How to Set Up WordPress on a Dedicated Server

Dedicated servers combined with WordPress can help create extremely reliable websites. The only problem, however, is that typically dedicated servers leave owners with limited support on installing WordPress. Luckily the process to do so is quick and simple, with it generally taking around five minutes to carry out.

Before going into the process though, keep in mind the following variables that are needed to install WordPress on a dedicated server:

 

  • Access to your web server (typically through FTP or shell)
  • The ability to create MySQL databases
  • A text editor
  • An FTP client

Once you are sure that you have access to all of these areas, you should be able to install WordPress without issue. Keep in mind that every registrar has a different policy with having WordPress configured on their platform, so make sure to check for allowance on doing so.
 

The step-by-step process of conducting a manual WordPress install on a dedicated server is as follows:

1 Download and unzip the WordPress file from their website (http://wordpress.org/download/)
2 Create a database and at least one user with full permission clearance for that database. Different hosting providers may already have a database set up already or an automatic way to create one. If not, access Cpanel in your account and go into the database wizard to create one. Plesk and phpMyAdmin are alternative methods of enacting this process if a Cpanel isn’t accessible.
3 Set up a wp-config.php file and insert that into your WordPress files by replacing the existent wp-config-sample.php with it. It’s possible to simply let WordPress do this by itself and replace the text with yours, but it’s always good to check and safely do it manually. When editing this file, it’s important to have the following areas set with the example code shown:
DB_NAME
The name of the database you created for WordPress in Step 2.
define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘insert name here’);
DB_USER
The username you created for WordPress in Step 2.
define(‘DB_USER’, ‘insert user here‘);
DB_PASSWORD
The password you chose for the WordPress username in Step 2.
define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘insert password here‘);
DB_HOST
The hostname you determined in Step 2 (usually localhost) If a port, socket, or pipe is necessary, append a colon (:) and then the relevant information to the hostname.
define(‘DB_HOST’, ‘localhost’);
DB_CHARSET
The database character set, normally should not be changed
DB_COLLATE
The database collation should normally be left blank
Once you have finished with that, you will then need to go and create secret key values and insert them under a section titled * Authentication Unique Keys. You can generate those security keys with an auto generator such as this one here.
4 Upload your files to the designated file path of either the root directory or subdirectory of your dedicated server. Typically, your hosting provider can provide this file path for where to upload your files.
5 Run the install script to activate the account. If you placed the WordPress files in the root directory, you should visit this link here in order to do this: http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin/install.php. If you placed the WordPress files in a subdirectory called blog, for example, you should visit: http://yourdomain.com/blog/wp-admin/install.php.
Keep in mind that if your WordPress account can’t find the wp-config.php file, it will tell you and offer to try to create and edit the file itself. Another thing to consider is that some hosting providers come with one-script installers which help in speeding up the WordPress installation.

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