The Ultimate Ubuntu VM Baseline Setup Guide

Setting up a robust, production-ready Ubuntu Virtual Machine requires more than just a few apt install commands. This guide provides a battle-tested sequence for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy) and 24.04 LTS (Noble), covering LVM expansion, modern Docker standards, and a high-performance PHP 8.3 stack.

📋 Prerequisites

• Target OS: Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 LTS
• Access: Sudo-capable user (example: joos)
• Environment: Server VM (Proxmox, ESXi, DigitalOcean, etc.)

1) Passwordless Sudo (Developer Experience)

To streamline management on dev boxes, create a dedicated sudoers drop-in file.

⚠️ Note: Use this for development/personal environments only.

sudo tee /etc/sudoers.d/99-joos-nopasswd >/dev/null <<'EOF'
joos ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
EOF
sudo chmod 0440 /etc/sudoers.d/99-joos-nopasswd
sudo visudo -c


2) Expand Storage (LVM & Filesystem)
If you increased your disk size in the hypervisor, use these commands to make that space usable by the OS.
# Extend the Logical Volume to use 100% of free space
sudo lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv

# Grow the EXT4 filesystem (Default)
sudo resize2fs /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv

# Grow the XFS filesystem (If applicable)
# sudo xfs_growfs /

# Verify results
df -h


3) System Baseline & Localization
Sync your clock and update the core package manager.
# Set Timezone & NTP
sudo timedatectl set-timezone Asia/Ho_Chi_Minh
sudo timedatectl set-ntp on

# Update & Install Essentials
sudo apt update && sudo apt -y upgrade
sudo apt -y install software-properties-common ca-certificates curl gnupg git unzip zip nano


4) Webmin & HAProxy 3.0
Install the latest administration and load-balancing tools.
Webmin Control Panel
curl -o webmin-setup-repo.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/webmin/webmin/master/webmin-setup-repo.sh
sudo sh webmin-setup-repo.sh
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y --install-recommends webmin

# Default access:
# https://<server-ip>:10000

HAProxy 3.0 (Official PPA)
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:vbernat/haproxy-3.0 -y
sudo apt update
sudo apt -y install haproxy


5) Modern Docker Installation
As of 2026, Docker uses the /etc/apt/keyrings method. Avoid the legacy docker.io packages in the default Ubuntu repos for the best experience.
# 5.1 Remove conflicting legacy packages (if any)
sudo apt remove -y docker.io docker-compose docker-compose-v2 docker-doc podman-docker containerd runc || true

# 5.2 Add GPG Key and Repo
sudo apt update
sudo apt -y install ca-certificates curl

sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME") stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list >/dev/null

# 5.3 Install Engine & Plugins
sudo apt update
sudo apt -y install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

# 5.4 Run Docker without sudo
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# Important: Log out and back in for group changes to take effect
# (or run: newgrp docker)


6) PHP 8.3 & Composer Stack
Using Ondřej Surý’s PPA is the common approach for keeping PHP current on Ubuntu.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php -y
sudo apt update

# Install PHP 8.3 & Common Production Extensions
sudo apt -y install php8.3 php8.3-cli php8.3-fpm php8.3-dev \
  php8.3-mbstring php8.3-curl php8.3-intl php8.3-xml php8.3-zip \
  php8.3-gd php8.3-imagick php8.3-opcache php8.3-mysql php8.3-sqlite3 \
  php8.3-ldap php8.3-bcmath php8.3-mongodb php8.3-redis php8.3-apcu

# Global Composer Install
cd /tmp
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer -o composer-setup.php
sudo php composer-setup.php --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer


7) Supervisor (Queue Management)
Essential for Laravel background workers and long-running processes.
sudo apt -y install supervisor

# Example Worker Config: /etc/supervisor/conf.d/laravel-worker.conf
# [program:laravel-worker]
# command=php /path/to/artisan queue:work
# autostart=true
# autorestart=true
# user=www-data


8) MySQL & Apache Server
Reliable, server-hardened installation for the web layer.
# MySQL Installation
sudo apt -y install mysql-server mysql-client
sudo mysql_secure_installation

# Apache Installation
sudo apt -y install apache2 apachetop
sudo systemctl enable --now apache2


🛑 Important: Legacy PHP Warning
Do not attempt to install PHP 5.6 or 7.x directly on modern Ubuntu 24.04. This will likely break system dependencies.

The Solution: Run legacy applications inside Docker containers using official PHP images.


🛡️ Final Security Steps
Don’t forget to lock down your server before going live:

Enable UFW: sudo ufw allow 22,80,443/tcp && sudo ufw enable
SSH: Disable password authentication in /etc/ssh/sshd_config.
Fail2Ban: sudo apt install fail2ban to prevent brute force.