Introduction
Install WordPress on DigitalOcean provides a simple and cost-effective way to host WordPress sites. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can quickly set up WordPress on your DigitalOcean droplet.
Prerequisites
Before we get started with the installation, make sure you have the following:
A DigitalOcean Account
If you don’t have a DigitalOcean account yet, sign up for one at DigitalOcean.com.
A Droplet
Log in to your DigitalOcean control panel and create a droplet. You can choose the specifications according to your requirements.
A Domain Name (optional)
If you want your WordPress site to have a custom domain, ensure that you have registered it and mapped it to your droplet’s IP address.
Install WordPress
Now that you have everything ready let’s begin with the installation of WordPress on your DigitalOcean droplet.
Step 1: Connect to Your Droplet
Access your droplet by logging in through SSH or use the web-based console provided by DigitalOcean.
Step 2: Update the System
Before installing WordPress, ensure that your system is updated. To do so, run the following command:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
Step 3: Install LAMP Stack
WordPress requires a web server, PHP, and a database to work. Therefore, we need to install a LAMP stack on our droplet.
Install Apache
Run the following command to install Apache web server:
sudo apt install apache2
Install MySQL
Run the following command to install MySQL server version 8.0:
sudo apt install mysql-server-8.0
Install PHP
Run the following command to install PHP and its dependencies:
sudo apt install php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql php-curl php-gd php-xmlrpc php-mbstring php-xml
Step 4: Configure MySQL Database
Now that we have installed MySQL, we need to configure it to work with WordPress.
Create a Database
Log in to your MySQL server with the following command:
sudo mysql -u root -p
Enter the root password, and create a new database for your WordPress site:
CREATE DATABASE database_name;
Create a User
Create a new user for your WordPress site with the following command:
CREATE USER 'username'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
Replace ‘username’ and ‘password’ with the desired values.
Grant Permissions to User
Grant the required permissions to the user with the following command:
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON database_name.* TO 'username'@'localhost';
Flush Privileges and Exit
After granting the necessary privileges, run the following command to flush them:
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
Exit from the MySQL prompt by running the following command:
EXIT;
Step 5: Download and Install WordPress
By this point, you have everything set up to install WordPress on your droplet. Download and install WordPress with the following steps:
Download WordPress
Download the latest version of WordPress using the following command:
wget https://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz
Extract and Move WordPress
Extract the downloaded file using the following command:
tar -xzf latest.tar.gz
Move the extracted WordPress directory to the Apache document root directory with the following command:
sudo mv wordpress/* /var/www/html/
Configure WordPress
Copy the default WordPress configuration file to create a new one:
sudo cp /var/www/html/wp-config-sample.php /var/www/html/wp-config.php
Open the new configuration file with a text editor:
sudo nano /var/www/html/wp-config.php
Add the following lines, replacing the placeholders with your database credentials:
define('DB_NAME', 'database_name');
define('DB_USER', 'username');
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'password');
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
Save and exit the file.
Step 6: Configure Apache
Finally, we need to configure Apache to work with WordPress.
Configure Virtual Host
Create a new virtual host configuration file with the following command:
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/wordpress.conf
Add the following lines to the file, replacing the placeholders with your domain name:
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
DocumentRoot /var/www/html
ServerName your_domain_name.com
ServerAlias www.your_domain_name.com
<Directory /var/www/html>
Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
Save and close the file.
Enable Virtual Host
Enable the newly created virtual host with the following command:
sudo a2ensite wordpress.conf
Restart Apache
Restart the Apache webserver with the following command:
sudo systemctl restart apache2
Conclusion
You have successfully installed WordPress on your DigitalOcean droplet. Now you can access your WordPress site by visiting your domain name or IP address in a web browser. Enjoy creating How to Install WordPress on DigitalOcean website!
