nginx

Nginx + WordPress Setup Guide on LEMP Stack

WordPress is one of the most popular Content Management Systems (CMS) globally, enabling users to build flexible websites using a MySQL backend and PHP processing. While it is beginner-friendly, it scales incredibly well for large sites.

This tutorial focuses on setting up a WordPress instance on a LEMP stack (Linux, Nginx, MySQL, and PHP) on a Debian-based server.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have the following:

Sudo User: Admin privileges on your system.
LEMP Stack Installed: You should already have Nginx, MySQL, and PHP installed (refer to the previous LEMP Stack Installation guide if needed).
SSL Certificate: It is highly recommended to have an SSL certificate active for your domain before installing WordPress.

Step 1: Create a MySQL Database and User

Although MySQL is already installed, WordPress needs its own database and user to manage site data securely.

Log in to MySQL
If you use the default authentication (auth_socket):

sudo mysql

If you have set a root password:

mysql -u root -p

Create the Database
We will name the database wordpress.

CREATE DATABASE wordpress DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;

(Note: Ensure you include the semicolon ; at the end of the command).
3. Create a User
For security, we create a specific user for this database. We will use wordpressuser in this example. Replace password with a strong, secure password.

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

Exit MySQL

EXIT;

Step 2: Install Additional PHP Extensions

The basic LEMP stack includes minimal PHP extensions. WordPress and its plugins often require additional libraries to handle images, XML, and other tasks.

Update and Install Extensions

sudo apt update
sudo apt install php-curl php-gd php-intl php-mbstring php-soap php-xml php-xmlrpc php-zip

Restart PHP-FPM
Apply the changes by restarting the PHP processor (ensure the version number matches your installed PHP version, e.g., php8.2-fpm):

sudo systemctl restart php8.2-fpm

Step 3: Configure Nginx

We need to modify your Nginx server block to handle WordPress specifically.

Open your configuration file
Assuming your config file is named wordpress:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/wordpress

Add/Modify Location Blocks
Inside your server { ... } block, add the following optimizations:

Ignore logs for favicon and robots.txt:

location = /favicon.ico { log_not_found off; access_log off; }
location = /robots.txt { log_not_found off; access_log off; allow all; }

Cache static files:
This improves performance for images, CSS, and JS.

location ~* \.(css|gif|ico|jpeg|jpg|js|png)$ {
    expires max;
    log_not_found off;
}

Configure the Main Location Block:
Locate your existing location / block. Change the try_files line to pass control to index.php when a file isn't found (this enables WordPress Permalinks).

location / {
    # try_files $uri $uri/ =404;  <-- Comment this out
    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php$is_args$args;
}

Test and Reload
Check for syntax errors:

sudo nginx -t

If successful, reload Nginx:

sudo systemctl reload nginx

Step 4: Download WordPress

For security, always download WordPress directly from the official source.

Download and Extract

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

Prepare the Config File
Copy the sample config file to the actual config filename:

cp /tmp/wordpress/wp-config-sample.php /tmp/wordpress/wp-config.php

Move Files to Web Root
Copy the files to your web directory (e.g., /var/www/wordpress). The . at the end ensures hidden files are copied too.

sudo cp -a /tmp/wordpress/. /var/www/wordpress

Assign Permissions
Give ownership to www-data (the Nginx user) so WordPress can update itself and install plugins.

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

Step 5: Secure the Configuration File

We need to add security keys (salts) and database credentials to the wp-config.php file.

Generate Security Keys
Run this command to get unique, random keys from the WordPress API:

curl -s https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/

*Copy the output block that starts with define('AUTH_KEY'...*
2. Edit the Config File

sudo nano /var/www/wordpress/wp-config.php

Update Keys
Find the section with dummy keys (put your unique phrase here) and delete them. Paste the keys you generated in the previous step.
Update Database Details
Find the database settings at the top and update them with the info from Step 1:

define( 'DB_NAME', 'wordpress' );

/** MySQL database username */
define( 'DB_USER', 'wordpressuser' );

/** MySQL database password */
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'password' );

Set Filesystem Method
Add this line anywhere in the file (e.g., below the DB settings). This prevents WordPress from asking for FTP credentials when installing plugins.

define( 'FS_METHOD', 'direct' );

Save and exit (CTRL+X, Y, Enter).

Step 6: Finalize Installation via Web

Access the Installer
Open your browser and navigate to your domain:
http://your_domain_or_IP
Follow the Wizard

Language: Select your preferred language.
Site Info: Enter your Site Title, Admin Username (avoid "admin" for security), Password, and Email.
Search Visibility: Choose if you want Google to index your site immediately.