virtualhost, we will download CodeIgniter and create a project with the name ciapp using composer:
cd /var/www/focusnic.biz.id/
composer create-project codeigniter4/appstarter ciapp
cd ciapp
cp env .env
Change some parameters in the .env file for the database connection in CodeIgniter:
nano /var/www/focusnic.biz.id/ciapp/.env
Match the previously created database information, including the db, username, and password. For app.baseURL, you can define a valid IP address or domain:
CI_ENVIRONMENT = development
app.baseURL = 'http://focusnic.biz.id'
database.default.hostname = localhost
database.default.database = ci_db
database.default.username = ci_user
database.default.password = EkZx5OIslz59uTe4
database.default.DBDriver = MySQLi
database.default.port = 3306
Adjust permissions on the CodeIgniter directory:
find /var/www/focusnic.biz.id/ciapp -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
find /var/www/focusnic.biz.id/ciapp -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
chown -R apache:apache /var/www/focusnic.biz.id
Access the CodeIgniter installation through a browser, for example: http://focusnic.biz.id. If the installation is successful, the following default CodeIgniter page will appear.
Trobleshooting
- Page not found or 404 error when opening the main page
Ensure the Apache root directory points to CodeIgniter's public/ and that .htaccess is active.
- Permission denied on writable folder
Make sure apache is the owner and the folder has 775 permissions.
- Database Connection Failed (Error: Unable to connect to your database)
The username, password, or database name is incorrect. Make sure to create the database and test it manually:
mariadb -u ci_user -p
- Incomplete PHP Extensions
Some required PHP extensions are missing (such as mbstring, intl, pdo, etc.). Install all required extensions:
dnf install php-mbstring php-intl php-pdo php-mysqlnd
systemctl restart httpd php-fpm
Conclusion
By following the detailed steps above, we have successfully installed the complete CodeIgniter framework on a LAMP Stack based on AlmaLinux 8. This combination provides high performance, stability, and ease of PHP application development. This configuration is ideal for use on both production and development servers.
Q: Can I use Nginx instead of Apache?
A: Yes, CodeIgniter can run on top of Nginx, but the configuration is different. This guide focuses on the LAMP Stack with Apache.
Q: How do I display detailed errors during development?
A: Change the environment in the .env file:
CI_ENVIRONMENT = development
Q: What is the difference between the app/, public/, and writable/ directories in CodeIgniter?
A:
app/: Contains the main application code (controllers, models, configuration).public/: The root directory accessed by web browsers, where index.php is located.writable/: Contains logs, caches, and temporary files.
Q: Is CodeIgniter 4 compatible with PHP 8?
A: Yes, CodeIgniter 4 is designed to work well with PHP 7.4 to 8.x.
Q: What should I do if I want to publish my application to the internet?
A: You will need to set up a domain, SSL (HTTPS), and additional security.
Q: How do I update CodeIgniter to the latest version?
A: If you are using Composer, run the following command:
composer update
Further References: