WordPress is a free and open-source CMS based on PHP and MySQL that also has many features and thousands of plugins and templates or themes. If you want to create an online website or store, WordPress might be the simplest way to do it, especially if you will need support from users to manage and maintain the site. This tutorial is based on Ubuntu Linux. We’ll be installing the Apache web server, MariaDB database server, and PHP modules. We’ll also link to another post that will show you how to secure your WordPress website using Let’s Encrypt free SSL certificates. For more about WordPress, please check its homepage To get started with installing WordPress on Ubuntu Linux, follow the steps below:
How to install Apache on Ubuntu Linux
As mentioned above, we’re going to be using the Apache web server to run WordPress. WordPress requires a web server to function, and Apache is the most popular open-source web server available today. To install Apache on Ubuntu, run the commands below: After installing Apache, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable Apache services always to start up every time your server starts up. To test whether Apache is installed and functioning, open your web browser and browse to the server’s IP address or hostname. http://localhost If you see the above page in your browser, then Apache is working as expected.
How to install MariaDB on Ubuntu Linux
A database server is required for WordPress to function. WordPress stores its content in a database, and MariaDB is probably the best database server available to run WordPress. MariaDB is fast, secure and the default server for almost all Linux servers. To install MariaDB, run the commands below: After installing MariaDB, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable MariaDB services always to start up when the server boots. Next, run the commands below to secure the database server with a root password if you were not prompted to do so during the installation. When prompted, use the guide below to answer: To verify and validate that MariaDB is installed and working, log in to the database console using the commands below: You should automatically be logged in to the database server since we initiated the login request as root. Only the root can log in without a password, and only from the server console. If you see a similar screen as shown above, then the server was successfully installed.
How to install PHP on Ubuntu Linux
As we also mentioned above, we’re installing PHP on Ubuntu since WordPress requires it. PHP packages are added to Ubuntu repositories. The versions of the repositories might not be the latest. If you need to install the latest versions, you’ll need to add a third-party PPA repository. To a third-party repository with the latest versions of PHP, run the commands below. At the time of this writing, the latest PHP version is 8.0. Next, run the commands below to install PHP 8.0 and related modules. Next, you’ll want to change some PHP configuration settings that work great with WordPress. Run the commands below to open the PHP default configuration file. Then change the line settings to be something like the lines below. Save your changes and exit.
How to create a WordPress database on Ubuntu
At this point, we’re ready to create a WordPress database. As mentioned above, WordPress uses databases to store its content. To create a database for WordPress, run the commands below: sudo mysql -u root -p Then create a database called wpdb CREATE DATABASE wpdb; Next, create a database user called wpdbuser and set a password CREATE USER ‘wpdbuser’@’localhost’ IDENTIFIED BY ’new_password_here’; Then grant the user full access to the database. GRANT ALL ON wpdb.* TO ‘wpdbuser’@’localhost’ WITH GRANT OPTION; Finally, save your changes and exit.
How to download WordPress
We’re ready to download WordPress and begin configuring it. First, run the commands below to download the latest version of WordPress from its repository. Next, extract the downloaded content into a new folder called wordpress. Then run the command below to allow the www-data user to own the new WordPress directory.
How to configure Apache for WordPress
We have downloaded WordPress content into a new folder called WordPress. Now, let’s configure Apache to create a new server block to use with our WordPress website. You can create as many server blocks with Apache. To do that, run the commands below to create a new configuration file called wordpress.conf in the /etc/apache2/sites-available/ directory to host our WordPress server block. In the file, copy and paste the content below into the file and save. Save the file and exit. After saving the file above, run the commands below to enable the new file that contains our WordPress server block. Restart Apache after that. At this stage, WordPress is ready and can be launched by going to the server’s IP or hostname. However, we want to make sure our server is protected with Let’s Encrypt free SSL certificates. So, continue below to learn how to generate a Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate for websites.
How to setup Let’s Encrypt for WordPress
We have written a great post on how to generate and manage Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates for Apache web servers. You can use that post, to apply it here for your WordPress website. To read the post on how to generate Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates for a website, click on the link below: How to Setup Let’s Encrypt on Ubuntu Linux with Apache – Website for Students If you were successful in generating a Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate, you should then reopen the server block for our WordPress website by running the commands below. The new WordPress server block configurations should look similar to the line below. Take notes of the highlighted lines.
The first server block listens on port 80. It contains a 301 redirect to redirect HTTP to HTTPS. The second server block listens on port 443. It contains a 301 redirect to redirect www to the non-www domain.
Save the file above, then restart Apache and PHP using the commands below. Finally, if everything went as planned, you should be able to start the WordPress setup wizard by browsing to the server hostname or IP address over HTTPS. A WordPress setup wizard should appear. Follow the wizard to complete the setup. You will need to know the following items before proceeding. Use the database connection info you created above.
Database name Database username Database password Database host Table prefix (if you want to run more than one WordPress in a single database)
The wizard will use the database information to create a wp-config.php file in the WordPress root folder. If for any reason this automatic file creation doesn’t work, don’t worry. All this does is fill in the database information to a configuration file. You may also simply open wp-config-sample.php in a text editor, fill in your information, and save it as wp-config.php. Next, type in the database connection info and click Submit After that, click the Run the installation button to have WordPress complete the setup. Next, create the WordPress site name and the backend admin account, then click Install WordPress When you’re done, WordPress should be installed and ready to use. That should do it! Conclusion: This post showed you how to install WordPress on Ubuntu Linux with a link to set up Let’s Encrypt. If you find any error above or have something to add, please use the comment form below.
