diff --git a/site.yml b/site.yml
index 35793eb..eb232a0 100644
--- a/site.yml
+++ b/site.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
   tasks:
     - include: common/bootstrap.yml
+    - include: web/php.yml
 
 - name: configure and deploy the webservers and application code
   hosts: webservers
diff --git a/web/php.yml b/web/php.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5858909
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/php.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+
+- name: Install PHP core packages
+  apt: name={{ item }} update_cache=yes
+  with_items:
+    - php5-cli
+    - php5-cgi
+    - php5-dev