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Build a hardened LAMP stack and deploy it in image mode for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Learning path | 6 resources | 1 hr and 15 mins | Published on June 29, 2026
Louis Imershein

Build a LAMP stack application on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 using hardened images and bootc to turn containers into a bootable, verified virtual machine.

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  1. Overview: Build a hardened LAMP stack and deploy it in image mode for Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  2. Create and run a LAMP application locally Page | 15 mins
  3. Use Podman Quadlets to manage containers as system services Page | 10 mins
  4. Package the application and operating system into a verified image Page | 20 mins
  5. Create a bootable virtual machine Page | 20 mins
  6. Manage and update your application Page | 10 mins

Overview: Build a hardened LAMP stack and deploy it in image mode for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

A blurry keyboard with a logo on the upper left side and the word LAMP across the front of the keyboard

In this learning path, you will build a classic LAMP stack—Linux, Apache HTTP Server, MariaDB, and PHP. You will start by running your application in small, trusted containers called Red Hat Hardened Images. Then, you will learn how to embed those containers directly into a Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system using image mode for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. By the end, you will have a single disk image that you can boot as a virtual machine (VM). It will have your application, database, and web server ready to operate at startup.

Traditional container images often come with unnecessary software components that carry security vulnerabilities. This requires your security team to triage inherited bugs. Hardened Images are distroless and micro-sized. They contain only the required software your code needs to run. This approach provides:

  • Less noise: Receive fewer alerts about security bugs in unused software.
  • More coding: Spend less time patching underlying infrastructure and more time building features. 

When you deploy this environment, you will use image mode for Red Hat Enterprise Linux as your run-time operating platform. This ensures you are running an operating system approved by corporate IT. The entire environment, including Hardened Images and the approved operating system, is delivered as a single bootable container. If the container functions on your local machine, it will function exactly the same way when booted as a server. 

Prerequisites:

In this learning path, you will:

  • Create and run a LAMP application locally.
  • Configure the operating system.
  • Package the application and operating system into a single verified image.
  • Create a bootable virtual machine.