How to install and configure , Nginx and PHP , in macOS

1- Install pkgsrc

pkgsrc contains a set of tools for package management . Like for example , tools for compiling and installing a binary package from source .

pkgsrc also provides pkgin , which is a tool used for managing precompiled binary packages . pkgin can be used for example , to search download and install , a precompiled binary package .

To install pkgsrc for a specific version of macOS , instructions can be found here . So , for example , to install pkgsrc for macOS Mojave and higher, this what must be done :

# Copy and paste the lines below to install the 64-bit Mojave set.
#
# These packages are suitable for anyone running Mojave (10.14.6) or newer,
# and are updated from pkgsrc trunk every few days.
#
BOOTSTRAP_TAR="bootstrap-trunk-x86_64-20200219.tar.gz"
BOOTSTRAP_SHA="92992f79188a677f09cfa543499beef3f902017a"


# Download the bootstrap kit to the current directory.
curl -O https://pkgsrc.joyent.com/packages/Darwin/bootstrap/${BOOTSTRAP_TAR}


# Verify the SHA1 checksum.
echo "${BOOTSTRAP_SHA}  ${BOOTSTRAP_TAR}" >check-shasum
shasum -c check-shasum


# Install bootstrap kit to /opt/pkg
sudo tar -zxpf ${BOOTSTRAP_TAR} -C /


# Reload PATH/MANPATH (pkgsrc installs /etc/paths.d/10-pkgsrc for new sessions)
eval $(/usr/libexec/path_helper)


# Refresh the pkgin database with the latest version
$ sudo pkgin -y update

Under macOS , pkgin will install everything under the /opt/pkg/ directory .

2- Install and configure nginx

To install nginx , issue the following command :

@difyel:~$ sudo pkgin install nginx

Next , to configure nginx , start by creating the following directories :

@difyel:~$ sudo mkdir -p /opt/pkg/var/htdocs /opt/pkg/var/log /opt/pkg/var/log/nginx

@difyel:~$ sudo mkdir -p /opt/pkg/etc/nginx/sites-available /opt/pkg/etc/nginx/sites-enabled

After that , backup the nginx configuration file :

@difyel:~$ sudo mv /opt/pkg/etc/nginx/nginx.conf /opt/pkg/etc/nginx/nginx.conf.bk

And replace it with this one :

# Use nano to create an nginx.conf file 
sudo nano /opt/pkg/etc/nginx/nginx.conf 

# Paste the following configuration ,
# and save it by pressing 
# crl-x , and choosing save .

user   nginx  nginx;
error_log  /opt/pkg/var/log/nginx/error.log;

worker_processes  2;

events {
    worker_connections  1024;
}


http {
    include       /opt/pkg/etc/nginx/mime.types;
    default_type  application/octet-stream;

    log_format  main  '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] "$request" '
                      '$status $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" '
                      '"$http_user_agent" "$http_x_forwarded_for"';

    access_log  /opt/pkg/var/log/nginx/access.log  main;

    sendfile        on;

    keepalive_timeout  65;

    include /opt/pkg/etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf;
    include /opt/pkg/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*;

}

Next , create a website configuration :

# use nano to create a website configuration 
@difyel:~$ sudo nano /opt/pkg/etc/nginx/sites-available/difyel.com

# Paste the website configuration :

server {
    root /opt/pkg/var/htdocs/difyel.com;
    index  index.php index.html index.htm;
    server_name  difyel.com www.difyel.com;

    client_max_body_size 100M;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
    include fastcgi.conf;
    fastcgi_pass  unix://var/run/php-7.4.4-fpm.sock;
    fastcgi_param   SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
    }

}

# Save the website configuration file , 
# by pressing crl-x , and choosing save .

# difyel.com can be everywhere replaced , by your
# website address

Next , create a symbolic link for the created website , in the sites-enabled directory , so that it will be enabled :

@difyel:~$ sudo ln -s /opt/pkg/etc/nginx/sites-available/difyel.com /opt/pkg/etc/nginx/sites-enabled

# replace difyel.com , with your website address .

Finally add the website address to hosts , so that it can be resolved locally :

@difyel:~$ sudo nano /etc/hosts
# add the line 
127.0.0.1	difyel.com www.difyel.com
# replace difyel.com with the website address
# ctrl-x to exit and save . 

3- Install and configure Php

To install php , issue the following command :

@difyel:~$ sudo pkgin install php-7.4.4 php74-fpm-7.4.4nb3  php74-mbstring-7.4.4 php74-gd-7.4.4 php74-gettext-7.4.4 php74-curl-7.4.4nb7 php74-zip-7.4.4nb3 php74-xmlrpc-7.4.4 php74-pecl-mcrypt-1.0.3 php74-intl-7.4.4nb3 php74-soap-7.4.4 php74-json-7.4.4

Next , to configure php :

# open www.conf using nano 
@difyel:~$ sudo nano /opt/pkg/etc/php-fpm.d/www.conf

# search using ctrl-w for 
listen = 127.0.0.1:9000

# and replace it with 
listen = /var/run/php-7.4.4-fpm.sock

# search using ctrl-w for 
;listen.group = www

# and replace it with 
listen.group = nginx

4- Create a script , to start , stop , and restart , nginx and php

To start and stop nginx and php , create the following script :

# issue 
@difyel:~$ sudo nano /opt/pkg/sbin/control-nginx-php

# paste the following content : 


#!/bin/zsh
PHP_FPM_PID="/var/run/php-fpm.pid"
PHP_FPM="/opt/pkg/sbin/php-fpm"
NGINX="/opt/pkg/sbin/nginx"
 
if [ $# -eq 0 ]
  then
    echo "Valid commands: "
    echo "start | stop | restart"
    echo "----------------------------------------"
    echo "nginx (start | stop | restart)"
    echo "php | php-fpm (start | stop | restart)"
elif [ $1 = "start" ]; then
    echo "Starting nginx"
    sudo $NGINX
    echo "Starting php-fpm"
    sudo $PHP_FPM
    echo "Done!"
elif [ $1 = "stop" ]; then
    echo "Stopping nginx ..."
    sudo $NGINX -s stop
    echo "Stopping php-fpm ..."
    sudo kill `cat $PHP_FPM_PID`
    echo "Done!"
elif [ $1 = "restart" ]; then
    echo "Stopping nginx ..."
    sudo $NGINX -s stop
    echo "Stopping php-fpm ..."
    sudo kill `cat $PHP_FPM_PID`
    echo "Starting nginx"
    sudo $NGINX
    echo "Starting php-fpm"
    sudo $PHP_FPM
    echo "Done!"
elif [ $1 = "nginx" ]; then
    if [ $2 = "start" ]; then
        echo "Starting nginx"
        sudo $NGINX
        echo "Done!"
    elif [ $2 = "stop" ]; then
        echo "Stopping nginx ..."
        sudo $NGINX -s stop
        echo "Done!"
    elif [ $2 = "restart" ]; then
        echo "Stopping nginx ..."
        sudo $NGINX -s stop
        echo "Starting nginx"
        sudo $NGINX
        echo "Done!"
    else
        echo "Valid commands for nginx: start | stop | restart"
    fi
elif [ $1 = "php" ] || [ $1 = "php-fpm" ]; then
    if [ $2 = "start" ]; then
        echo "Starting php-fpm"
        sudo $PHP_FPM
        echo "Done!"
    elif [ $2 = "stop" ]; then
        echo "Stopping php-fpm ..."
        sudo kill `cat $PHP_FPM_PID`
        echo "Done!"
    elif [ $2 = "restart" ]; then
        echo "Stopping php-fpm ..."
        sudo kill `cat $PHP_FPM_PID`
        echo "Starting php-fpm"
        sudo $PHP_FPM
        echo "Done!"
    else
        echo "Valid commands for php-fpm: start | stop | restart"
    fi
else
    echo "Valid commands: "
    echo "start | stop | restart"
    echo "----------------------------------------"
    echo "nginx (start | stop | restart)"
    echo "php | php-fpm (start | stop | restart)"
fi


# end of content
# Press ctrl-x to save the content , and 
# to exit nano .


# make the script executable , using :
@difyel:~$ sudo chmod +x  /opt/pkg/sbin/control-nginx-php

Now , to start and stop nginx and php , the following command can be issued :

# start nginx and php
@difyel:~$ control-nginx-php start 

# stop nginx and php
@difyel:~$ control-nginx-php stop 

# restart nginx and php
@difyel:~$ control-nginx-php restart 


# start nginx
@difyel:~$ control-nginx-php nginx start 

# stop nginx
@difyel:~$ control-nginx-php nginx stop 

# restart nginx
@difyel:~$ control-nginx-php nginx restart 

# start php
@difyel:~$ control-nginx-php php start 

# stop php
@difyel:~$ control-nginx-php php stop 

# restart php
@difyel:~$ control-nginx-php php restart 

5- Create a launch daemon for nginx and php

A launch daemon is used to automatically start nginx and php when macOS starts .

To create a launch daemon for nginx :

# issue 
@difyel:~$ sudo nano /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.nginx.launchdaemon.plist

# paste the following content : 


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
 
  <dict>
 
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>nginx</string>
 
    <key>Program</key>
    <string>/opt/pkg/sbin/nginx</string>
 
    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <true/>
 
    <key>NetworkState</key>
    <true/>
 
    <key>LaunchOnlyOnce</key>
    <true/>
    
  </dict>
 
</plist>


# end of content
# Press ctrl-x , to save the content  , and ,
# to exit nano .

To create a launch daemon for php :

# issue 
@difyel:~$ sudo nano /Library/LaunchDaemons/net.php.php_fpm_launchdaemon.plist

# paste the following content : 


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
  <dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>php-fpm</string>
 
    <key>Program</key>
    <string>/opt/pkg/sbin/php-fpm</string>
 
    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <true/>
 
    <key>LaunchOnlyOnce</key>
    <true/>
 
  </dict>
</plist>


# end of content
# Press ctrl-x  to save the content  , and 
# to exit nano .

Execute the following commands , to load the launch daemons when macOS starts , and to start nginx and php .

@difyel:~$ sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.nginx.launchdaemon.plist 
@difyel:~$ sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/net.php.php_fpm_launchdaemon.plist

6- Test everything

Create a test file , under the root of your domain :

# Create the root directory for the website ,
# if it does not exist .
@difyel:~$ sudo mkdir -p /opt/pkg/var/htdocs/difyel.com/

# issue 
@difyel:~$ sudo nano /opt/pkg/var/htdocs/difyel.com/index.php

# paste the following content : 

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

# end of content .

# replace difyel.com , with your
# website root directory .
# Press ctrl-x to save the content  , and
# to exit nano .

Restart nginx and php using the control-nginx-php restart command , and visit your website.