DVWA Deployment

1. Prerequisites

VM Specifications:

OS: Ubuntu 20.04/22.04
CPU: 1+ vCPU
RAM: 2 GB
Disk: 100 GB
Network: Public IP
Firewall: Open ports 80 (HTTP), 443 (HTTPS), and 22 (SSH)

Software Requirements:

Apache2
MariaDB 10.3+ / MySQL 5.7+
PHP 7.4+ or 8.0+ (with php-mysqli, php-gd, php-json extensions)
Git

Domain and DNS:

Registered domain (e.g., dvwa.example.com)
Access to DNS settings for A record configuration

2. Deployment Steps

Step 1: Server Setup

Update System Packages:

bash

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install Required Packages:

bash

sudo apt install -y apache2 mariadb-server php php-mysqli php-gd php-json libapache2-mod-php 

Verify PHP Version

Ensure PHP version higher than 7.4 is installed.
```
bash

php -v
```

Step 2: Database Configuration

Secure the Database:
```
bash

sudo mysql_secure_installation
```
Follow the prompts to set a root password and configure the default configuration.
Create a new database and user for DVWA:

Create Database and User:
```
sql

CREATE DATABASE dvwa;
CREATE USER 'dvwa_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'YourSecurePassword123!';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON dvwa.* TO 'dvwa_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;
```
Copy and paste the above SQL command into the command window. Then, change the database name, user, and password to your preferred values.

Step 3: DVWA Installation

Clone DVWA Repository:

bash

cd /var/www/html
sudo git clone https://github.com/digininja/DVWA.git
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data DVWA

Update file ownership to the web server user.

Configure DVWA:

bashCopyEditsudo cp /var/www/html/DVWA/config/config.inc.php.dist /var/www/html/DVWA/config/config.inc.php
sudo nano /var/www/html/DVWA/config/config.inc.php

Update the following parameters. You have to replace the database, user and password if you edited the SQL command with your preferred value in step 2:

phpCopyEdit$_DVWA['db_server'] = 'localhost';  
$_DVWA['db_user'] = 'dvwa_user';  
$_DVWA['db_password'] = 'YourSecurePassword123!';  
$_DVWA['db_database'] = 'dvwa';  

Copy the sample configuration file and edit the database credentials.

Step 4: Domain and Apache Configuration

Create a DNS A record pointing to the VM’s public IP.

In your domain registrar’s dashboard (e.g., Cloudflare, GoDaddy), add an A Record:
- Name: dvwa (to create dvwa.example.com)
- Value: Your VM’s public IP
- TTL: 3600 (default)

Configure the Apache virtual host:

bash

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/dvwa.conf

Add the following :

apache

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName dvwa.example.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/DVWA

    <Directory /var/www/html/DVWA>
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
    
    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/dvwa_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/dvwa_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Enable the site and restart Apache:

bash

sudo a2ensite dvwa.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 5 : Finalise Installation

Access DVWA at http://dvwa.example.com (replace with your domain).
Login with:
- Username: admin
- Password: password
Click Create/Reset Database to initialise tables.

1. Prerequisites​

2. Deployment Steps​

1. Prerequisites

2. Deployment Steps