How to Manually Install WordPress on Debian 12

Step 1: SSH into the Debian system

ssh root@servername

Step 2: Install nginx, mariadb, and php

1. First update the sources:

apt-get update

apt-get upgrade

2. Install nginx:

apt install nginx

systemctl start nginx

systemctl enable nginx

apt install mariadb-server

3. Install PHP and its additional components:

apt install php php-mysql php-gd php-xml php-mbstring php-curl php-fpm php-mysql php-imagick php-zip php-intl

Step 3: Configure the MariaDB database

1. Log in to the database; MariaDB's initial root password is empty:

mysql -u root -p

2. Create the default database:

CREATE DATABASE [wordpressdatabasename];

3. Create a WordPress database account:

CREATE USER '[wordpressuser]'@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'wordpresspassword';

4. Grant permissions on the database:

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON [wordpressdatabasename].* TO [wordpressuser]@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'wordpresspassword';

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

EXIT;

Step 4: Configure the nginx service

1. Create and modify the WordPress configuration file in nginx:

nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/wordpress

The configuration file looks like this:

server {
        listen 80;
        server_name www.yourdomain.com yourdomain.com;
        root /var/www/wordpress;
        index index.php index.html index.htm;
        location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
}

location ~ .php$ {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.2-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
}

location ~ /.ht {
        deny all;
}

2. Edit the nginx global configuration file:

nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

Modify the http{} block

Add:

client_max_body_size 20m;

3. Link the WordPress configuration file into the site configuration folder:

ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/wordpress /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

4. Test whether the configuration is correct:

nginx -t
systemctl restart nginx

Step 5: Configure PHP

Edit the PHP configuration file:

nano /etc/php/8.2/fpm/php.ini

Modify the following parameters:

max_execution_time = 1200
max_input_time = 1200
upload_max_filesize = 200M
post_max_size = 800m

Restart the PHP service:

service php8.2-fpm restart

Step 6: Download and install WordPress

cd /tmp
curl -O https://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz

tar xzvf latest.tar.gz
cp -a /tmp/wordpress/. /var/www/wordpress

chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/wordpress

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2026 verification note

Recheck this procedure against the linked primary documentation and the live configuration before applying it. Product limits, plugin settings, dashboard labels, server paths, and commands change over time. Take a backup, test in staging where possible, validate configuration syntax before reload/restart, and verify the resulting HTTP status, canonical URL, logs, and user-visible behavior. Do not treat a successful command or a third-party tool score as proof that the underlying SEO, security, or availability issue is resolved.

Use least-privilege credentials, keep secrets out of repositories and logs, and preserve a rollback plan. For search changes, observe Search Console data over a normal reporting period rather than repeatedly requesting indexing.