Use sudo apt-get install packagename and enter it for the following packages:

• php5
• mysql5
• mysql-server
• php5-mysql
• mysql-client
• phpmyadmin

It is possible that you need an older version of PHP or MySQL for some applications. In that case, just add php4 or something similar to the list. Even if you don’t seem to need it, always add the newest packages to your server. Phpmyadmin is not required. You may also use another application to handle your databases.

In order to prevent your SSH connection from being found by crackbots, you should change the default port 22. Go to /etc/ssh and open the sshd_config file. Ports are listed in line 5. Now substitute the default by a random value somewhere between 10000 and 65000. Save and reload Apache using /etc/init.d/apache2 reload.
Note: From now on you have to access your server via SSH using ssh -p XXXXX user@IP.

Apache configuration

Append the following lines to your apache2.conf file:

Options None +FollowSymLinks

<Directory />
Order Deny,Allow
Deny from all
AllowOverride None
</Directory>

<Directory /var/www/>
Order Deny,Allow
Allow from all
AllowOverride all
</Directory>

Code explanation: Line 1 turns off all apache options (this prevents directory listing and develops server performance) except FollowSymLinks, which is necessary if you want to use mod_rewrite correctly. The following lines grant access only to your www-folder.

Setting up phpmyadmin

To protect your databases from unwelcome visitors it is advisable to take these two steps:

1. Verify that your MySQL users are allowed to access your server only from localhost.  Thus your databases can only be used by applications installed on your own server. When creating a new user you will find the field “Host” to adjust it.
2. Create an own vhost for your phpmyadmin installation. You can use a subdomain for this purpose. Besides choose a name as unique as possible.

Problem with subdomains

When setting up my first subdomain for phpmyadmin, I found that my server duplicated the parent domain content instead of displaying the subdomain. I could finally resolve this problem by adding these two lines to my apache2.conf:

NameVirtualHost *:80
NameVirtualHost *:443