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Francis Ndungu

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How to Install WordPress Content Management System on Ubuntu 26.04

07 May, 2026

Introduction

WordPress is the world's most popular open-source content management system (CMS) that powers over 40% of all websites on the internet. This flexible platform allows you to create blogs, business websites, e-commerce stores, portfolios, and membership sites without writing code from scratch. WordPress provides a user-friendly administrative dashboard where you can create pages, write posts, upload media, install themes, and add plugins to extend functionality. The software handles both simple personal blogs and complex corporate websites with thousands of pages, making it a versatile choice for users of all skill levels.

This guide shows you how to install WordPress on Ubuntu 26.04 with a LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP).

Prerequisites

Before you start:

Purchase an Ubuntu 26.04 VPS (Virtual Private Server) . If you don't have an Ubuntu VPS, sign up with Vultr and get upto $300 worth of free credit to test the Vultr platform.
Connect to your server through SSH, replace 192.168.0.1 with your VPS public IP address..
Windows
- Use PuTTY to connect to your VPS .
Linux or Mac
- Run the following command in your shell.
  console
  $ ssh username@192.168.0.1
Create a non-root user with sudo privileges. Read our guide on How to Create a Non-Root Sudo User on Ubuntu 24.04. You'll use this user's account to run the commands in this guide.
Purchase a domain name. For instance example.com from a domain registrar such as Namecheap.

Install the LAMP Stack

WordPress requires a web server, a database server, and PHP to function. The LAMP stack provides these components. You install each component separately to build a fully functional WordPress environment.

Refresh your system package list to get the latest available versions.
console
```
$ sudo apt update
```

Install Apache, the web server software that serves WordPress files to visitors' browsers.

console

$ sudo apt install -y apache2

Output:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  apache2-bin apache2-data apache2-utils libapr1 libaprutil1 libaprutil1-dbd-sqlite3
  libaprutil1-ldap liblua5.4-0 ssl-cert
0 upgraded, 9 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 1,892 kB of archives.
After this operation, 8,235 kB of additional disk space will be used.

Install MySQL, the database server that stores WordPress content, user data, and settings.

console

$ sudo apt install -y mysql-server

Output:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  mysql-client-9.0 mysql-client-core-9.0 mysql-common mysql-server-9.0
  mysql-server-core-9.0
0 upgraded, 5 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 27.4 MB of archives.
After this operation, 193 MB of additional disk space will be used.

Install PHP and the required extensions that WordPress needs to process dynamic content.

console

$ sudo apt install -y php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql php-curl php-gd php-mbstring php-xml php-xmlrpc php-soap php-intl php-zip

Output:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  php-common php8.3-cli php8.3-common php8.3-curl php8.3-gd php8.3-intl php8.3-mbstring
  php8.3-mysql php8.3-soap php8.3-xml php8.3-zip
0 upgraded, 28 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 5,843 kB of archives.
After this operation, 32.8 MB of additional disk space will be used.

Verify the PHP version to confirm a successful installation.

console

$ php --version

Output:

PHP 8.3.15 (cli) (built: Jan 20 2026 10:15:23) (NTS)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.3.15, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies

Create a Database for WordPress

WordPress stores all its content, user profiles, and configuration settings in a MySQL database. You create a dedicated database and a user account with specific permissions for WordPress to access this database.

Connect to the MySQL shell as the root user.

console

$ sudo mysql

Output:

Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 8
Server version: 9.0.1 MySQL Community Server - GPL

mysql>

Create a new database for your WordPress installation.

MySQL

mysql> CREATE DATABASE wordpress_db;

Output:

Query OK, 1 row affected (0.01 sec)

Create a database user and set a strong password for that user.

MySQL

mysql> CREATE USER 'wp_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPassword123!';

Output:

Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

Grant the new user full permissions on the WordPress database.

MySQL

mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress_db.* TO 'wp_user'@'localhost';

Output:

Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

Reload the privilege tables to apply the new permissions immediately.
MySQL
```
mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
```
Output:
```
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
```
Exit from the MySQL shell.
MySQL
```
mysql> EXIT;
```
Output:
```
Bye
```

Download and Configure WordPress

After setting up the database, you download the WordPress files and configure them to connect with your database. This process involves retrieving the latest WordPress package, setting proper file permissions, and creating the configuration file.

Install the unzip utility to extract the WordPress archive.
console
```
$ sudo apt install -y unzip
```
Navigate to the Apache web root directory.
console
```
$ cd /var/www/html
```
Download the latest WordPress package from the official repository using curl.
console
```
$ sudo curl -O https://wordpress.org/latest.zip
```

Extract the downloaded WordPress archive.

console

$ sudo unzip latest.zip

Output:

Archive:  latest.zip
   creating: wordpress/
  inflating: wordpress/index.php
  inflating: wordpress/license.txt
  inflating: wordpress/readme.html
  inflating: wordpress/wp-activate.php
  ... (additional extraction output)

Change ownership of the WordPress directory to the Apache web server user.
console
```
$ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/wordpress
```
Navigate into the WordPress directory to work with the configuration files.
console
```
$ cd /var/www/html/wordpress
```
Copy the sample configuration file to create the active configuration file.
console
```
$ sudo cp wp-config-sample.php wp-config.php
```
Open the new configuration file with the nano text editor.
console
```
$ sudo nano wp-config.php
```

Locate the database settings section in the file.

PHP

define( 'DB_NAME', 'database_name_here' );
define( 'DB_USER', 'username_here' );
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'password_here' );
define( 'DB_HOST', 'localhost' );

Replace the placeholder values with your actual database credentials.
PHP
```
define( 'DB_NAME', 'wordpress_db' );
define( 'DB_USER', 'wp_user' );
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'StrongPassword123!' );
define( 'DB_HOST', 'localhost' );
```
Save and close the /var/www/html/wordpress/wp-config.php file by pressing Ctrl + X, Y then Enter.

Configure Apache for WordPress

Apache needs a virtual host configuration to serve your WordPress site correctly. This configuration tells Apache how to handle requests for your domain and where to find the WordPress files.

Create a new virtual host configuration file for your WordPress site.
console
```
$ sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/wordpress.conf
```

Add the following configuration to the new file. Replace your-domain.com with your actual domain name.

ApacheConf

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin admin@your-domain.com
    ServerName your-domain.com
    ServerAlias www.your-domain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/wordpress

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

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/wordpress_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/wordpress_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Save and close the /etc/apache2/sites-available/wordpress.conf file by pressing Ctrl + X, Y then Enter.

Disable the default Apache site to avoid configuration conflicts.

console

$ sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf

Output:

Site 000-default disabled.
To activate the new configuration, you need to run:
  systemctl reload apache2

Enable the new WordPress site.

console

$ sudo a2ensite wordpress.conf

Output:

Enabling site wordpress.
To activate the new configuration, you need to run:
  systemctl reload apache2

Enable the Apache mod_rewrite module, which WordPress uses for permalinks.

console

$ sudo a2enmod rewrite

Output:

Enabling module rewrite.
To activate the new configuration, you need to run:
  systemctl restart apache2

Restart the Apache web server to load all configuration changes.
console
```
$ sudo systemctl restart apache2
```

Secure WordPress with SSL Certificate

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encrypts data between your visitors' browsers and your server. This security measure protects login credentials, form submissions, and other sensitive information. You use Certbot to obtain a free SSL certificate from Let's Encrypt.

Install the Certbot tool and its Apache plugin.

console

$ sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-apache

Obtain and install the SSL certificate for your domain.

console

$ sudo certbot --apache -d your-domain.com -d www.your-domain.com

Output:

Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log
Enter email address (used for urgent renewal and security notices): your-email@example.com

Please read the Terms of Service at https://letsencrypt.org/tos/.
You must agree in order to register with the ACME server at
https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory

(A)gree/(C)ancel: A

Would you be willing to share your email address with the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, a founding partner of the Let's Encrypt project and the non-profit
organization that develops Certbot?

(Y)es/(N)o: N

Redirecting all traffic on port 80 to ssl in /etc/apache2/sites-available/wordpress-le-ssl.conf


Congratulations! You have successfully enabled HTTPS on https://your-domain.com

Verify that the SSL certificate installed correctly by checking the Apache configuration.
console
```
$ sudo apache2ctl configtest
```
Output:
```
Syntax OK
```

Complete WordPress Installation via Web Interface

With all components configured, you complete the WordPress installation through the web interface. This step sets up your site title, creates an administrator account, and configures basic settings.

Open your web browser and navigate to your domain: https://your-domain.com
Select your preferred language from the dropdown menu and click Continue.
On the next screen, enter the following information:

Field Value

Site Title Your Website Name

Username Choose a secure username (not "admin")

Password Create a strong password

Your Email Your administrative email address

Field	Value
Site Title	Your Website Name
Username	Choose a secure username (not "admin")
Password	Create a strong password
Your Email	Your administrative email address

Click Install WordPress to complete the installation.

Output:

Success!
WordPress has been installed. Thank you, and enjoy!

Click Log In to access your WordPress administration dashboard.
Enter your username and password on the login screen, then click Log In.

Your WordPress site is now fully installed and ready for content creation.

Test the WordPress Installation

After completing the web installation, you test your WordPress setup by accessing the front end of your site and verifying that the administration dashboard works correctly.

Visit your domain https://your-domain.com to view the default WordPress front page.

The page displays your site title and a sample post titled "Hello world!"
Navigate to the WordPress administration dashboard at https://your-domain.com/wp-admin

The login screen appears, allowing you to access all administrative features.
Log in with the administrator credentials you created during the web installation.

The WordPress dashboard loads, showing modules for posts, pages, appearance settings, and plugin management.

Create a test post to verify database functionality.

From the dashboard:
1. Click "Posts" in the left sidebar
2. Click "Add New Post"
3. Enter a title like "Test Post"
4. Add some sample content
5. Click "Publish"

The post appears on your site's front page, confirming that the database connection works correctly.

Your WordPress installation is functioning as expected.

Conclusion

In this guide, you have installed WordPress on Ubuntu 26.04 with a complete LAMP stack, created a dedicated MySQL database for WordPress content, configured Apache with a virtual host and SSL certificate, and completed the setup through the WordPress web interface. Now that you have WordPress running, consider exploring the official WordPress theme directory to customize your site appearance, installing security plugins like Wordfence to protect against threats, or adding caching plugins such as W3 Total Cache to improve page load speeds for your visitors.