How to install WordPress on a VPS — nginx + PHP-FPM + MySQL (2026)

This guide installs a production-ready WordPress on any fresh Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 VPS. If you need a VPS first, spin one up on Hostiger VPS Hosting — Basic at $15/mo is more than enough for most WordPress sites.

1. Install nginx + PHP-FPM + MySQL

apt update && apt upgrade -y
apt install nginx php-fpm php-mysql php-curl php-gd php-imagick \
  php-intl php-mbstring php-xml php-zip php-bcmath mysql-server \
  unzip curl -y
systemctl enable --now nginx php8.3-fpm mysql

2. Create the WordPress database

mysql -u root
CREATE DATABASE wp_site CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'wpuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'STRONG_RANDOM_PASSWORD';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wp_site.* TO 'wpuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

3. Download WordPress

cd /var/www
curl -O https://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz
tar -xzf latest.tar.gz
mv wordpress example.com
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/example.com
rm latest.tar.gz

4. Configure nginx

Create /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com:

server {
  listen 80;
  server_name example.com www.example.com;
  root /var/www/example.com;
  index index.php;

  location / { try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args; }
  location ~ \.php$ {
    include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
    fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
  }
  location ~ /\.ht { deny all; }
}

ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
nginx -t && systemctl reload nginx

5. Install free SSL with Let's Encrypt

apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y
certbot --nginx -d example.com -d www.example.com --agree-tos -m [email protected] --non-interactive

Certbot auto-renews every 60 days via a systemd timer — no cron needed.

6. Complete the WordPress setup wizard

Visit https://example.com/wp-admin/install.php. Fill in database name, user and password from step 2. Choose your admin username (never "admin") and a strong password.

7. Recommended production tweaks

Install LiteSpeed Cache or WP Rocket for full-page caching
Set define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true); in wp-config.php
Enable automatic security updates: define('WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', true);
Change wp-admin login URL with a plugin (WPS Hide Login)

Alternative: skip the setup entirely

If you don't want to manage a VPS, Hostiger Managed WordPress from $9.99/mo comes with LiteSpeed cache, auto-updates, WebP conversion and Redis object cache pre-configured.