> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.opus-host.de/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Host a WordPress Site on Your Opus Host VPS

> Install and run a WordPress site on your Opus Host VPS with Nginx, PHP, and MySQL — a full LEMP stack from scratch.

WordPress powers a huge share of the web because it is flexible and easy to use. This guide walks through installing it on your Opus Host VPS with Nginx, PHP-FPM, and MySQL (a LEMP stack).

## 1. Install Nginx, MySQL, and PHP

```bash theme={null}
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y nginx mysql-server php-fpm php-mysql php-curl php-gd \
  php-mbstring php-xml php-zip php-imagick unzip
```

## 2. Create the WordPress database

```bash theme={null}
sudo mysql
```

At the MySQL prompt:

```sql theme={null}
CREATE DATABASE wordpress;
CREATE USER 'wpuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'change-this-password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress.* TO 'wpuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;
```

## 3. Download WordPress

```bash theme={null}
cd /tmp
curl -O https://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz
tar xzf latest.tar.gz
sudo mv wordpress /var/www/example.com
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/example.com
```

## 4. Configure Nginx

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

```nginx theme={null}
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;
    root /var/www/example.com;
    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/php-fpm.sock;
    }

    location ~ /\.ht {
        deny all;
    }
}
```

Enable it and reload:

```bash theme={null}
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx
```

## 5. Finish the install in the browser

Visit `http://example.com` and complete the WordPress setup wizard. Use the database name, user, and password from step 2.

## 6. Add HTTPS

Once your site loads, secure it with a free certificate. See [Let's Encrypt SSL](/guides/lets-encrypt-ssl).

<Tip>
  Do not run WordPress as `root`. The `www-data` ownership set above is important — it lets PHP-FPM update files (like plugins and themes) without opening security holes.
</Tip>

<Warning>
  Change the default admin username during setup and use a long, unique password. WordPress login pages get brute-forced constantly.
</Warning>