How to Install PHP 8.1 for Nginx on Ubuntu 23.04

To install PHP 8.1 for Nginx on Ubuntu 23.04, follow the steps below.

Step 1 : Update

sudo apt update

Step 2 : Find PHP version

apt-cache search php

Step 3 : Install PHP 8.1 core components

sudo apt install php8.1 php8.1-cli php8.1-fpm

Step 4 : Install commonly used PHP extensions

sudo apt install php8.1-{mysql,curl,xsl,gd,common,xml,zip,xsl,soap,bcmath,mbstring,gettext,imagick}

- mysql: MySQL database support

- curl: cURL library for URL handling

- xsl: XSL module for PHP

- gd: GD Graphics Library for image processing

- common: Common files for PHP

- xml: XML module for PHP

- zip: ZIP archive support

- soap: SOAP module for PHP

- bcmath: BCMath arbitrary precision mathematics

- mbstring: Multibyte string support

- gettext: Gettext module for PHP

- imagick: ImageMagick module for PHP

Step 5 : Verify PHP version

php -v

Step 6 : Create a new Nginx configuration file for the domain (example.com)

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com

Add the following configuration inside the file, adjusting paths and settings as needed:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;


    root /var/www/html;
    index index.php index.html index.htm;


    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }


    location ~ \.php$ {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }


    location ~ /\.ht {
        deny all;
    }
}

Save the file and exit the text editor.

Step 7 : Create a symbolic link to enable the new configuration

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Step 8 : Test Nginx configuration

sudo nginx -t

Step 9 : Restart Nginx

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 10 : Test PHP by creating a info.php file

sudo nano /var/www/html/info.php

Add the following content:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Step 11 : Visit your domain to see the info.php results.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed PHP 8.1 for Nginx on Ubuntu 23.04.