Basic WordPress setup on FreeBSD 9.1

WordPress needs no introduction.

It's simply the most popular blogging software at the moment.

Here's how I got it installed on FreeBSD 9.1

Requirements:

FreeBSD ports
Some understanding of MySQL (create a database and a user, although it's also outlined here)

Brief outline of the procedure: 1. Install packages including MySQL 5.5

Install Apache from Ports
Install PHP and PHP extensions from ports
Install WordPress from Ports
Setup Apache
Setup MySQL
Setup VirtualHost for WordPress
Setup WordPress

1. Install Packages including MySQL 5.5

Go ahead and install those packages - if you don't they'll have to be installed from ports which takes way too long.

pkg_add -r libXpm png jpeg t1lib expat help2man gmake libXaw bigreqsproto automake automake-wrapper xcmiscproto xtrans inputproto xf86bigfontproto libXau libSM libIce libXp xorg-macros libXmu xf86bigfontproto libtool libltdl libxml2 mysql55-server curl

2. Install Apache from Ports

cd /usr/ports/www/apache24/
make config-recursive
make fetch-recursive
time make install clean

The above takes about 7 minutes

3. Install PHP and PHP extensions from ports

cd /usr/ports/lang/php5
make config-recursive

IMPORTANT: Add "APACHE" to build the apache module

time make install clean

The above took about 6 minutes

Now install the extensions:

cd /usr/ports/lang/php5-extensions
make config-recursive

ADD: GD, MBSTRING, MYSQL, PDO_MYSQL REMOVE: PDO_SQLITE, SQLITE3

time make install clean

^ took about 12 minutes

4. Install WordPress from Ports

cd /usr/ports/www/wordpress && make install clean
time make fetch recursive

^ took less than 30 secs - the above installs wordpress under: /usr/local/www/wordpress/

5. Setup Apache

Make Apache start on FreeBSD boot:

echo "apache24_enable="YES"" >> /etc/rc.conf
echo "apache24_http_accept_enable="YES"" >> /etc/rc.conf

Note: All configs go under: /usr/local/etc/apache24/

Edit /usr/local/etc/apache24/httpd.conf Change:

#ServerName www.example.com:80

to:

ServerName localhost:80

And at the end of the file add:

<IfModule mod_php5.c> 
  DirectoryIndex index.php index.html 
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_php5.c>
  AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
  AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps
</IfModule>

6. Setup MySQL

Make MySQL start on boot:

echo "mysql_enable="YES"" >> /etc/rc.conf

Copy a template config:

cp /usr/local/share/mysql/my-small.cnf /usr/local/etc/my.cnf

Edit it:

ee /usr/local/etc/my.cnf

Scroll down to line 47 and add the following:

bind-address = 127.0.0.1

Now Start MySQL:

/usr/local/etc/rc.d/mysql-server start

Make sure that MySQL is listening on localhost (127.0.0.1)

sockstat -4 | grep mysql

You should get output like this:

mysql    mysqld     943   10 tcp4   127.0.0.1:3306        *:*

Now let's connect to the MySQL server:

mysql

Create a database for wordpress:

create database wordpress_site1;

Grant permissions (add a user) :

GRANT ALL ON wordpress_site1.* TO root@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'superdifficultpassword';

Explanation of the above: The above command will grant all privileges to the MySQL root user accessing this server from localhost only and uses the password 'superdifficultpassword'

Don't forget to do a flush privileges; to apply the above settings:

flush privileges;

Now exit MySQL and test your settings to preserve your sanity before we test them with wordpress:

mysql -D wordpress_site1 -u root -h localhost -p

Explanation of the above:

-D specifies database

-u specifies the user

-h specifies the host

-p asks for a password prompt

We're done with MySQL, now let's work on the Apache VirtualHost

7. Setup VirtualHost for WordPress

Restart Apache to make sure that the PHP 5 module is loaded:

/usr/local/etc/rc.d/apache24 restart

Test if the PHP 5 module is loaded:

apachectl -M | grep php

You should see something like this:

 php5_module (shared)

Now let's add a VirtualHost: With the editor of your preference create the file: /usr/local/etc/apache24/Includes/wordpress.conf

And add the following lines:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot "/usr/local/www/wordpress/"
    ServerName localhost
    ServerAlias www.dummy-host.example.com
    ErrorLog "/var/log/wordpress-error_log"
    CustomLog "/var/log/wordpress-access_log" common
</VirtualHost>

Explanation of the above:

DocumentRoot = The location of your PHP/HTML files

ServerName = the FQDN where you want this VirtualHost to respond to (i.e. www.example.com) - in this case we're just setting it to localhost

ServerAlias = optional - use only if you want this VirtualHost to respond to more than one FQDN

ErrorLog and CustomLog = very important! if you don't set those you won't get logs running and you won't be able to troubleshoot apache - never skip your logs!

Then edit /usr/local/etc/apache24/httpd.conf - find these lines:

<Directory />
    AllowOverride none
    Require all denied
</Directory>

comment them out - they should look like this:

#<Directory />
#    AllowOverride none
#    Require all denied
#</Directory>

Restart Apache again:

/usr/local/etc/rc.d/apache24 restart

8. Setup WordPress

Now let's configure WordPress:

cd /usr/local/www/wordpress/
cp wp-config-sample.php wp-config.php

Replace the line:

define('DB_NAME', 'database_name_here');

with:

define('DB_NAME', 'wordpress_site1');

Replace the line:

define('DB_USER', 'username_here');

with:

define('DB_USER', 'root');

Replace the line:

define('DB_PASSWORD', 'password_here');

with:

define('DB_PASSWORD', 'superdifficultpassword');

Replace the lines:

define('AUTH_KEY',         'put your unique phrase here');
define('SECURE_AUTH_KEY',  'put your unique phrase here');
define('LOGGED_IN_KEY',    'put your unique phrase here');
define('NONCE_KEY',        'put your unique phrase here');
define('AUTH_SALT',        'put your unique phrase here');
define('SECURE_AUTH_SALT', 'put your unique phrase here');
define('LOGGED_IN_SALT',   'put your unique phrase here');
define('NONCE_SALT',       'put your unique phrase here');

by going to https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/

and copy paste the output into your file, overwriting the lines it will look something like this:

define('AUTH_KEY',         '}`1k+;p1+_owC|G2]w0JJ7tr]z)!bSPd|,X vWif5C~4`s96*B8q:?q^{YNOG~EM');
define('SECURE_AUTH_KEY',  'L+YQf|[VXxaRyobo;M-[;5mbf,py%zk?+1bf9-:(PYeB]uf9#G*rSM+|TBAYnyh3');
define('LOGGED_IN_KEY',    ':-8=- I%7k+6r<@X[ObfiM%CH7|qhAeX2nGzspb|D:p%K+@^8-ht*+?-{/.03D:&');
define('NONCE_KEY',        'pRAQWp.Wx@b}>zoK;{9HS`Q-Kb2X.]uEHbA|Y!-g1HMmpmom*-NdXtW:h2B|0u,_');
define('AUTH_SALT',        'S`b[H52jfU|~fS3My?x3*+;nDv/-1x?tE7d_O_JhJ<(q}1C+d^(2_/B:bMwN9T>U');
define('SECURE_AUTH_SALT', '%!()/sVRo^4G|FPg;<&b31!~(%DI.mr*6Gx_hbb~9ZL#^]rAfZ,sq7?N&piXph%l');
define('LOGGED_IN_SALT',   '$VnYXo+8$)we.=v3PYO[ [$TP>pk7z(fL)trW]Gjb|5ZnGHRe`{WE1m!2Pzj:5eH');
define('NONCE_SALT',       '47+&{]~$nr+L)f|DPF.Ccg.UW-rFxA{fg1f!w0y_+EM$/5~.%-V1U*+H<uNKoO88');

Now point your browser to the IP address of your server, in my case: http://192.168.2.6/wp-admin/install.php

You should see the WordPress Installation page

In my example I used: Site Title: 'WeirdBricks example' Username: 'weirdbricks_admin' Password, make sure you enter the same password twice

Note: If you need a good random password generator go here: http://www.random.org/passwords/

Untick 'Allow search engines to index this site'

aaand you should be good to go!