Unraveling the Mysteries of Installing WordPress on CentOS 7

Are you mystified by how to install WordPress on CentOS 7? Fear not, for we are here to guide you through the process step by step! WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that millions of websites use today. It’s an open-source platform that enables users to create dynamic websites without any coding experience. The best part about WordPress? It’s easy to install, and it’s completely free!

Prerequisites to Install WordPress in CentOS 7

Before you launch into the details of the installation guide, let’s review the prerequisites:

• A Running CentOS 7 Server: Ensure that you have a CentOS 7 server instance up and running before you install WordPress.
• Installing LAMP: To install WordPress on CentOS 7, you need to install a web server stack, which is referred to as LAMP. This stack comprises Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP, as well as the additional PHP extensions that WordPress requires to run.
• Downloading the Latest Release of WordPress: You can download the most recent version of WordPress from the official WordPress website.

Step 1: Install and Configure LAMP Stack

Let’s get started installing and configuring the LAMP stack! Open your terminal and run the following command:

sudo yum install httpd mariadb-server mariadb php php-mysql php-devel php-gd php-pecl-memcache php-pspell php-snmp php-xmlrpc php-xml

Once the installation is complete, start and enable the Apache and MariaDB services on your CentOS 7 system by executing the following commands:

sudo systemctl start httpd
sudo systemctl enable httpd
sudo systemctl start mariadb
sudo systemctl enable mariadb

Next, to protect your MariaDB server, run the following command in your terminal:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

After entering the current root password, set a new root password and follow the prompts to finish the installation.

Step 2: Create a Database and User for WordPress

Now that your LAMP stack is secure, you need to create a database and user for WordPress. Log in to the MySQL console using the following command:

sudo mysql -u root -p

After entering the root password, create a database for WordPress (let’s call it “wordpress_db”) and a user with full privileges over that database (“wordpress_user”). Use the following commands:

CREATE DATABASE wordpress_db;
CREATE USER 'wordpress_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'Password123!@#';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress_db .* TO 'wordpress_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
QUIT;

Note: Replace “Password123!@#” with a robust password of your choosing.

Step 3: Install WordPress

Great job! You’re almost there. To download and install WordPress:

1. Go to the WordPress download page (https://wordpress.org/download/) and download the latest release of WordPress.
2. Extract the files to the /var/www/html directory of your CentOS 7 server by running the following command:

sudo tar xfz ~/Downloads/wordpress-x.x.x.tar.gz -C /var/www/html/

Next, for better organization, rename the WordPress directory with your domain name by executing the following command:

sudo mv /var/www/html/wordpress /var/www/html/yourdomain.com

Step 4: Configure WordPress

Now that you’ve installed WordPress, you need to specify the database credentials and other configuration details to make your site work.

First, create a wp-config.php file by running the following command:

sudo cp /var/www/html/yourdomain.com/wp-config-sample.php /var/www/html/yourdomain.com/wp-config.php

Next, open the wp-config.php file and edit the following parameters with the database name and user you created earlier:

define('DB_NAME', 'wordpress_db');
define('DB_USER', 'wordpress_user');
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'Password123!@#');

These changes will enable WordPress to connect to your database.

Step 5: Complete the Installation via a Web Browser

It’s time to wrap things up! Open your web browser, and navigate to your server’s IP address or domain name followed by “/yourdomain.com”. You should see the WordPress installation screen.

Select your preferred language and click “Continue”. Then, provide the required details such as site title, username, password, and email address, and click “Install WordPress”. Wait for the installation to finish.

Once the installation is complete, you will be automatically directed to the WordPress login page. Enter the username and password you created earlier to log in, and voila! You’re all set to add content to your website.

Final Thoughts

Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed WordPress on your CentOS 7 server. We hope our guide was helpful in walking you through the installation process. Remember to keep your WordPress site, server, and database secure by updating and backing up all components of the system regularly.