📁 How to Install Joomla on VPS: Step-by-Step Guide

Joomla is a powerful and flexible open-source CMS, perfect for corporate websites, portals, and e-commerce. In this guide, you’ll learn how to manually install Joomla on a VPS with Ubuntu using the LAMP or LEMP stack.

📦 Step 1. Prepare the Server

Update your VPS to the latest version:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
  

⚙️ Step 2. Install LAMP or LEMP Stack

For LAMP (Apache):

sudo apt install apache2 mysql-server php php-mysql libapache2-mod-php php-cli php-curl php-xml php-mbstring unzip -y
  

For LEMP (Nginx):

sudo apt install nginx mysql-server php-fpm php-mysql php-cli php-curl php-xml php-mbstring unzip -y
  

📂 Step 3. Create a Database

sudo mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE joomla;
CREATE USER 'joomlauser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'securepass';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON joomla.* TO 'joomlauser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;
  

📥 Step 4. Download and Extract Joomla

cd /var/www/
wget https://downloads.joomla.org/cms/joomla4/latest/Joomla_4-Stable-Full_Package.zip
unzip Joomla_4-*.zip -d joomla
chown -R www-data:www-data joomla
chmod -R 755 joomla
  

🌐 Step 5. Configure Virtual Host

Apache:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/joomla.conf
  

  ServerName yourdomain.com
  DocumentRoot /var/www/joomla
  
    AllowOverride All
  

  

sudo a2ensite joomla
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2
  

🧰 Step 6. Install via Browser

Open your server's IP or domain in a browser and follow the Joomla installer:

• 📅 Enter the site name
• 👤 Create admin user and set a password
• 🔑 Enter database connection details
• ✅ Complete setup and delete the installation folder

📍 Tips from Bit.Hosting

• 🔐 Set up SSL certificate with Let's Encrypt
• 📆 Keep Joomla and extensions updated regularly
• 🚨 Protect the admin panel with .htaccess
• 🏠 Use backup tools like Akeeba Backup
• 🌌 Optimize performance with cache and Gzip