Debian LAMP Setup and WordPress Install: A Step-by-Step Tutorial

Setting up a LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL/MariaDB, PHP) on Debian 12 and installing WordPress can be a straightforward process when you follow the right steps. This guide will walk you through it with minimal explanations.

While performing a minimal install of Debian 12, I’ve opted to select the web server and ssh server options.

If you haven’t installed Apache, then use these commands:

sudo apt install apache2
sudo systemctl start apache2
sudo systemctl enable apache2

Step 1: Install MariaDB

First, install MariaDB, which will serve as the database for WordPress:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client

Step 2: Secure MariaDB

After installing MariaDB, it’s crucial to secure it. Run the secure installation script:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Important: If this is your first time securing MySQL, then don’t rush this step as you will want to enter a root password so that you can log in later when you use phpmyadmin.

Step 3: Install PHP

WordPress requires PHP to run. Install PHP and necessary extensions:

sudo apt install php libapache2-mod-php php-mbstring php-xml php-gd php-curl

Step 4: Install phpMyAdmin

phpMyAdmin is a web-based tool to manage your MariaDB databases. Install it with:

sudo apt install phpmyadmin

During the installation, you’ll be asked to configure the database for phpMyAdmin. Choose Yes to use the existing MariaDB database

Step 5: Install WordPress

Now, install WordPress. Download the latest WordPress package and extract it:

cd /tmp
wget https://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz
tar -xzvf latest.tar.gz
sudo mv wordpress /var/www/html/

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/wordpress
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/wordpress

Step 6: Configure Apache

Set up Apache to serve your WordPress site. Create a new virtual host configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/wordpress.conf

Add the following configuration:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin admin@yourdomain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/wordpress
    ServerName yourdomain.com
    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Enable the new site configuration and restart Apache:

sudo a2ensite wordpress.conf
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 7: Complete WordPress Installation

Navigate to http://localhost/websitename in your browser and follow the WordPress installation wizard to complete the setup.