EC2 user data for Laravel App explained line by line

Published Feb 20, 2025

We will understand and explain the user data configuration used on Article Create an EC2 Instance User Data for a Laravel Application, we will dive line by line and understand the meaning of each:

#!/bin/bash

This line indicates that the script should be executed in the Bash shell. It’s name as "shebang" and specifies which interpreter will be used to execute the script.

apt update -y

"APT (Advanced Package Tool) is a package management system used in Debian-based Linux distributions (like Ubuntu) to install, update, and remove software packages. It automates the process of downloading and managing software dependencies."

This command updates the package list on your system. The -y flag automatically confirms the update, so you don't have to manually approve it.

A few ideas, why we need to update and upgrade our System Package

Updating apt at the start of setting up a server (like Nginx) is important for a few reasons:

Get Latest Package Information: It ensures that the system has the most up-to-date list of available software packages and their versions.
Security Fixes: It helps apply any recent security patches or important updates to the OS and installed software.
Bug Fixes & Improvements: It ensures you install the latest stable versions of software, which may include bug fixes and performance improvements.
Dependencies: It ensures any required dependencies for your software (like Nginx or PHP) are also up to date.

apt upgrade -y

This upgrades all installed packages to their latest versions. To not forget, the -y flag automatically confirms any action.

apt install -y nginx

"Nginx is a high-performance web server and reverse proxy server used to serve websites, handle HTTP requests, and manage load balancing. It's known for its speed and efficiency."

This installs the Nginx web server. The -y flag automatically confirms the installation of the package.

add-apt-repository -y ppa:ondrej/php

This adds a Personal Package Archive (PPA) to your system for PHP maintained by Ondřej Surý. This PPA contains newer PHP versions. The -y flag confirms adding the repository automatically. If you need more information about this package, you can check Ondrej Repository.

apt install -y php8.2-fpm

In this case we would like to use PHP v8.2. FPM is commonly used to handle PHP requests when used with web servers like Nginx, if you want to understand the difference between the php cli and fpm you can follow the next article.


# laravel php extensions
apt install -y curl zip unzip php8.2-curl php8.2-xml php8.2-mbstring php8.2-zip php8.2-mysql php-sqlite3 php8.2-sqlite php8.2-redis

This installs some PHP extensions commonly needed for Laravel applications:
curl: For making HTTP requests
zip and unzip: For handling ZIP archives
php8.2-curl: PHP extension for curl
php8.2-xml: PHP extension for XML parsing
php8.2-mbstring: For multibyte string handling (often needed in applications that support multiple languages)
php8.2-zip: For working with ZIP files
php8.2-mysql: For interacting with MySQL databases
php-sqlite3: For SQLite database support
php8.2-sqlite: For SQLite support in PHP 8.2
php8.2-redis: For working with Redis in PHP

# composer
apt install -y composer
composer --version

Composer is a dependency manager for PHP. The second line checks and prints the installed Composer version to verify the installation.

# nodejs
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_21.x | sudo -E bash - && sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
node -v

This block installs Node.js:curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_21.x: Downloads the setup script for Node.js version 21.x.
sudo -E bash -: Runs the setup script with elevated permissions.
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs: Installs Node.js.
node -v: Verifies the installation by showing the installed Node.js version.

# install supervisor 
# only if you will need it, 
# otherwise remove below line
apt install -y supervisor

This installs Supervisor, a process control system that allows you to manage processes in the background. Check the Supervisor website if you want to learn more about this control system.

sudo systemctl start nginx

This starts the Nginx service after installation.

sudo systemctl enable nginx

This enables Nginx to automatically start on boot (after the server restarts).

This script automates the process of setting up a server with the necessary components for a Laravel application along with some tools needed like Nodejs, Composer and Supervisor.

Hope this is bit more clear, feedback is incourage and always welcome.

Jose Burgos

Full Stack Developer

Onboard Journey to Amazon Web Services