Complete Guide on How to Install PHP Framework Laminas/Zend Framework using LAMP Stack on AlmaLinux 8
In this guide, we'll thoroughly cover how to install Laminas using the LAMP Stack on AlmaLinux 8. This guide is designed to ensure anyone running the Laminas framework on an AlmaLinux-based server can follow the steps easily, quickly, and accurately. We'll first configure Linux, Apache, MariaDB, and PHP (LAMP), then proceed to install Laminas and all its dependencies.
Laminas is an open-source, component-based PHP framework developed by the Laminas Project under the auspices of the Linux Foundation. Laminas was officially released in 2020 as a rebranding and merger of:
- Zend Framework
- Apigility
- Expressive (middleware-based framework)
These three projects were combined and redeveloped into Laminas, with the aim of making it more modular, modern, and PSR (PHP Standards Recommendations) compliant.
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 Laminas 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 8.3, run the following command:
dnf module reset php -y
dnf module enable php:remi-8.3 -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 Laminas
Before installing Laminas, we'll first create a virtual host and database (to store Laminas 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/laminasapp/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 laminas_db;
create user 'laminas_user'@'localhost' identified by 'd0h4ghIn9IotMLV7';
grant all on laminas_db.* to 'laminas_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 8.3.24 (/usr/bin/php)
Download the Laminas file and place it in the directory according to the virtualhost, we will download Laminas and create a project with the name laminasapp using composer:
cd /var/www/focusnic.biz.id/
composer create-project -s dev laminas/laminas-mvc-skeleton laminasapp
cd laminasapp
composer require laminas/laminas-db
Change some parameters in the following file for the database connection on Laminas:
/var/www/focusnic.biz.id/laminasapp/config/autoload/global.php
Match the previously created database information including db, username, and password:
return [
'db' => [
'driver' => 'Pdo',
'dsn' => 'mysql:dbname=laminas_db;host=localhost;charset=utf8',
'username' => 'laminas_user',
'password' => 'd0h4ghIn9IotMLV7',
],
'service_manager' => [
'factories' => [
Laminas\Db\Adapter\Adapter::class => Laminas\Db\Adapter\AdapterServiceFactory::class,
],
],
];
Adjust the permissions on the Laminas directory:
find /var/www/focusnic.biz.id/laminasapp -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
find /var/www/focusnic.biz.id/laminasapp -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
chown -R apache:apache /var/www/focusnic.biz.id
Access the Laminas installation via a browser, for example: http://focusnic.biz.id. If the installation is successful, the default Laminas page will appear as follows.
Troubleshooting
- Blank Page or Error 500
This could be caused by incorrect permissions or mod_rewrite being disabled. Solution:
find /var/www/focusnic.biz.id/laminasapp -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
find /var/www/focusnic.biz.id/laminasapp -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
chown -R apache:apache /var/www/focusnic.biz.id
Allow mod_rewrite on virtualhost:
<Directory /var/www/focusnic.biz.id>
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
Conclusion
Through this guide, we have successfully installed and configured the Laminas MVC Framework using the LAMP Stack on AlmaLinux 8 in a complete and structured manner. Laminas empowers experienced developers to build large-scale applications with a modular architecture, although it requires more detailed manual setup than frameworks like Laravel.
We have covered:
- Installing Apache, MariaDB, and PHP 8.3
- Installing Composer and the Laminas MVC Framework
- Configuring the database connection according to the official documentation
- Adding modules and configuring the service manager
- Troubleshooting common errors
Q: Does Laminas have a built-in migration feature?
A: No. Laminas doesn't have a built-in migration system like Laravel. You can use external tools like Doctrine Migrations or Phinx if you want versioned database management.
Q: Is it mandatory to use an ORM like Doctrine in Laminas?
A: Not required. You can use Laminas\Db to access the database directly using SQL builder, or integrate an ORM like Doctrine if needed.
Q: Why doesn't the installation connect directly to the database?
A: Laminas is designed to be modular. You must add your own database configuration to the autoload file and register the Laminas\Db module in modules.config.php.
Q: Can you use SQLite, PostgreSQL, or SQL Server?
A: Yes. Laminas supports various database drivers through PDO. Simply change the dsn and ensure the appropriate PHP extension is installed.
Q: Is Laminas suitable for small startup applications?
A: Laminas is more suitable for enterprise applications and large projects that require high flexibility. For small startups, Laravel may be faster for initial development.
Q: How do I deploy Laminas to production?
A: Use a LAMP/LEMP server with PHP-FPM, optimize permissions, enable OPcache caching, and ensure .htaccess is working properly.
Q: Can Laminas only be installed using Composer?
A: Yes. Composer is the only official and recommended method for installing the Laminas Framework.
Further References: