This guide will walk you through the steps to install WordPress, the world's most popular content management system (CMS), onyour Virtual Private Server (VPS). By the end of this article, you will have afully functional WordPress website ready for customisation and contentcreation Overview
This guide will walk you through the steps to installWordPress, the world's most popular content management system (CMS), on your VirtualPrivate Server (VPS). By the end of this article, you will have a fullyfunctional WordPress website ready for customisation and content creation.
Prerequisites
- A VPS account with HSJ.HOST.
- SSH access to your server.
- Basic knowledge of the Linux command line.
- A LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack installed on your VPS.
Procedure
1. Access Your VPS via SSH
- Open a terminal on your computer.
- Connect to your VPS using the command: ssh user@your_vps_ip, replacing user with your username and your_vps_ip with your VPS's IP address.
2. Update Your Server's Package List
- Run sudo apt update to update the package list.
- Optionally, upgrade your packages with sudo apt upgrade to ensure all software is up to date.
3. Create a MySQL Database and User for WordPress
- Log into MySQL as the root user: sudo mysql -u root -p.
- Create a new database for WordPress: CREATE DATABASE wordpress_db;.
- Create a new user and grant privileges to the database:
Sql code
CREATE USER 'wordpress_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY'a_strong_password'; GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress_db.* TO'wordpress_user'@'localhost'; FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
4. Install PHP Extensions
- WordPress requires certain PHP extensions to function. Install them with:
python code
sudo apt install php-curl php-gd php-mbstring php-xmlphp-xmlrpc php-soap php-intl php-zip
5. Download and Install WordPress
- Change to the web root directory: cd /var/www/html.
- Remove the default index.html file: sudo rm index.html.
- Download the latest WordPress version: wget https://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz.
- Unpack the WordPress archive: tar -xzvf latest.tar.gz.
- Move the WordPress files to the web root: mv wordpress/* ..
- Remove the WordPress directory and archive: rm -R wordpress latest.tar.gz.
6. Configure WordPress
- Copy the sample WordPress configuration file: cp wp-config-sample.php wp-config.php.
- Open the wp-config.php file in a text editor: nano wp-config.php.
- Update the database details with the ones you created earlier:
Sql code
define('DB_NAME', 'wordpress_db'); define('DB_USER','wordpress_user'); define('DB_PASSWORD', 'a_strong_password');
- Save and exit the editor.
7. Finalise the Installation Through the Web Interface
- Open your web browser and go to http://your_vps_ip.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the WordPress installation.
Conclusion
You now have a WordPress site installed on your VPS. Thissetup allows you to begin customising your site, creating content, andexploring the extensive features WordPress offers. For additionalfunctionalities, consider exploring WordPress plugins and themes to enhanceyour site's capabilities.
