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ThankGod Chibugwum Obobo
ThankGod Chibugwum Obobo

Posted on • Originally published at actocodes.hashnode.dev

Setup Nginx and MySQL with Vagrant

#vagrant #nginx #mysql

The task we hope to achieve with this article has the following goals:

  1. Setup a web server with nginx
  2. Setup a database server with mysql
  3. Give the servers above access to a network to communicate with each other

Step One: Create Vagrantfile and Provisioning Scripts

Get into your project directory and create a new Vagrantfile, with the following content:

# Initiate a Vagrant configuration block using the configure method
# "2" indicates the configuration version being used.
Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|

  # Define the configuration for the web server VM
  config.vm.define "web" do |web|
    # Specify the base box to use for the web server VM, here using Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa)
    web.vm.box = "ubuntu/focal64"

    # Set the hostname for the web server VM
    web.vm.hostname = "web-server"

    # Provision the web server VM using a shell script. The script is located at "web_script.sh"
    web.vm.provision :shell, path: "web_script.sh"

    # Set up a forwarded port. Map port 80 on the guest (web server VM) to port 4567 on the host machine
    # This allows access to the web server running on the VM from the host machine via port 4567
    web.vm.network :forwarded_port, guest: 80, host: 4567

    # Configure a private network with a static IP address for the web server VM
    # This allows communication between VMs on this private network without exposing them to the external network
    web.vm.network "private_network", ip: "192.168.50.4"

    # Customize the resources allocated to the web server VM using the VirtualBox provider
    web.vm.provider "virtualbox" do |vb|
      # Allocate 1024 MB (1 GB) of memory to the web server VM
      vb.memory = "1024"
    end
  end

  # Define the configuration for the database server VM
  config.vm.define "db" do |db|
    # Specify the base box to use for the database server VM, here using Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa)
    db.vm.box = "ubuntu/focal64"

    # Set the hostname for the database server VM
    db.vm.hostname = "db-server"

    # Provision the database server VM using a shell script. The script is located at "db_script.sh"
    db.vm.provision :shell, path: "db_script.sh"

    # Configure a private network with a static IP address for the database server VM
    # This allows communication between VMs on this private network without exposing them to the external network
    db.vm.network "private_network", ip: "192.168.50.5"

    # Customize the resources allocated to the database server VM using the VirtualBox provider
    db.vm.provider "virtualbox" do |vb|
      # Allocate 2048 MB (2 GB) of memory to the database server VM
      vb.memory = "2048"
    end
  end
end
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Also create a file web_script.sh (the provisioning script for the web server) in the project folder with the following content:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

# Update the package list to ensure we have the latest information on available packages and their dependencies.
apt-get update

# Install Nginx web server and MySQL client.
# The '-y' option automatically answers 'yes' to any prompts during the installation process.
apt-get install -y nginx mysql-client

# Check if /var/www is not a symbolic link. The -L flag checks if the file is a symbolic link.
########### Add this block if you wish to serve a custom web page from your shared folder ############
if ! [ -L /var/www ]; then
  # If /var/www is not a symbolic link, remove the existing /var/www directory.
  # The '-rf' options ensure recursive removal of the directory and its contents without prompting for confirmation.
  rm -rf /var/www

  # Create a symbolic link from /var/www to /vagrant.
  # This links the /var/www directory, used by the web server to serve files, to the /vagrant directory.
  # /vagrant is shared between the host machine and the VM, allowing easy access and synchronization of files.
  ln -fs /vagrant /var/www
fi
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Create another file in the project directory named db_script.sh (the provisioning script for the DB server), with the following content:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

# Update the package list to ensure we have the latest information on available packages and their dependencies.
apt-get update

# Install the MySQL server package.
# The '-y' option automatically answers 'yes' to any prompts during the installation process.
apt-get install -y mysql-server

# Use a heredoc to run a series of SQL commands on the MySQL server.
# These commands will be executed as the root user by default.
mysql <<EOF
# Create a new database named 'my_database'.
CREATE DATABASE my_database;

# Create a new MySQL user 'my_user' that can connect from any host ('%').
# This user is identified by the password 'my_password'.
CREATE USER 'my_user'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'my_password';

# Grant all privileges on the 'my_database' database to the 'my_user' user.
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON my_database.* TO 'my_user'@'%';

# Refresh the privileges, ensuring that the changes take effect immediately.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EOF

# Use 'sed' (stream editor) to modify the MySQL configuration file to allow external connections.
# The '-i' option edits the file in place.
# The 's/bind-address\s*=.*$/bind-address = 0.0.0.0/' part of the command uses a regular expression to:
#   - Match the line that begins with 'bind-address', followed by any whitespace (\s*), an equals sign (=), and any characters (.*) until the end of the line ($).
#   - Replace the entire matched line with 'bind-address = 0.0.0.0'.
# This change allows MySQL to listen on all network interfaces (0.0.0.0), enabling connections from any IP address.
sed -i "s/bind-address\s*=.*$/bind-address = 0.0.0.0/" /etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/mysqld.cnf

# Restart the MySQL service to apply the configuration changes.
# 'systemctl' is the command to interact with the systemd service manager.
# 'restart' stops and then starts the MySQL service, applying any changes made to the configuration.
systemctl restart mysql
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Optional: If you chose to serve a custom webpage from your shared folder, you can create a new directory named html in the project directory and add an index.html file in the html directory.

Step Two: Provision Your Machines

In your project directory, run:

vagrant up
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Relax, everything will get setup for you in a few.

When it's done setting up, run the following to access the servers via SSH:

# Access the web server
vagrant ssh web

# Access the DB server
vagrant ssh db
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Step Three: Test the VMs

Now we can run the following commands to test if all packages were successfully installed.

On the web server VM:

nginx -V
mysql -V
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On the DB server VM:

mysql -V
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Also we can open localhost:4567 on the browser and we should see the page being served by nginx on the web server VM.

Testing VM Communication

To confirm the VMs can talk to each other, we'll try to access the database we created on the DB server from the web server using the following commands:

On the web server VM:

mysql -h192.168.50.5 -umy_user -pmy_password
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If it's successful, you'll be ushered into mysql, where you'll run the next command:

show databases;
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You should see the entry for the my_database database we created during provisioning.

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