🌐 Installing WordPress on AlmaLinux: Complete LAMP Stack Guide

Ready to launch your website or blog? 🚀 Today we’ll install WordPress on AlmaLinux with a complete LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP)! Whether you’re creating a personal blog, business website, or online store, this guide makes it super easy - even if you’ve never done it before! 🎯

🤔 Why is WordPress on AlmaLinux Important?

Running WordPress on AlmaLinux delivers amazing benefits:

• 📌 Rock-solid stability - Enterprise-grade Linux for reliable hosting
• 🔧 Complete control - Your server, your rules, no limitations
• 🚀 Blazing fast performance - Optimized stack for speed
• 🔐 Enhanced security - Full control over security settings
• ⭐ Cost-effective - No hosting fees, just your server costs

🎯 What You Need

Before starting your WordPress journey:

• ✅ AlmaLinux 8 or 9 server (fresh installation preferred)
• ✅ Root or sudo access to your server
• ✅ Domain name pointed to your server (optional but recommended)
• ✅ At least 1GB RAM and 10GB disk space
• ✅ Basic terminal knowledge (we’ll guide you!)

📝 Step 1: Install Apache Web Server

Let’s start with Apache, your web server! 🌟

Install and Configure Apache

# Update your system first
sudo dnf update -y

# Install Apache web server
sudo dnf install httpd -y

# Start and enable Apache to run at boot
sudo systemctl start httpd
sudo systemctl enable httpd

# Check Apache status
sudo systemctl status httpd
# You should see "active (running)" in green!

# Allow HTTP and HTTPS through firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

echo "✅ Apache installed successfully!"

Test Apache Installation

# Get your server's IP address
ip addr show | grep inet

# Open your browser and visit:
# http://YOUR_SERVER_IP
# You should see the Apache test page!

# Create a test page
echo "<h1>Apache is working! 🎉</h1>" | sudo tee /var/www/html/test.html

# Visit http://YOUR_SERVER_IP/test.html to confirm

Pro tip: 💡 If you can’t access Apache, check your cloud provider’s firewall settings - they might block HTTP/HTTPS by default!

🔧 Step 2: Install MySQL/MariaDB Database

WordPress needs a database to store your content:

Install MariaDB

# Install MariaDB (MySQL compatible database)
sudo dnf install mariadb-server mariadb -y

# Start and enable MariaDB
sudo systemctl start mariadb
sudo systemctl enable mariadb

# Secure your MariaDB installation
sudo mysql_secure_installation

# Follow the prompts:
# - Enter current password (press Enter for none)
# - Set root password: Y (Choose a strong password!)
# - Remove anonymous users: Y
# - Disallow root login remotely: Y
# - Remove test database: Y
# - Reload privilege tables: Y

echo "✅ MariaDB secured and ready!"

Create WordPress Database

# Log into MariaDB
sudo mysql -u root -p
# Enter the root password you just created

# Create database and user for WordPress
CREATE DATABASE wordpress_db;
CREATE USER 'wordpress_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPassword123!';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress_db.* TO 'wordpress_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

# Verify database creation
mysql -u wordpress_user -p -e "SHOW DATABASES;"
# You should see wordpress_db in the list!

Security note: 🔒 Always use strong passwords! Replace ‘StrongPassword123!’ with your own secure password!

🌟 Step 3: Install PHP and Required Modules

WordPress is built with PHP, so let’s install it:

Install PHP 8.0 and Extensions

# Enable EPEL and Remi repositories for PHP 8
sudo dnf install epel-release -y
sudo dnf install https://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-8.rpm -y

# Reset PHP module and enable PHP 8.0
sudo dnf module reset php -y
sudo dnf module enable php:remi-8.0 -y

# Install PHP and required extensions for WordPress
sudo dnf install php php-mysqlnd php-fpm php-opcache php-gd php-xml php-mbstring php-json php-zip php-curl -y

# Check PHP version
php -v
# Should show PHP 8.0.x

# Restart Apache to load PHP
sudo systemctl restart httpd

Test PHP Installation

# Create a PHP info file
echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" | sudo tee /var/www/html/info.php

# Visit http://YOUR_SERVER_IP/info.php
# You should see PHP configuration page!

# Remove the info file for security
sudo rm /var/www/html/info.php

echo "✅ PHP installed and configured!"

Configure PHP for WordPress

# Optimize PHP settings for WordPress
sudo tee /etc/php.d/wordpress.ini << 'EOF'
; WordPress Optimizations
upload_max_filesize = 64M
post_max_size = 64M
max_execution_time = 300
max_input_time = 300
memory_limit = 256M
EOF

# Restart Apache to apply changes
sudo systemctl restart httpd

✅ Step 4: Download and Install WordPress

Now for the main event - WordPress installation! 🎉

Download WordPress

# Navigate to temporary directory
cd /tmp

# Download latest WordPress
wget https://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz

# Extract WordPress archive
tar -xzvf latest.tar.gz

# Move WordPress to web root
sudo mv wordpress /var/www/html/

# Set proper ownership
sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/wordpress

# Set proper permissions
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/wordpress

# SELinux context (if SELinux is enabled)
sudo semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t "/var/www/html/wordpress(/.*)?"
sudo restorecon -Rv /var/www/html/wordpress

echo "✅ WordPress files ready!"

Configure WordPress Database Connection

# Navigate to WordPress directory
cd /var/www/html/wordpress

# Copy sample configuration file
sudo cp wp-config-sample.php wp-config.php

# Edit configuration file
sudo nano wp-config.php

# Update these lines with your database details:
# define('DB_NAME', 'wordpress_db');
# define('DB_USER', 'wordpress_user');
# define('DB_PASSWORD', 'StrongPassword123!');
# define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');

# Generate security keys (copy the output)
curl -s https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/

# Paste the security keys in wp-config.php
# (Replace the existing dummy keys)

Configure Apache for WordPress

# Create Apache configuration for WordPress
sudo tee /etc/httpd/conf.d/wordpress.conf << 'EOF'
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/wordpress
    ServerName your-domain.com
    ServerAlias www.your-domain.com

    <Directory /var/www/html/wordpress/>
        Options FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog /var/log/httpd/wordpress_error.log
    CustomLog /var/log/httpd/wordpress_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
EOF

# Enable .htaccess for permalinks
sudo tee /var/www/html/wordpress/.htaccess << 'EOF'
# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress
EOF

# Set ownership for .htaccess
sudo chown apache:apache /var/www/html/wordpress/.htaccess

# Restart Apache
sudo systemctl restart httpd

What’s happening: 🔄

• WordPress files are placed in the web directory
• Database connection is configured
• Apache is set up to serve WordPress
• Permalinks are enabled for SEO-friendly URLs

🎮 Quick Examples

Example 1: Complete WordPress Setup with SSL 🔐

# Install Certbot for Let's Encrypt SSL
sudo dnf install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y

# Obtain SSL certificate (replace with your domain)
sudo certbot --apache -d your-domain.com -d www.your-domain.com

# Follow the prompts:
# - Enter email address
# - Agree to terms
# - Choose whether to redirect HTTP to HTTPS (recommended: yes)

# Auto-renewal setup
sudo systemctl enable certbot-renew.timer
sudo systemctl start certbot-renew.timer

echo "✅ WordPress with SSL ready at https://your-domain.com"

Example 2: WordPress Performance Optimization ⚡

# Install caching and optimization tools
sudo dnf install memcached php-pecl-memcached -y

# Start memcached
sudo systemctl start memcached
sudo systemctl enable memcached

# Configure memcached for WordPress
echo "extension=memcached.so" | sudo tee /etc/php.d/25-memcached.ini

# Enable Apache caching modules
sudo dnf install mod_cache mod_cache_disk -y

# Configure Apache caching
sudo tee /etc/httpd/conf.d/cache.conf << 'EOF'
<IfModule mod_cache_disk.c>
    CacheEnable disk /
    CacheRoot /var/cache/httpd
    CacheDirLevels 2
    CacheDirLength 1
    CacheMaxFileSize 1000000
</IfModule>
EOF

# Restart services
sudo systemctl restart httpd
sudo systemctl restart php-fpm

echo "✅ Performance optimizations applied!"

Example 3: Automated WordPress Backup 💾

# Create backup script
sudo tee /usr/local/bin/backup-wordpress.sh << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
# WordPress Backup Script

BACKUP_DIR="/backup/wordpress"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
SITE_DIR="/var/www/html/wordpress"
DB_NAME="wordpress_db"
DB_USER="wordpress_user"
DB_PASS="StrongPassword123!"

# Create backup directory
mkdir -p $BACKUP_DIR

# Backup database
mysqldump -u $DB_USER -p$DB_PASS $DB_NAME > $BACKUP_DIR/db_$DATE.sql

# Backup WordPress files
tar -czf $BACKUP_DIR/files_$DATE.tar.gz $SITE_DIR

# Keep only last 7 days of backups
find $BACKUP_DIR -type f -mtime +7 -delete

echo "Backup completed: $DATE"
EOF

# Make script executable
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/backup-wordpress.sh

# Add to cron for daily backups
echo "0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/backup-wordpress.sh" | sudo tee -a /etc/crontab

echo "✅ Automated daily backups configured!"

🚨 Fix Common Problems

Problem 1: Cannot Access WordPress Site ❌

Symptoms:

• Browser shows “This site can’t be reached”
• Connection timeout errors

Try this:

# Check if Apache is running
sudo systemctl status httpd

# Check firewall rules
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

# Check SELinux status
getenforce

# If SELinux is enforcing, allow httpd network connect
sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect 1

# Restart Apache
sudo systemctl restart httpd

Problem 2: Database Connection Error ❌

Try this:

# Test database connection
mysql -u wordpress_user -p -D wordpress_db

# If connection fails, recreate user
mysql -u root -p
DROP USER 'wordpress_user'@'localhost';
CREATE USER 'wordpress_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPassword123!';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress_db.* TO 'wordpress_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

# Verify wp-config.php settings
grep DB_ /var/www/html/wordpress/wp-config.php

Problem 3: File Upload Issues ❌

Check these things:

# Fix permissions
sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/wordpress/wp-content
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/wordpress/wp-content

# Increase PHP limits
sudo sed -i 's/upload_max_filesize = 2M/upload_max_filesize = 64M/' /etc/php.ini
sudo sed -i 's/post_max_size = 8M/post_max_size = 64M/' /etc/php.ini

# Restart services
sudo systemctl restart httpd
sudo systemctl restart php-fpm

📋 Simple Commands Summary

💡 Tips for Success

1. Always backup first 🌟 - Before updates or changes, backup your site
2. Use strong passwords 🔐 - Weak passwords are the #1 security risk
3. Keep everything updated 🚀 - Regular updates prevent security issues
4. Monitor resources 📝 - Watch CPU and memory usage as your site grows
5. Use caching plugins 🔄 - W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache for speed

🏆 What You Learned

Congratulations! Now you can:

• ✅ Install and configure Apache web server on AlmaLinux
• ✅ Set up MariaDB database for WordPress
• ✅ Install PHP with all required extensions
• ✅ Deploy WordPress and configure it properly
• ✅ Implement SSL, caching, and backup solutions

🎯 Why This Matters

Your WordPress on AlmaLinux setup provides:

• 🚀 Full control over your website and server environment
• 🔐 Enhanced security with enterprise-grade Linux
• 📊 Unlimited scalability as your site grows
• ⚡ Superior performance compared to shared hosting

Remember: Running WordPress on your own AlmaLinux server gives you the power and flexibility that shared hosting can never match - you’re now a true webmaster! ⭐

You’ve successfully installed WordPress on AlmaLinux! Your website is now running on a professional, enterprise-grade platform that can handle anything from a simple blog to a high-traffic business site! 🙌