Linux Web Server Deployment, Monitoring & Security using LAMP Stack

📌 Project Overview

This project demonstrates how to deploy, monitor, and secure a production-style Linux web server environment using AlmaLinux.

The setup includes:

• LAMP Stack Deployment
• Infrastructure Monitoring using Prometheus and Grafana
• Apache Virtual Hosting
• Linux Server Security Hardening

This project showcases practical Linux System Administration and Monitoring skills.

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🏗 Architecture

Component	Tool
Operating System	AlmaLinux
Web Server	Apache
Database	MariaDB
Backend Language	PHP
Monitoring	Prometheus
Visualization	Grafana
Metrics Exporter	Node Exporter
Security	Firewalld, Fail2Ban, SSH Hardening, SELinux

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📦 Project Components

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1️⃣ LAMP Stack Deployment

Installed Apache, MariaDB, and PHP to host web applications.

Install Packages

# Install Apache
dnf install httpd -y
# Install MariaDB
dnf install mariadb-server -y
# Install PHP
dnf install php -y
# Install PHP MySQL Native driver(for PHP-MariaDB connection)
dnf install php-mysqlnd -y

Start Services

systemctl enable --now httpd
systemctl enable --now mariadb

Allow HTTP in Firewall

Because Apache runs on port 80, the firewall must allow it.

firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
firewall-cmd --reload

Verify Installation

php -v
mysql --version
systemctl status httpd

Test Web Server

Create a simple HTML page to verify that Apache is serving web content.

echo "Welcome to my Linux Web Server Project" > /var/www/html/index.html

You can also create the file using vim:

vim /var/www/html/index.html

Open in browser:

http://SERVER-IP

Screenshot

2️⃣ Server Monitoring (Prometheus + Grafana)

Installed Prometheus, Node Exporter, and Grafana to monitor the Linux server and visualize system metrics.

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Monitoring Tools

• Prometheus
• Node Exporter
• Grafana

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Install Node Exporter

Step 1: Install wget

dnf install wget -y

Step 2: Navigate to the opt directory

cd /opt

Step 3: Download Node Exporter from GitHub

wget https://github.com/prometheus/node_exporter/releases/download/v1.7.0/node_exporter-1.7.0.linux-amd64.tar.gz

Step 4: Extract the archive

tar -xzf node_exporter-1.7.0.linux-amd64.tar.gz

Step 5: Start Node Exporter

cd node_exporter-1.7.0.linux-amd64
./node_exporter &

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Install Prometheus

Step 1: Navigate to the opt directory

cd /opt

Step 2:Download Prometheus from GitHub

wget https://github.com/prometheus/prometheus/releases/download/v2.52.0/prometheus-2.52.0.linux-amd64.tar.gz

Step 3:Extract the archive:

tar -xzf prometheus-2.52.0.linux-amd64.tar.gz

Step 4:Start Prometheus:

cd prometheus-2.52.0.linux-amd64
./prometheus &

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Install Grafana

Step 1: Install the Grafana RPM package from Grafana Labs

dnf install -y https://dl.grafana.com/enterprise/release/grafana-enterprise-10.4.2-1.x86_64.rpm

Step 2: Start and enable Grafana service

systemctl enable --now grafana-server

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Metrics Monitored

• CPU Usage
• Memory Usage
• Disk Usage
• Network Traffic
• System Load
• System Uptime

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Node Exporter Metrics

Node Exporter exposes Linux system metrics for Prometheus.

Access Node Exporter metrics:

http://SERVER-IP:9100/metrics

Screenshot

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Prometheus Targets

Prometheus scrapes metrics from configured targets.

Access Prometheus interface:

http://SERVER-IP:9090

Verify that node_exporter is listed and showing UP.

Screenshot

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Grafana Dashboard

Grafana was configured to use Prometheus as the data source.

Dashboard used:

Node Exporter Full Dashboard (ID: 1860)

Access Grafana:

http://SERVER-IP:3000

default login:
username: admin
password: admin

Screenshot

3️⃣ Apache Virtual Hosting

Configured Apache to host multiple websites on a single server using different domain names.

Example Domain Names

site1.local
site2.local

Create Website Directories

mkdir -p /var/www/site1
mkdir -p /var/www/site2

Directory Structure

/var/www/site1
/var/www/site2

Example VirtualHost Configuration

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName site1.local
    DocumentRoot /var/www/site1
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName site2.local
    DocumentRoot /var/www/site2
</VirtualHost>

Reload Apache

systemctl restart httpd

Configure Local DNS (hosts file)

Edit the hosts file:

vim /etc/hosts

Add

192.168.233.135 site1.local
192.168.233.135 site2.local

Testing

curl http://site1.local
curl http://site2.local

Screenshot

4️⃣ Linux Server Security Hardening

Implemented multiple security measures to improve the security of the Linux web server.

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🔐 SSH Hardening

Edited the SSH configuration file to disable insecure login methods.

Edit configuration file:

vim /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Security settings applied:

PermitRootLogin no
PasswordAuthentication no
PermitEmptyPasswords no

Restart SSH service:

systemctl restart sshd

Verify SSH service:

systemctl status sshd

Screenshot

🔥 Firewall Configuration

Configured Firewalld to allow required services.

firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=ssh
firewall-cmd --reload

Verify firewall rules:

firewall-cmd --list-all

Screenshot

🛡 Fail2Ban Intrusion Protection

Installed Fail2Ban to protect the server from brute-force login attacks.

Enable the EPEL repository (required for Fail2Ban):

dnf install epel-release -y

Install Fail2Ban:

dnf install fail2ban -y

Start and enable service:

systemctl enable --now fail2ban

Check Fail2Ban status:

fail2ban-client status

Screenshot

🧩 SELinux Verification

Checked SELinux status to ensure security policies are enforced.

getenforce
sestatus

Expected output:

Enforcing

Screenshot

🧠 Skills Demonstrated

• Linux System Administration
• Web Server Deployment
• Infrastructure Monitoring
• Linux Security Hardening
• Networking & Firewall Configuration
• Troubleshooting & Diagnostics

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⚙ Technologies Used

• Linux (AlmaLinux)
• Apache HTTP Server
• MariaDB
• PHP
• Prometheus
• Grafana
• Node Exporter
• Firewalld
• Fail2Ban
• SELinux

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🎯 Conclusion

This project demonstrates how to deploy, monitor, and secure a Linux-based web server environment using industry-standard tools. It highlights core skills required for Linux System Administration and DevOps roles, including web server deployment, monitoring, security hardening, and infrastructure management.