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Install WordPress on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS with Apache2, MariaDB & PHP 7.1
WordPress, the most powerful and popular content management systems (CMS) is the right tool to develop and build powerful and dynamic websites based on PHP.
With PHP 7 now supported, you can really improve its performance. For those who are new and want to learn how to install WordPress on Ubuntu, the steps below should be a great starting point.
This brief tutorial is going to show students and new users how to install WordPress on Ubuntu 16.04 LT with Apache2, MariaDB and PHP 7 support.
To get started with installing WordPress, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Install Apache2 HTTP Server
WordPress requires a web server and the most popular webserver in use today is Apache2 HTTP Server. So, go and install Apache2 on Ubuntu by running the commands below:
sudo apt install apache2
with Apache2 installed, run the commands below to disable directory listing.
sudo sed -i "s/Options Indexes FollowSymLinks/Options FollowSymLinks/" /etc/apache2/apache2.conf
Next, run the commands below to stop, start and enable Apache2 service to always start up with the server boots.
sudo systemctl stop apache2.service sudo systemctl start apache2.service sudo systemctl enable apache2.service
Step 2: Install MariaDB Database Server
WordPress also requires a database server, and MariaDB database server is a great place to start. To install it run the commands below.
sudo apt-get install mariadb-server mariadb-client
After installing, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable MariaDB service to always start up when the server boots.
sudo systemctl stop mysql.service sudo systemctl start mysql.service sudo systemctl enable mysql.service
After that, run the commands below to secure MariaDB server by creating a root password and disallowing remote root access.
sudo mysql_secure_installation
When prompted, answer the questions below by following the guide.
- Enter current password for root (enter for none): Just press the Enter
- Set root password? [Y/n]: Y
- New password: Enter password
- Re-enter new password: Repeat password
- Remove anonymous users? [Y/n]: Y
- Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n]: Y
- Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n]: Y
- Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n]: Y
Restart MariaDB server:
sudo systemctl restart mysql.service
Step 3: Install PHP 7.1 and Related Modules
WordPress also requires PHP. However, PHP 7.1 isn’t available on Ubuntu default repositories as of today. In order to install it, you will have to get it from third-party repositories.
Run the commands below to add the below third party repository to upgrade to PHP 7.1 (or later).
sudo apt-get install software-properties-common sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.1
sudo apt update
Run the commands below to install PHP 7.1 and related modules.
sudo apt install php7.1 libapache2-mod-php7.1 php7.1-common php7.1-mbstring php7.1-xmlrpc php7.1-soap php7.1-gd php7.1-xml php7.1-intl php7.1-mysql php7.1-cli php7.1-mcrypt php7.1-zip php7.1-curl
After install PHP 7.1, run the commands below to open Apache2 PHP default file.
sudo nano /etc/php/7.1/apache2/php.ini
Then make the changes on the following lines below in the file and save. The value below are great settings to apply in your environments.
file_uploads = On allow_url_fopen = On memory_limit = 256M upload_max_filesize = 100M max_execution_time = 360 date.timezone = America/Chicago
Step 4: Create WordPress Database
Now that you’ve install all the packages that are required, continue below to start configuring the servers. First run the commands below to create a WordPress database.
Run the command below to logon to the database server. When prompted for a password, type the root password you created above.
sudo mysql -u root -p
Then create a database called wordpress
CREATE DATABASE wordpress;
Create a database user called wordpressuser with new password
CREATE USER 'wordpressuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the database. The command below will add the user as a super user with root level access to all sections and databases on the MariaDB server. See important message below.
GRANT ALL ON wordpress.* TO 'wordpressuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
IMPORTANT: Recommended WordPress Database Permissions
For typical WordPress operation, the MySQL database user only needs SELECT, INSERT and UPDATE data privileges. It is recommended to use the minimum possible privileges when running WordPress. Any other privileges, such as ALTER, CREATE and DROP are sometimes needed during an upgrade or when installing some plugins which need access to change the database structure. In such case you will be advised to do such changes by the plugin developer. Whenever you assign structure related privileges do it ONLY for a temporary period. You can read more about WordPress database privileges from this article: Why minimum MySQL user WordPress database privileges help.
Step 5: Download WordPress Latest Release
Next, visit the WordPress site and download the latest version.
After downloading, run the commands below to extract the downloaded file and move it into a new WordPress root directory.
cd /tmp && wget https://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz tar -zxvf latest.tar.gz sudo mv wordpress /var/www/html/wordpress
Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for WordPress to function.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/wordpress/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/wordpress/
Step 6: Configure Apache2
Finally, configure the Apache2 site configuration file for WordPress. This file will control how users access WordPress content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called wordpress.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/wordpress.conf
Then copy and paste the content below into the file and save it. Replace the highlighted line with your own domain name and directory root location.
<VirtualHost *:80> ServerAdmin admin@example.com DocumentRoot /var/www/html/wordpress/ ServerName example.com ServerAlias www.example.com <Directory /var/www/html/wordpress/> Options +FollowSymlinks AllowOverride All Require all granted </Directory> ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined </VirtualHost>
Save the file and exit.
Step 7: Enable the WordPress and Rewrite Modules
After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below. The commands also disable PHP7.0 and enable PHP 7.1 for Apache2.
sudo a2ensite wordpress.conf sudo a2enmod rewrite sudo a2dismod php7.0 sudo a2enmod php7.1
Step 8: Restart Apache2
To load all the settings above, restart Apache2 by running the commands below.
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
STEP 9: Create the WordPress configuration file
Now that Nginx is configured, run the commands below to create WordPress wp-config.php file.
sudo mv /var/www/html/wordpress/wp-config-sample.php /var/www/html/wordpress/wp-config.php
Then run the commands below to open WordPress configuration file.
sudo nano /var/www/html/wordpress/wp-config.php
Enter the highlighted text below that you created for your database and save.
// ** MySQL settings - You can get this info from your web host ** // /** The name of the database for WordPress */ define('DB_NAME', 'wordpress'); /** MySQL database username */ define('DB_USER', 'wordpressuser'); /** MySQL database password */ define('DB_PASSWORD', 'user_password_here'); /** MySQL hostname */ define('DB_HOST', 'localhost'); /** Database Charset to use in creating database tables. */ define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8'); /** The Database Collate type. Don't change this if in doubt. */ define('DB_COLLATE', '');
STEP 10: Open the WordPress Site and Complete the Install
After that, open your browser and browse to your domain name to launch the WordPress configuration wizard.
http://example.com
Type the WordPress website name and create a new admin user and password, email, then click Install WordPress.
Once completed, WordPress will load.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed WordPress on Ubuntu.