Let’s see how we can install WordPress on VPS, without any technical hassle. We will be using LaunchWP in this guide. If you are unfamiliar with LaunchWP, LaunchWP is a WordPress-focused modern server management dashboard to install, launch and host WordPress in a VPS (Virtual Private Server), without any technical hassle, all managed from a modern NextGen dashboard. LaunchWP works with any VPS or cloud provider, including DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS LightSail, GCP, and many more. LaunchWP allows you to easily create and launch Blazing-Fast, performant WordPress websites giving the speed WordPress deserves, the security that you need, and features that you will love, all in your own VPS server without running a single line of code or command.
When you host and install WordPress on a VPS or Cloud Servers such as Linode, AWS, GCP, DigitalOcean, and many more, you get a really powerful and specialized server, and have your WordPress sites run blazing fast. You also have complete control of the server, that too without having to break the bank or compromising security. But! It’s not easy. (without LaunchWP)
To install WordPress on VPS, you need to boot and set up a VPS first, install packages required to run WordPress, then set up SFTP or PHPMyAdmin, also secure your server ports, and then install WordPress core. This is of course is not an easy task in total, it’s a huge hassle and time-consuming even for experienced developers. You have to manage everything from doing security upgrades, managing server packages, upgrading them, configuring the webserver, Database server, PHP, MySQL, Caching, cURL, and a lot more. Not to mention that if you face any issues, you are on your own!
Solution? Connect your VPS with LaunchWP. LaunchWP lets you connect to any VPS or cloud provider in the world, and install WordPress on that VPS or cloud provider, without writing or running a single code or command. As long as you are able to SSH to the server and install Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, with at least 1 GB of memory, you can connect it to LaunchWP for installing WordPress. It’s easy and simple, simply get the SSH details, and connect to LaunchWP with those. We have detailed those steps below.
Steps:-
Create the Server
To first step to install WordPress on VPS, irrespective of you using LaunchWP or not, would be to boot up a VPS or Cloud Server. Each provider has it’s own documentation on how to do that, so please check with the provider you are using. Start by logging in to your provider and creating a VPS or a dedicated server with the latest LTS version of Ubuntu without modification and at least 1 GB of memory. You will need access to the root user with either a password or SSH keys enabled.
Get SSH details from your provider
Getting the SSH details is different for each providers. The steps and process differs with providers, so there is not something universal we can jot down. You would need to check your VPS or cloud provider documentation on how to get its SSH details. Example documentation for DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, or AWS Lightsail.
Connect to LaunchWP
Once you’ve created a server at the provider of your choosing, log in to your LaunchWP Server dashboard and navigate under Servers > Add Server. You need to fill out the fields with the necessary information:
- Provider name – Just an identifier for yourself. Doesn’t matter for connection.
- IP address – The IP address of your Server.
- Port number – The Port for connecting via SSH. Default 22.
- SSH username – The SSH username for connecting. Heavily recommended to connect via ‘root‘
- Authentication method – Enter your Password or connect via the SSH Key command.
SSH login using password authentication is the easiest way, but if that’s disabled, you will need to SSH into the server and paste the given command in your terminal, and hit Enter. Hit Connect Server. For specific documentation regarding any specific providers, checkout our documentation or our Youtube channel, there might be the perfect steps you are searching for.
Install WordPress on VPS
Your job is almost done. It’s time to let LaunchWP to install WordPress on your VPS for you. Navigate under Sites from the navigation to create your first website with LaunchWP. Click Create SIte to get started. Below is a Map of each field on what to enter in each.
- Domain Name: This is the Domain name of your site. Make sure you own the domain and have access to its DNS tools before proceeding because you need to add a DNS record to it. Example: web-for-ahona.com
- Server: This is a dropdown of your all available Servers. Select the one you just connected.
- Adding DNS record: You need to now add a DNS record to your domain name before proceeding further. The type of DNS record should be of type “A”, and the Value should be your Server IP. You can find that on the same page, simply copy that value. You need to add that DNS record to your domain from your Domain provider. LaunchWP doesn’t manage your DNS, it’s your domain, which you are pointing to your own server. Check out this external documentation on how to add an A record to your domain: https://help.one.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000799298-How-do-I-create-an-A-record
- Admin Username: This is the admin username on which your WordPress will be installed. Change the default value if you want.
- Admin Password: This is the admin password for your account. Change it if you would like to.
- Enable Multi-site: You can one-click enable multi-site if you would like. You can install multi-site in LaunchWP as both Sub-directory and Sub-domain. Choose as how you would like to.
- SSL/ TLS: LaunchWP gives you a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt. Keep this option checked unless you already have an SSL certificate installed from services like CloudFlare.
- WordPress Version: By default, it’s set to “latest”, which should pull the latest WordPress version. Include specific versions of WordPress if you want any like “6.7” or “6.7.1”.
- PHP Version: You can choose from a variety of PHP versions, LaunchWP will automatically add newer PHP versions as soon as the community starts adapting it.
- Table Prefix: By default the Database table it’s “wp_”. You can change it to any other prefix if you want. Do not change unless you know what you are doing.
Finally, simply click “Create Site”, and grab a coffee to sip. LaunchWP is now working to install WordPress on your VPS.
Just to add a NOTE: If this is your First Site on your new server, it might take around 10 mins. Please avoid reloading the tab or closing it. If it faces any error, it will let you know. You can continue working on a new Tab. After that for your next sites on that server, it will hardly take 2-3 minutes to create a site.
That should be it. Let us know if you have any questions/feedback/suggestions. We would love to hear from you. Like always, if you need any help, let us know and we would be happy to assist you along.
