Terminal and Bash Command Intelligence Solution Task Analysis Objective: Deploy a secure WordPress website on a Linux server with database setup, SSL configuration, and performance optimization. Environment: Operating System: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Command Environment: Bash terminal via SSH Deployment Type: Production-style WordPress installation Recommended Architecture: Web Server: Nginx Database: MariaDB PHP Runtime: PHP-FPM SSL: Let's Encrypt + Certbot Security: Firewall, SSH hardening, file permissions Optimization: Caching, compression, database tuning --- Phase 1: Connect to Server and Update System Command ssh username@server_ip Explanation Connects to the Ubuntu server remotely through SSH. Parameters: username → Server user account server_ip → Public IP address of the server --- Update system packages: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y Explanation apt update refreshes available packages. apt upgrade installs the latest security and software updates. -y automatically confirms installation. --- Phase 2: Install Required Software Install Nginx: sudo apt install nginx -y Purpose Installs the high-performance web server that will deliver WordPress pages. --- Install MariaDB database server: sudo apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client -y Purpose Provides the database engine required by WordPress. --- Install PHP and required extensions: sudo apt install php8.3-fpm php8.3-mysql php8.3-cli php8.3-curl php8.3-gd php8.3-mbstring php8.3-xml php8.3-zip -y Purpose Installs PHP processing tools required for WordPress functionality. --- Phase 3: Secure MariaDB Database Run database security setup: sudo mysql_secure_installation Recommended Options Enable: Remove anonymous users: Yes Disable remote root login: Yes Remove test database: Yes Reload privilege tables: Yes --- Phase 4: Create WordPress Database Login to MariaDB: sudo mariadb Create database: CREATE DATABASE wordpress_db; Create database user: CREATE USER 'wp_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPasswordHere'; Grant permissions: GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress_db.* TO 'wp_user'@'localhost'; Apply changes: FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT; --- Phase 5: Download WordPress Move to web directory: cd /var/www/ Download WordPress: sudo wget https://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz Extract files: sudo tar -xzf latest.tar.gz Move WordPress files: sudo mv wordpress website Set ownership: sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/website Set permissions: sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/website --- Phase 6: Configure WordPress Create configuration file: cd /var/www/website sudo cp wp-config-sample.php wp-config.php Edit configuration: sudo nano wp-config.php Update database settings: define('DB_NAME', 'wordpress_db'); define('DB_USER', 'wp_user'); define('DB_PASSWORD', 'StrongPasswordHere'); define('DB_HOST', 'localhost'); Save: CTRL + O ENTER CTRL + X --- Phase 7: Configure Nginx Website Create configuration: sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/wordpress Add: server { listen 80; server_name example.com www.example.com; root /var/www/website; index index.php index.html; 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; } } --- Enable website: sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/wordpress /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ Test configuration: sudo nginx -t Restart Nginx: sudo systemctl restart nginx --- Phase 8: Configure Firewall Security Install firewall: sudo apt install ufw -y Allow SSH: sudo ufw allow OpenSSH Allow web traffic: sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full' Enable firewall: sudo ufw enable Check status: sudo ufw status --- Phase 9: Install SSL Certificate Install Certbot: sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y Generate SSL certificate: sudo certbot --nginx -d example.com -d www.example.com Test automatic renewal: sudo certbot renew --dry-run --- Phase 10: Performance Optimization Enable Nginx Compression Edit configuration: sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf Enable gzip: gzip on; gzip_types text/plain text/css application/javascript application/json; Restart: sudo systemctl restart nginx --- Install Redis Cache sudo apt install redis-server -y Enable service: sudo systemctl enable redis-server Restart: sudo systemctl restart redis-server --- Database Optimization Login: sudo mariadb Optimize tables: OPTIMIZE TABLE wp_posts; OPTIMIZE TABLE wp_options; EXIT; --- Troubleshooting Guide Problem: Nginx Shows 502 Bad Gateway Check PHP service: sudo systemctl status php8.3-fpm Restart: sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm --- Problem: Database Connection Error Verify MariaDB: sudo systemctl status mariadb Test login: mysql -u wp_user -p wordpress_db --- Problem: Permission Errors Fix ownership: sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/website Fix permissions: sudo find /var/www/website -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \; sudo find /var/www/website -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \; --- Production Safety Checklist Before going live: ✅ Update Ubuntu packages ✅ Disable root SSH login ✅ Use SSH keys instead of passwords ✅ Enable firewall ✅ Install SSL certificate ✅ Configure backups ✅ Enable caching ✅ Monitor server resources ✅ Keep WordPress plugins updated --- Alternative Deployment Options Using Apache Instead of Nginx sudo apt install apache2 libapache2-mod-php -y Using Docker docker compose up -d Using Managed WordPress Hosting Consider: Cloud providers Managed WordPress platforms Container-based hosting --- Final Deployment Workflow Summary Ubuntu Server ↓ Nginx Installation ↓ PHP Configuration ↓ MariaDB Database ↓ WordPress Deployment ↓ SSL Security ↓ Firewall Protection ↓ Caching Optimization ↓ Production Launch This workflow creates a secure, optimized, and maintainable WordPress deployment environment suitable for professional websites and production workloads.