This isn’t easy if you try to manually install a LAMP stack. LAMP stands for linux apache mysql php. Getting them all to play nice with WordPress was beyond me. Somehow I screwed it up following different online instructions.
Fortunately other options exist, namely Turnkey Linux or Bitnami. The good thing about both of these is that they let you run LAMP stacks as virtual machines that are already pre-configured, and they also install pre-configured WordPress on your hard drive so that it works properly with the LAMP stack.
I highly recommend installing it this way, because it means that all the finicky little details like SSL and uploads and FTP and whatever will work properly.
Here’s how to install WordPress with Turnkey Linux:
- First I removed all my existing apache, mysql and php. Not sure if this was necessary
- Then I started VirtualBox
- I selected create a new image, selected Linux->Ubuntu, chose a new harddrive from the vdmx image I downloaded, and accepted the default options.
- I had to enable some sort of PCAE hardware access in the settings and set network options to bridged.
- Then I started up the image. I had to give root passwords for the operating system, mysql, and wordpress. I made them all the same since it won’t be exposed to the internet.
- Then you get a screen that says “WORDPRESS appliance services” and gives a bunch of numerical IP addresses. You type those into your browser. “Web” is to see your blog, the rest are configuration options.
- Keep in mind that WordPress is installed locally on your hard drive, while the LAMP stack resides on the virtual image.
Most of this stuff was very unclear from the documentation.
Why do all this? So you can have your own locally hosted private journal, with zero loading time, of course!
With a locally hosted T3 blog, you are no longer at the mercy of your internet connection speed for your core info processing needs. The seconds you wait to post each new T3 entry can really add up to severe annoyance.