How to Setup Nginx, Mysql, Php Environment on Mac

Goal

To buid an envrionment shown as below.

Env

Essential Steps

1. Install Brew
2. Install MySQL
3. Install PHP
4. Install NGINX
5. Modify nginx.conf
6. Download wordpress folder. If we can successfully browse wordpress config page, we achieve the goal.

Should I Use Bundled Services Similar with MAMP?

Better not. With those services, it's difficult to update mysql, php, nginx individually.

Install Brew

Please refer to https://brew.sh/

Info Related to MySQL

Install MySQL

brew install mysql

What Are Correct Mysql Removal Steps

I had to remove previously installed mysql because I didn't use mysql_secure_installation to change the default root's password. That is, I used mysql -u root to change password and found that for some reason, the default account is forever locked and cannot be unlocked.

It takes skills to remove mysql thoroughly.

Commands to Remove Mysql

1. Uninstall

brew uninstall --force mysql

2. Find running instances

ps -ax | grep mysql | grep -v grep

# OR for only the running `PID`

ps -ef | grep mysql | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}'

# OR this If you have this on your machine, I recommend using 

pgrep -f mysql

3. Kill if anyone is alive

kill 24024824082408   # change this number to what was returned in the grep 

4. Removal and cleanup

brew remove mysql
brew cleanup
sudo rm /usr/local/mysql
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/var/mysql
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/mysql*
sudo rm ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist
sudo rm -rf /Library/StartupItems/MySQLCOM
sudo rm -rf /Library/PreferencePanes/My*
launchctl unload -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist
rm -rf ~/Library/PreferencePanes/My*
sudo rm -rf /Library/Receipts/mysql*
sudo rm -rf /Library/Receipts/MySQL*
sudo rm -rf /private/var/db/receipts/*mysql*

References: 
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/52161511/how-to-uninstall-mysql-5-6-when-installed-by-brew-on-macos
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/100948/how-do-you-stop-mysql-on-a-mac-os-install

Make sure that it's removed completely and no mysql process is running. Install MySql after confirmation.

5. Another Way to Check If the Process Is Running

d@DtekiMBP:/usr/local/etc/nginx|⇒  lsof -i:3306
COMMAND    PID USER   FD   TYPE             DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
mysqld    1590    d   21u  IPv4 0x3cc2e167c1c317f1      0t0  TCP localhost:mysql (LISTEN)
mysqld    1590    d   33u  IPv4 0x3cc2e167c21e6051      0t0  TCP localhost:mysql->localhost:50184 (ESTABLISHED)
mysqld    1590    d   34u  IPv4 0x3cc2e167c1c281b1      0t0  TCP localhost:mysql->localhost:50187 (ESTABLISHED)
mysqld    1590    d   36u  IPv4 0x3cc2e167c1c16051      0t0  TCP localhost:mysql->localhost:50188 (ESTABLISHED)
mysqld    1590    d   38u  IPv4 0x3cc2e167c1d4a7f1      0t0  TCP localhost:mysql->localhost:50189 (ESTABLISHED)
mysqld    1590    d   40u  IPv4 0x3cc2e167c204bcd1      0t0  TCP localhost:mysql->localhost:50193 (ESTABLISHED)
mysqld    1590    d   42u  IPv4 0x3cc2e167c21fae31      0t0  TCP localhost:mysql->localhost:50731 (ESTABLISHED)
TablePlus 1796    d   19u  IPv4 0x3cc2e167c2206b71      0t0  TCP localhost:50184->localhost:mysql (ESTABLISHED)
TablePlus 1796    d   24u  IPv4 0x3cc2e167c220d051      0t0  TCP localhost:50187->localhost:mysql (ESTABLISHED)
TablePlus 1796    d   26u  IPv4 0x3cc2e167c1ef37f1      0t0  TCP localhost:50188->localhost:mysql (ESTABLISHED)
TablePlus 1796    d   28u  IPv4 0x3cc2e167c21df691      0t0  TCP localhost:50189->localhost:mysql (ESTABLISHED)
TablePlus 1796    d   33u  IPv4 0x3cc2e167c1d2fb71      0t0  TCP localhost:50731->localhost:mysql (ESTABLISHED)
TablePlus 1796    d   35u  IPv4 0x3cc2e167c224aa11      0t0  TCP localhost:50193->localhost:mysql (ESTABLISHED)

Info Related to Php

Install Php

brew install php

php and php-fpm are together installed.

Info Related to Nginx

Install Nginx

brew install nginx

The Current Progress

Now, we are able to run MySQL, PHP, NGINX by brew services start mysql, brew services start php, brew services start nginx.

d@DtekiMBP:~|⇒  brew services list
Name  Status  User File
mysql started d    ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist
nginx started d    ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.nginx.plist
php   started root ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.php.plist

d@DtekiMBP:/usr/local/etc/nginx|⇒  lsof -i:9000
COMMAND  PID USER   FD   TYPE             DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
php-fpm 9800    d    9u  IPv4 0xce29d1dffa82a0db      0t0  TCP localhost:cslistener (LISTEN)
php-fpm 9808    d   10u  IPv4 0xce29d1dffa82a0db      0t0  TCP localhost:cslistener (LISTEN)
php-fpm 9809    d   10u  IPv4 0xce29d1dffa82a0db      0t0  TCP localhost:cslistener (LISTEN)

d@DtekiMBP:/usr/local/etc/nginx|⇒  lsof -i:3306
COMMAND PID USER   FD   TYPE             DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
mysqld  672    d    4u  IPv4 0xce29d1dffa84bd5b      0t0  TCP localhost:mysql (LISTEN)

d@DtekiMBP:/usr/local/etc/nginx|⇒  lsof -i:8080
COMMAND   PID USER   FD   TYPE             DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
nginx    7578    d    6u  IPv4 0xce29d1dff4c13d5b      0t0  TCP *:http-alt (LISTEN)
nginx   10131    d    6u  IPv4 0xce29d1dff4c13d5b      0t0  TCP *:http-alt (LISTEN)

Note: we run nginx on port 8080. This port number is configurable in /usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf on Mac, in 
http{
  server {
     listen  8080;
  }
}

First Goal Is Achieved by Starting Services Successfully

We are already in this stage. If you need reload nginx.conf, you can use nginx -s reload.

References:
https://www.maxlist.xyz/2020/06/18/flask-nginx/
https://www.cnblogs.com/huchong/p/10031523.html
https://ld246.com/article/1563147639170
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/59568777/nginx-emerg-bind-to-0-0-0-08080-failed-48-address-already-in-use-on-mac
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25774999/nginx-stat-failed-13-permission-denied

Here Comes the Most Dirty Part: Modification to nginx.conf

Have-to-be-modified parts from nginx.conf are listed below.

    server {
        listen       8080;
        server_name  localhost;

        #charset koi8-r;

        #access_log  logs/host.access.log  main;
        root /Users/d/wordpress; # the root of the whole website. Modify me!
        index  index.html index.htm index.php; # the very first page of the website. Modify me!
        
        location ~ \.php$ { # This is a regular expression specifying a php file with prefix of the requested URL
          try_files $uri = /404.html; # the inner content has to be added to nginx.conf to specify php-fpm to take and pare the requested php file. 
          fastcgi_pass 127.0.0.1:9000;
          fastcgi_index index.php;
          fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
          include fastcgi_params;
       }
     }

References:
https://nginx.org/en/docs/beginners_guide.html#fastcgi
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24704673/how-to-send-all-requests-through-fastcgi-with-nginx
https://www.section.io/blog/debug-headers-best-practices/

Second Goal: Browse First Page Successfully

Browse http://localhost:8080, and you get the wordpress welcome page.

Extra bonus: setting up XDebug

References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrQWtbxY1Hs&t=595s

// configuration in Visual Studio for PHP
{
    // Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
    // Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
    // For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        
     {
        "name": "Listen for Xdebug",
        "type": "php",
        "request": "launch",
        "port": 9003,
        "xdebugSettings": {
            "max_data": -1
        }
      }
    ]
}