How to Install WordPress on Ubuntu 24.04 with Nginx

WordPress still powers over 40% of the web. Love it or hate it, if you host sites for clients or run your own, you need to know how to set it up properly on a modern stack. This tutorial walks you through a clean WordPress installation on Ubuntu 24.04 using Nginx, PHP-FPM, and MariaDB — the full LEMP stack. No Docker, no control panels. Just a fast, production-ready setup you fully control. By the end, you'll have WordPress running on Nginx with pretty permalinks, static asset caching, and a properly secured database. Prerequisites An Ubuntu 24.04 VPS with at least 1 vCPU and 2 GB RAM SSH access to your server A registered domain name pointed to your server (recommended) Step 1 — Install Nginx Update packages and install Nginx: sudo apt update sudo apt install -y nginx Enable it at boot and verify: sudo systemctl enable nginx sudo systemctl status nginx You should see active (running). Step 2 — Install MariaDB sudo apt install -y mariadb-server Run the security hardening script: sudo m