Perplexingly Bursting: WordPress Hosting on DigitalOcean

The Popular CMS: WordPress

WordPress is an incredibly popular CMS that powers millions of websites. If you’re contemplating creating a website or blog, give WordPress some thought.

The Lowdown on DigitalOcean

DigitalOcean is a beloved cloud hosting provider that offers a cost-effective and consistent platform for web hosting. It’s a favorite of both developers and website owners seeking an easy-to-use cloud infrastructure. This article will illustrate how to host WordPress on DigitalOcean.

Step 1: Create a DigitalOcean Account

To get started, you need to create a DigitalOcean account by logging on to their website and creating a new account. You’ll have to provide some basic information such as your name, email address, and password. Once you’re done, you’ll be prompted to add a payment method. With DigitalOcean’s pay-as-you-go model, you will only pay for what you use.

Step 2: Create a Droplet

The next step is to create a droplet, which is a virtual machine that runs on DigitalOcean’s infrastructure. Log in to your DigitalOcean account and hit the “Create” button. You’ll be prompted to select a droplet image. On this tutorial, you’ll be using “Ubuntu 20.04.”

Once you’ve selected an image, you’ll need to pick the droplet size. DigitalOcean offers several options, and the price will depend on what you select. For a plain WordPress website, a $5 per month droplet should suffice.

Next, choose your desired data center region. You should choose the one nearest to your target audience for quicker loading times. You can also pick out additional options like SSH keys and user data.

When you’ve finished configuring your droplet, click on “Create Droplet” to launch it.

Step 3: Set Up SSH Access

Secure Shell (SSH) is a protocol that allows for a secure connection to a remote server. To manage your DigitalOcean droplet remotely from your computer, setting up SSH access is crucial.

To establish SSH access, you’ll need to create an SSH key pair. Utilize the “ssh-keygen” command in your computer’s terminal to do this. After you’ve generated your SSH key pair, you need to add your public key to your DigitalOcean account.

Add your public SSH key by going to your DigitalOcean account dashboard and navigating to the “SSH Keys” tab. Click on “Add SSH Key” and paste your SSH public key into the provided text box. Give the SSH key a descriptive name, and then click on “Add SSH Key” to save it.

After your SSH key has been added to your account, use an SSH client like PuTTY or OpenSSH to connect to your DigitalOcean droplet. To establish a connection, input your droplet’s IP address in the client.

Step 4: Install LAMP Stack

The LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) is a standard web development environment for hosting PHP-based web applications like WordPress. To enable WordPress to run, you’ll need to install the LAMP stack on your DigitalOcean droplet.

Log in to your DigitalOcean droplet using your SSH client to install the LAMP stack. To update your system, enter the following command:

sudo apt update

Then install Apache by typing this command:

sudo apt install apache2

After Apache is installed, check that it’s working by entering your droplet’s IP address in your web browser. A default Apache page should appear.

Next is to install MySQL, which is a database management system. Install MySQL by typing the following command:

sudo apt install mysql-server

When MySQL is installed, you’ll be requested to set the root password, which should be strong and secure.

Finally, install PHP, which is a server-side programming language. To install PHP, enter this command:

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

Once PHP is installed, check that it’s working by creating a new PHP file in your web server’s document root folder (/var/www/html/). Create the following code in your file and save it as “info.php”:

Input your droplet’s IP address followed by “/info.php” in your web browser to see if there’s a page displaying PHP information.

Step 5: Install WordPress

The final step is to install WordPress. You can do this manually or via DigitalOcean’s one-click installation feature.

To install WordPress manually, download the latest version of WordPress from their official website. Unzip the file and upload it to your web server’s document root folder via an FTP client like FileZilla.

After the files have been uploaded, make a new MySQL database for WordPress using the MySQL command line or via phpMyAdmin, a web-based tool.

Edit the WordPress configuration file (wp-config.php) with your database credentials and save it. Now open your web browser and go to your droplet’s IP address to finish the installation process.

Alternatively, DigitalOcean offers a one-click installation feature for WordPress. To install WordPress via the DigitalOcean control panel, log in to your account and go to the “Marketplace” tab. Search for “WordPress” and choose “WordPress with LAMP” from the available options.

Follow the directions to configure your droplet, including setting up your admin user, WordPress URL, and email. Leave the rest to DigitalOcean!

Conclusion

Choosing to host your WordPress website on DigitalOcean is a wise decision for those who seek a reliable and inexpensive cloud infrastructure. With the information outlined in this article, you’ll be able to create a WordPress website on DigitalOcean quickly and easily. Be sure to maintain your website’s security with regular updates, backups, and a robust password. Happy hosting!