[CLOSED] problem with installing PHP

[dehawkinz]

For various reasons my wife decided to use php to build her website, and I am the local 'tech support'

so I figured it best to get ahead of the curve and install a LAMP stack on my pc first

I got L A M sorted (I think) it is the P that is bugging me because it does not want to work

every time I try to display even a basic phpinfo all I get is a blank page in the browser
Linux is definitely working
Apache is definitely working - I get the default Apache page if I go to localhost
the php file is there, because if I do a view source on the browser page it confirms source code is <?php phpinfo(); ?>

although most tutorials are stuck back at php5 and php is now at 7.0, I think I installed all the necessary components (where it referred to 5 I updated to 7.0 as php5 would not even install)

I know a few years back I managed it on a different machine, so I am sure it is something really blindingly obvious to those wiser in these things but I am stumped

[deepakdeshp]

Here is install proxcss fot. lAMP
https://www.storagecraft.com/blog/insta ... 8-command/

[dehawkinz]

deepakdeshp, I have just tried that

I still get the same issue - just a blank page generated by the new php file

[deepakdeshp]

This may help
http://askubuntu.com/questions/760907/u ... in-browser

[dehawkinz]

eeeek

that killed my apache

now apache will not start - the error log is full of errors

it seems that something is out of balance, maybe the best solution is to clear everything out and restart from scratch

[deepakdeshp]

eeeek

that killed my apache

now apache will not start - the error log is full of errors

it seems that something is out of balance, maybe the best solution is to clear everything out and restart from scratch

I hope that after making any change you tested for PHP.
The last change you made would have broken Apache.
You can undo the last step or remove LAMP stack and reinstall.
http://askubuntu.com/questions/806538/r ... untu-16-04
The purge option removes packages completely.

Good luck.

[dehawkinz]

I tried the option to purge everything and re-install, but still apache wont start.

I think a scorched earth approach may be best, wipe the partition tomorrow and re-install Linux - that way I know there are no nasty fragments lurking upsetting everything.

I suspect I have some bits left that are fighting with each other - there are odd error messages in the installation process about dependencies and the such like, that were not there first time I installed

[adamcloud]

I followed this tutorial and lamp is working perfectly.

https://www.cloudjojo.com/how-to-instal ... ntu-16-04/

[dehawkinz]

I did the scorched earth approach in the end, and reinstalled Linux from scratch as the various attempts to 'fix' the installation were not working

Installing the remainder of the LAMP stack worked fine with a fresh Linux installation

so I did not 'solve' what was causing the issue, but I did acheive the desired end result, so in that sense I solved the problem