How To Install PHP for Apache on Ubuntu Server 20.04

Follow these steps to serve dynamic contents with PHP

Step 1 : Add PHP PPA Repository

sudo apt -y install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

Step 2 : Update the apt package repository and install PHP 7.4

sudo apt update
sudo apt install php7.4

Step 3 : Check if PHP is properly installed and which version has been installed:

php -v

Step 4 : Run command to install additional packages:

sudo apt install php7.4-{mysql,curl,json,cgi,xsl,gd,common,xml,zip,soap,bcmath}

Step 5 : Create index.php under the html directory of our site:

cd /var/www/example.com/html
echo '<?php echo phpinfo(); ?>' > index.php

Step 6 : Open example.com.conf from sites-available.

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/example.com.conf

Step 7 : Add the following line under the VirtualHost directive

DirectoryIndex index.php index.html

Step 8 : Save the changes and reload Apache

sudo service apache2 reload

Step 9 : Now, access your site with your browser, and you should see a page with information regarding the installed PHP