Install WordPress on Amazon Linux 2023 with Nginx

By Ravindra Bagale, trainer · LinkedIn · Last updated: 18 October 2026

1. What WordPress is: a CMS, not a framework

Why: before you install something, know what kind of software it is. It decides who does the work after the install: a developer writing code, or a site owner typing content.

What:

1. A framework is ready-made code that helps developers build an app faster: Laravel for PHP, Django and Flask for Python, Express for Node.js. You still write the pages, the forms and the login yourself.
2. A CMS (content management system) is a finished website that you install and then fill with content. WordPress is a CMS written in PHP. The site owner writes, styles and publishes from an admin dashboard, without code.
3. In WordPress, pages and posts are rows in a database, not separate HTML files. When a visitor opens a post, PHP reads the row and builds the page on the spot, the way an app loads each reel from its database.

What you can build: a blog, a news site, a company website, a portfolio, a video site, or an online shop with a plugin such as WooCommerce. A shop like Flipkart could be built with WordPress too, although very large shops usually write their own code.

2. The server: LEMP

Why: WordPress is PHP code that keeps everything in a MySQL-compatible database. It needs a web server, PHP, an empty database and a folder it can write to.

What: LEMP = Linux + nginx (pronounced Engine-X) + MariaDB + PHP. With Apache instead of nginx the same stack is called LAMP. Here we use nginx.

How:

1. Launch an EC2 instance with Amazon Linux 2023 and a small type such as t3.micro. In its security group allow SSH (22) from your IP and HTTP (80).
2. Connect: ssh -i key.pem ec2-user@SERVER-IP.

3. Install the stack, including PHP's MySQL driver:

   sudo yum install nginx mariadb105-server php php-fpm php-mysqlnd -y
   

4. If an install fails, update the package list first with sudo yum update -y, then try again.

1. Start the three services:

   sudo service nginx start
   sudo service mariadb start
   sudo service php-fpm start
   

2. Test HTML and PHP before WordPress:

   echo '<h1>HTML works</h1>' | sudo tee /usr/share/nginx/html/index.html
   echo '<?php phpinfo();' | sudo tee /usr/share/nginx/html/info.php
   

3. Open http://SERVER-IP/ and http://SERVER-IP/info.php. You see HTML works and the long PHP information page. Then delete the test page, because it shows server details: sudo rm /usr/share/nginx/html/info.php.

3. PHP's MySQL driver

Why: WordPress's index.php starts by connecting to the database. Without the driver, PHP has no mysqli functions and the installer stops with an error that your PHP installation is missing the MySQL extension.

How:

1. The package is php-mysqlnd. It was in the install line above; if you skipped it, install it now: sudo yum install php-mysqlnd -y.
2. Restart only php-fpm, the program that loads PHP extensions: sudo service php-fpm restart.
3. Check: php -m | grep -i mysql lists mysqli, mysqlnd and pdo_mysql.

4. Download WordPress

Why: WordPress is free, open-source code. You download it once onto the server, and nginx serves it from there.

What: always take the stable release from https://wordpress.org/latest.zip. A copy of the development branch from GitHub is unfinished code meant for WordPress developers, not for a website.

How:

1. Go to the web root and download:

   cd /usr/share/nginx/html
   sudo wget https://wordpress.org/latest.zip
   

2. Unzip it: sudo unzip latest.zip. You need sudo because the web root belongs to root. If wget or unzip is missing, install them with sudo yum install wget unzip -y.

3. The zip makes one folder, wordpress, with index.php, wp-admin, wp-content, wp-includes and wp-config-sample.php inside. Check with ls wordpress.
4. Keep the folder name wordpress: one word, all lowercase. Linux paths are case-sensitive, so WordPress and wordpress are two different folders, and the nginx config must match exactly.

1. Remove the zip: sudo rm latest.zip.

5. Point nginx at WordPress

Why: nginx still serves /usr/share/nginx/html, so the IP shows the old test page. It must serve the wordpress folder, open index.php by default, and send WordPress's post links to index.php.

What: open the main config with sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf and find the server { ... } block. These are directives, settings that nginx reads:

1. server_name _; The underscore matches any name or IP. Keep it while you have no domain; do not invent a domain name here.
2. root /usr/share/nginx/html/wordpress; The folder nginx serves.
3. index index.php; When someone asks for a folder, such as /, nginx opens its index.php.
4. location / { try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args; } If the request is not a real file ($uri) or a real folder ($uri/), hand it to WordPress's index.php. WordPress post links such as /hello-world/ do not exist on disk, so without this line they give 404 Not Found.
5. Leave the line include /etc/nginx/default.d/*.conf; in place: on Amazon Linux 2023 the php-fpm package puts its PHP settings there, so nginx can hand .php files to php-fpm.

How: the block looks like this after the change:

server {
    listen       80;
    listen       [::]:80;
    server_name  _;
    root         /usr/share/nginx/html/wordpress;
    index        index.php;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
    }

    # Load configuration files for the default server block.
    include /etc/nginx/default.d/*.conf;
    ...
}

1. Save, then test the syntax: sudo nginx -t. It must say syntax is ok and test is successful.
2. Apply it: sudo service nginx reload.
3. Open http://SERVER-IP/. WordPress redirects you to /wp-admin/setup-config.php, the installer.

6. The same steps on Ubuntu

Why: WordPress runs on any Linux. Once you know what each piece does, only the names and paths change.

What changes on Ubuntu:

1. apt instead of yum: sudo apt install nginx mariadb-server php-fpm php-mysql -y.
2. The web root is /var/www/html, so WordPress goes to /var/www/html/wordpress.
3. The server block lives in /etc/nginx/sites-available/default, and PHP needs its own location ~ \.php$ block there that points to the php-fpm socket.
4. php-fpm runs as www-data, and its service has the version in its name, such as php8.3-fpm.
5. Apache is called apache2 on Ubuntu and httpd on Amazon Linux; nginx is nginx on both.

7. The database and a dedicated WordPress user

Why: WordPress needs an empty database and a login for it. That login should not be root: give WordPress its own user that can touch only its own database. If the site is ever hacked, the damage stays inside that database.

How:

1. Open MariaDB as the administrator: sudo mysql (or mysql -u root -p if you set a root password).

2. Create the database and the user, with your own strong password in place of the placeholder:

   CREATE DATABASE wordpressdb;
   CREATE USER 'wpuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'YOUR_STRONG_DB_PASSWORD';
   GRANT ALL ON wordpressdb.* TO 'wpuser'@'localhost';
   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
   exit;
   

3. GRANT ALL ON wordpressdb.* gives wpuser every right on every table inside wordpressdb, and nothing anywhere else. WordPress needs those rights to create its tables and, later, to update them.

4. Use lowercase names. On Linux, MariaDB database names are case-sensitive: WordPressDB and wordpressdb are two different databases, and a mismatch with the installer gives a database connection error.

1. The installer will ask for four things from this step: the database name, the user name, its password, and the host, localhost, because MariaDB runs on the same server.

8. Let WordPress write to its folder

Why: the installer writes wp-config.php, and later WordPress saves uploaded images, themes and updates into its folder. The folder belongs to root after sudo unzip, so PHP cannot write there. Never "fix" this with chmod 777: that lets every user and every program on the server change every file.

What: make the user that runs PHP the owner of the folder. On Amazon Linux 2023, php-fpm runs as apache (the user = apache line in /etc/php-fpm.d/www.conf). On Ubuntu it is www-data.

How:

1. Give the folder to apache:

   sudo chown -R apache:apache /usr/share/nginx/html/wordpress
   

2. Set folders to 755 and files to 644:

   sudo find /usr/share/nginx/html/wordpress -type d -exec chmod 755 {} +
   sudo find /usr/share/nginx/html/wordpress -type f -exec chmod 644 {} +
   

3. 755 and 644 mean: the owner (apache) can write; everyone else, including nginx, can only read. That is all nginx needs to send images and CSS.

4. Another way: copy wp-config-sample.php to wp-config.php yourself and type the four database values into it. The installer then skips the first screen. WordPress still needs to own wp-content for uploads and themes.

9. The installer

Why: the installer connects WordPress to the database, creates its tables and makes your admin account. It runs once, in the browser.

How:

1. Open http://SERVER-IP/. The first screen asks for the language. Then comes the welcome screen that lists what you need.

1. Click Let's go! and fill screen 1, the database details:
   1. Database Name: wordpressdb
   2. Username: wpuser
   3. Password: the one you set in CREATE USER
   4. Database Host: localhost
   5. Table Prefix: wp_. Every WordPress table starts with this prefix, so two sites with different prefixes could even share one database. Keep wp_ for one site.
2. Click Submit, then Run the installation. WordPress writes wp-config.php and creates its own tables in the empty database: wp_posts, wp_users, wp_options and nine more.

1. Fill screen 2, the details of your website. This is a different login from the database one:
   1. Site Title: the name of the site, for example My Practice Blog. You can change it later.
   2. Username: the admin login. Pick a unique name, never admin or root: attackers try those first.
   3. Password: long and strong. WordPress suggests one; keep it safe.
   4. Your Email: where WordPress sends password resets and notices.
   5. Search engine visibility: ticking Discourage search engines from indexing this site asks Google and others not to list the site. It is a request, not a lock: anyone with the address can still open the site. Tick it while you practise; untick it when the site goes live.
2. Click Install WordPress. You see Success!. Click Log In and sign in at http://SERVER-IP/wp-admin with the username and password from screen 2.
3. The installer wrote wp-config.php with the database password inside and left it readable by every user on the server. Tighten it: sudo chmod 640 /usr/share/nginx/html/wordpress/wp-config.php.

10. The dashboard and your first post

Why: wp-admin is the control room of the site. The site owner works here, much like managing a social media page: write, add pictures, publish.

How to write a post: suppose you want a small poetry blog.

1. Posts > Add Post. Type a title, then the text below it. Each paragraph is a block.
2. To style a block, select it. The toolbar above it has bold, italic and links; the panel on the right has text colour, background and font size (S, M, L, XL).
3. To add a picture, use your own image or one you have the right to use. Upload it first: Media > Add Media File, or the Image block's Upload button. It lands in the Media Library, and the image file is stored on your server in wp-content/uploads. Avoid inserting an image by its URL from another website: it can vanish at any time, and it is usually someone else's work.
4. Click Publish, then View Post. Open the site's address in a new tab: the post is on the home page.
5. Posts > All Posts lists your posts. The sample post Hello world! can be edited or moved to the trash.

11. Themes

Why: a theme decides how the whole site looks: layout, fonts, colours, header and footer. The content stays the same; one click changes the look.

How:

1. Appearance > Themes lists the installed themes. The active one is marked Active.

1. Hover over another theme, such as Twenty Eleven, and click Activate. Refresh the site in the other tab: same posts, new look.

1. Add Theme lets you browse thousands of free themes for blogs, news, business and shops.
2. If WordPress asks for FTP connection details when you install a theme or plugin, it cannot write to its own folder. Check that apache owns /usr/share/nginx/html/wordpress (section 8). Installing themes with FTP is covered in the next chapter.

12. Why the site breaks when the IP changes

Why: this is the most common surprise with WordPress on EC2. During the install, WordPress saves the address you used, http://SERVER-IP, in the wp_options table as siteurl and home, and builds every link, image and CSS address from it.

What happens:

1. An EC2 instance without an Elastic IP gets a new public IP every time it is stopped and started.
2. You open the new IP. The page arrives, but its styles, images and links still point to the old IP, where nobody answers. /wp-admin redirects to the old IP, so you cannot even log in.

How to avoid it:

1. Before the site goes live, give the server an address that does not change: allocate an Elastic IP and associate it with the instance, or point a domain name at that Elastic IP. Install WordPress at that address.
2. While you practise, do not stop the instance in the middle of the work, or expect the site to break when the IP changes.
3. You can see the saved address under Settings > General (WordPress Address and Site Address). Repairing a site whose IP has already changed is covered in the next chapter.

13. When something goes wrong

Why: a WordPress install has many small steps, and each error message points to one of them.

1. The IP still shows "Welcome to nginx" or your test page: root still points to /usr/share/nginx/html, or you did not reload. Fix the path, run sudo nginx -t, then sudo service nginx reload.
2. 403 Forbidden on the home page: nginx found the folder but no index file it may open. Add index index.php; and check that root ends in /wordpress.
3. 404 Not Found for every page: the root path does not match the folder name. /usr/share/nginx/html/WordPress is not /usr/share/nginx/html/wordpress.
4. The installer says PHP is missing the MySQL extension: install php-mysqlnd and restart php-fpm.
5. Error establishing a database connection: the database name, user, password or host does not match what you created. Check the case of the names, and log in with mysql -u wpuser -p wordpressdb to test the same values.
6. The installer cannot write wp-config.php: the folder is not owned by apache. Use chown, never 777.
7. Post links give 404, but the home page works: the try_files line is missing.

8. You made a mistake on screen 1 or 2 and want to start again: delete and recreate the database, then open the site again; the installer runs again with the same wp-config.php. This erases everything in the site.

   sudo mysql -e "DROP DATABASE wordpressdb; CREATE DATABASE wordpressdb;"
   

   If the mistake was in the database details themselves, also delete wp-config.php so that screen 1 appears again.

When you're done practising, stop the EC2 instance, and remember that its public IP will change unless it has an Elastic IP.

14. Hands-on lab: WordPress from an empty server to a first post

Why this lab. WordPress runs a large share of the web, and installing it touches every skill so far: packages, services, nginx, a database user and file permissions. Each step below has a check, so you never reach the installer with a hidden problem.

1. Install the LEMP pieces
   • Command: sudo yum install nginx mariadb105-server php php-fpm php-mysqlnd -y
   • You should see: Complete!
   • Check: php -m | grep -i mysqli → mysqli.
   • Why: WordPress is PHP code that keeps everything in a MySQL-compatible database. Without php-mysqlnd, it stops at "Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL extension".
2. Start the services
   • Command: sudo service nginx start; sudo service mariadb start; sudo service php-fpm start
   • You should see: Three redirect lines.
   • Check: http://PUBLIC_IP/ shows the nginx test page.
   • Why: Seeing the test page proves nginx and port 80 work before WordPress is involved.
3. Download and unpack WordPress
   • Command: cd /usr/share/nginx/html && sudo wget https://wordpress.org/latest.zip && sudo unzip -q latest.zip
   • You should see: latest.zip ... saved, then the prompt.
   • Check: ls wordpress shows wp-admin, wp-content, wp-includes and index.php.
   • Why: wget on the server downloads straight from wordpress.org. -q keeps unzip from printing thousands of file names.
4. Create the database and its user
   • Do: In sudo mysql -u root -p, run CREATE DATABASE wordpressdb;, CREATE USER 'wpuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'YOUR_STRONG_DB_PASSWORD'; and GRANT ALL ON wordpressdb.* TO 'wpuser'@'localhost';.
   • Check: mysql -u wpuser -p wordpressdb -e "SELECT 1;" prints 1.
   • Why: WordPress gets its own user with rights on its own database only. A hacked plugin then can't touch your other databases.
5. Point nginx at WordPress
   • Do: In /etc/nginx/nginx.conf, set root /usr/share/nginx/html/wordpress; and add index index.php index.html; (section 5).
   • Check: sudo nginx -t → syntax is ok, then sudo service nginx reload.
   • Why: Without index.php in the index list, nginx looks only for index.html and returns 403.
6. Let WordPress write to its folder
   • Command: sudo chown -R apache:apache /usr/share/nginx/html/wordpress
   • You should see: Nothing.
   • Check: ls -ld /usr/share/nginx/html/wordpress shows apache apache.
   • Why: On Amazon Linux, php-fpm runs as the user apache. It must own the folder to write wp-config.php and save uploads.
7. Run the installer
   • Do: Open http://PUBLIC_IP/, pick a language, enter wordpressdb, wpuser, its password and localhost, then set the site title and your admin login.
   • You should see: Success!, then the login page.
   • Check: sudo mysql -u root -p -e "SHOW TABLES FROM wordpressdb;" lists tables starting with wp_.
   • Why: The installer writes wp-config.php and creates the wp_ tables. If it can't write the file, step 6 was missed.
8. Publish a first post
   • Do: Log in at http://PUBLIC_IP/wp-admin, go to Posts → Add New, write a title and a line, and click Publish.
   • Check: The home page lists your post.
   • Why: The post is saved in the database, not as a file. That is why the database is what you back up for WordPress.
9. Note the IP, then stop
   • Do: Write down the public IP you installed with, then stop the instance.
   • Check: State Stopped.
   • Why: WordPress saved that IP as the site address. After a start the IP changes, and the next chapter shows how to fix the address safely.

15. The whole class on one page

1. A framework gives developers parts to write an app; a CMS such as WordPress is a finished website you fill from a dashboard.
2. LEMP: sudo yum install nginx mariadb105-server php php-fpm php-mysqlnd -y, start the three services, test index.html and a PHP page.
3. php-mysqlnd lets PHP reach MariaDB; after installing it, restart only php-fpm.
4. Download the stable https://wordpress.org/latest.zip and unzip it into /usr/share/nginx/html/wordpress, all lowercase.
5. Server block: server_name _;, root .../wordpress;, index index.php;, try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;; then sudo nginx -t and reload.
6. Ubuntu: apt, /var/www/html, sites-available/default, php-mysql, user www-data.
7. CREATE DATABASE wordpressdb; and wpuser with GRANT ALL ON wordpressdb.*, never root; lowercase names.
8. chown -R apache:apache the folder, folders 755, files 644, never 777; wp-config.php 640 after the install.
9. Screen 1: database name, user, password, localhost, prefix wp_. Screen 2: site title, a unique admin username, a strong password, email, and the search engine request.
10. Dashboard: Posts to write and style, Media Library for images, Appearance > Themes for the look.
11. WordPress saves its address; a new EC2 IP breaks the site, so use an Elastic IP or a domain before going live.
12. To rerun the installer, drop and recreate the database.

16. Try at home

Recap

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