The Requirement

Need to install fresh wordpress with same version on wordpress droplet of digitalocean.

The Problem

My setup (wordpress droplet) was suddenly stop working. I started debugging.

Debug

Checked apache2 and mysql service:

service mysql status

service apache2 status

Both services was active. Then I checked the apache2 processes with below command:

$ ps -ef | grep apache2 | wc -l
151

Lots of apache child process has been forked. Which was not good.

checked apache’s error log (tail /var/log/apache2/error.log), But not found anything.

I took decision to setup new wordpress of same version. I was little sure that some plugin was causing this problem But i don’t have so much time to go through all plugins.

Droplet configuration

OS : Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS
Memory : 1GB
Disk : 25GB
Cost : $5/Monthly

Process to install WordPress

Step 1: Source directory backup

Take backup with cp command.

$ cd
$ mkdir ~/backup_wp
$ cp -R /var/www/html ~/backup_wp/

Digitalocean installs the wordpress in /var/www/html/ path.

Step 2: Database backup

$ mysqldump -uroot -p wordpress > ~/backup_wp/wp.sql

Here wordpress is the Database name.

If you don’t remember the password for MySQL, Get it from wp-config.php:

vim /var/www/html/wp-config.php

Check for the line
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx' );

Step 3: Check version of the existing WordPress

vim /var/www/html/wp-includes/version.php

Look for the line
$wp_version = '5.2.4';

Version can be different.

Step 4: Download WordPress zip file

Go to Wordpress Releases page. Check for your version and download with below command:

wget https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.2.4.zip

Unzip it:

unzip wordpress-5.2.4.zip

It will extract all files in wordpress folder.

If unzip is not already installed, Please install it with below command:

apt install unzip

Step 5: Replace source of /html with /wordpress

rm -rf /var/www/html
mv wordpress /var/www/html

Step 6: Change configuration

  1. Go to your website URL, It will show you below page:

    Lets_go

    Just click on the Let's go! Button.

  2. Put you DB conf as shown in below image

    db_conf

    Click on the Submit Button.

  3. Create wp-config.php file

    wp-config

    Create manually (vim /var/www/html/wp-config.php) if it is not created automatically and click on the Run the installation Button.

  4. You will see Already Installed page

    already_installed

    Just click on the Log In button. It will redirect you on the admin panel login page.

Now you can log in into your admin panel.

Step 7: Copy important files from backup

cp -R ~/backup_wp/html/wp-content/plugins/ /var/www/html/wp-content/
cp -R ~/backup_wp/html/wp-content/themes/ /var/www/html/wp-content/
cp -R ~/backup_wp/html/wp-content/uploads/ /var/www/html/wp-content/

This will copy all existing plugins, themes & all media files. But be careful while copying it, Becuase if it is the cause of your bug it can bring your site down again.

Important Configuration

cp ~/backup_wp/html/.htaccess /var/www/html/

Otherwise, your URL routing won’t work.

Step 8: WordPress asking for FTP details

If WordPress asking for FTP details on the each option like Adding themes, Installing plugins etc. Then add below line in your wp-config.php file.

vim /var/www/html/wp-config.php

Add

define('FS_METHOD','direct');

Test complete website

If everything went perfect, It will run smoothly. So we have successfully set up new Vanilla WordPress with exisiting database and without touching to apache configurations. If you feel any doubt or problem feel free to comment below and Also you can share your review in comments.