How to host WordPress on Digitalocean Droplet - ServerAvatar

Create Server in Digitalocean

Digitalocean is one of the most popular cloud platform right now. It offers on-demand cloud computing for various use cases as well as some managed solutions. We can deploy any PHP based applications on Digitalocean Droplets. Droplets are the servers or cloud computing instances in Digitalocean. If you want to learn everything about droplet management in Digitalocean in-depth, We recommend you to read our Digitalocean guide.

To deploy any application on Digitalocean, We first need a Droplet. So, we will first create a droplet and perform the initial set up.

Step 1: Go to the Create Droplets page.

Log in to your Digitalocean account and click on the Create button given on the top-right corner of the page. From the drop down menu, click on the Droplets option to see a droplet creation form.

Step 2: Choose Region

On the Droplet creation page, You will see lots of sections to select lots of things. We will go step by step.

The first thing you have to do is select the region for your droplet. Digitalocean provides lots of options when it comes to selecting the location. The general rule is to select the region that is closest to your audience. It means that for majority of your audience, Your sites will load faster due to lower latency.

Step 3: Choose an Image or an OS

In this step, you have to select the operating system for your droplet. We recommend you to use Ubuntu 20.04 LTS x64 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS x64. Ubuntu is easy to configure and manage. If you are using ServerAvatar to manage your droplets, These operating systems are requirement.

Step 4: Choose the size of the Droplet

Here you have to choose the size of your Droplet. As we mentioned above, Digitalocean provides many different types of droplets. Select the one that fits best for your project.

If your site is brand new and does not have much traffic, start with a small plan. Once the project starts getting traction, you can upgrade the plan to handle more visitors on the site.

Step 5: Choose Authentication Method

Now you have to select the authentication method. There are two types of authentication methods. They are:

1. Authentication via SSH Keys
2. Authentication via Password

If you are using SSH keys for authentication, It is the best option. If you do not know what is SSH keys, You can go with the password method. Make sure to set the strong password for your root user, which is the most powerful user with all the privileges on Linux OS.

Step 6: Selecting Additional Options

There are three additional options you can choose. They are optional but important in different use cases. The additional options are:

1. Monitoring: It is a free feature by Digitalocean. It allows you to see additional monitoring data for your server.
2. Backups: We recommend you to enable full server backups if you are going to deploy in production environment. The cost of the backups depends on the size of the droplet.
3. Managed Database: You do not need a Managed database if you are using ServerAvatar to manage sites on a droplet. A managed database is a pre-configured MySQL Droplet.

Step 7: Finalise Details

In the last step of this process, We have to enter the name of the droplet, number of droplets you want to create, Define any tags, and select the project. Enter all the details and click on the Create Droplet button to create a droplet.

In a few minutes, You will have the Droplet up and running. Now, We have to perform the initial configuration on the Droplet to host PHP based frameworks and software.

Initial Server Configuration

The Initial server configuration includes installation and configuration of various packages required to host your website. Usually, You have to write commands and modify configuration files. Luckily, With ServerAvatar, Your full server configuration and optimisation can be automated.

Here are the three ways to automatically configure your server with ServerAvatar.

wget https://srvr.so/install
chmod +x install
./install

Auto-Install WordPress with ServerAvatar

Step 1: Create a PHP application

Access the Application tab on your server panel and click the Create button.

Fill up the required details and click the Create Application button.

Note That:

If you want to host WordPress CMS on your domain, then make sure to point your domain to the current IP address of your server, and for that:

1. Log in to your hosting provider site, where you buy your domain. You can check your domain information with one click.

2. Access DNS Manager to edit your DNS records(contact the support team if you don’t find them)

3. Change the IP address of A Record of your website to the current server’s IP address.

Step 2: Auto-install WordPress Application

On your application panel, click the Auto Deploy tab from the sidebar.

Now click on the WordPress Install Now card, as seen in the above image.

It asks to enter WordPress details on the form. It includes-

1. WordPress Title: Title of your WordPress
2. Username: WordPress admin username
3. Email: Your Email address. It's an optional field. You can also set it after installing WordPress
4. Password: WordPress admin password
5. Database server: Choose a server in which you want your WordPress database
6. Database Name: Enter the name of the WordPress database.

Once you fill up all the information, click the Install Now button, and that's it. ServerAvatar will install WordPress on your domain/ServerAvatar domain within a minute.

You can access the login page on the URL:example.com/wp-admin.