How to Install WordPress on Linux Server with Domain and SSL

In this post, I’ll show you how to install WordPress on a Linux server and add a domain and SSL certificate to your site. Recommend using Ubuntu or Debian to install this setup

Table of Contents:

Step 1: Connect to your server

To get started, connect to your Linux server using SSH.

How to Access a Linux Server from Windows Using Putty

Step 2: Install Apache

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install apache2

For CentOS:

sudo yum install httpd

Once Apache is installed, you can check that it’s running by visiting your server’s IP address in a web browser. You should see an Apache page that confirms that it’s running.

Step 3: Install MySQL

WordPress uses a MySQL database to store your site’s content and settings:

sudo apt-get install mysql-server

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For CentOS:

sudo yum install mariadb-server mariadb

Step 4: Create a MySQL database for WordPress

You need to create a new database for your WordPress site:

sudo mysql -u root -p

Enter the root password and you should be logged in to the MySQL prompt. Once you’re logged in, you can create a new database by running:

CREATE DATABASE wordpress;
CREATE USER 'wordpressuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress.* TO 'wordpressuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Make sure to replace password with a strong password for your database user. (you can close the MySQL prompt by typing exit)

if you want to secure MySQL check this: https://udarakalana.com/how-to-install-a-database-server-with-phpmyadmin-and-mysql-on-linux-vps/#3 (only step 3) and get any error like this “Failed! Error: SET PASSWORD has no significance for user 'root'@'localhost' as the authentication method used doesn't store authentication data in the MySQL server” Check this https://udarakalana.com/troubleshooting-mysql-error-set-password-failed-during-mysql_secure_installation-on-linux-vps/

Step 5: Install PHP

WordPress is built with PHP, so you need to install it on your server:

sudo apt-get install php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql

For CentOS:

sudo yum install php php-mysql

Once PHP is installed, you can test that it’s working by creating a PHP file in your Apache web root directory:

sudo nano /var/www/html/info.php

In the editor, paste the following code:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Save and close the file, and then visit http://yourserverip/info.php in your web browser. You should see a page that shows information about your PHP installation.(to remove the info.php file type this command : rm /var/www/html/info.php )

Step 6: Install WordPress

download the latest version of WordPress:

cd /tmp
curl -LO https://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz
tar xzvf latest.tar.gz

Next, move the WordPress files to your Apache web root directory:

sudo mv /tmp/wordpress/* /var/www/html/

Add permissions:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/

Then, create a wp-config.php file for WordPress:

cd /var/www/html/
sudo cp wp-config-sample.php wp-config.php
sudo nano wp-config.php

In the editor, update the following lines with the database details you created in Step 4:

define('DB_NAME', 'wordpress');
define('DB_USER', 'wordpressuser');
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'password');

Save and close the file.

Type this command to remove the index.html file

rm /var/www/html/index.html

Step 7: Point Domain to the Server

Now that WordPress is installed, you need to point your domain to your server so that visitors can access your site using your domain name. To do this, log in to your domain registrar’s website and update the DNS records for your domain to point to your server’s IP address.

Step 8: Install SSL Certificate

Once your domain is pointed to your server, you can install an SSL certificate to encrypt traffic.

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There are several CA’s you can use, such as Let’s Encrypt, which provides free SSL certificates:

sudo apt-get install certbot python3-certbot-apache
sudo certbot --apache -d example.com

Make sure to replace example.com with your domain name. Follow the prompts to generate and install the SSL certificate.

Step 9: Access WordPress

With WordPress installed and your domain pointed to your server, you can now access your WordPress site by visiting your domain name in a web browser. You should see the WordPress setup screen, where you can enter your site name, admin username, and password.

Conclusion

This tutorial showed you how to install WordPress on a Linux server, add a domain, and install an SSL certificate to secure your site. With WordPress, you can create and manage your website easily, and with a domain and SSL certificate, you can ensure that your site is accessible and secure for your visitors.

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