Install WordPress on Rackspace Cloud Server : Step by Step Guide

Previously we wrote on how to install WordPress on Cloud Sites, however Rackspace Cloud Sites might be expensive option for you, in that case you can think of Rackspace Cloud Server without a managed level – which can be as cheap as $ 12 / month. Rackspace provides bland server to get the most performance out of the server. You can install WordPress on Rackspace Cloud Server or other things, does not matter.
Updated : As Rackspace has changed the look of the control panel, some screenshot might not match with real. Obviously the commands will remain the same. The video guide (see below) however uses the latest control panel.

Points you must need to know before you are going to install WordPress on Rackspace Cloud Server

If you use the server for few hours, you will be charged only for few hours. For example, in order to create this guide on how to install WordPress on Rackspace Cloud Server, our cost will be hardly a Dollar. We will delete the server after its done.

You can always buy a license of cPanel of your own and install on Rackspace Cloud Server – this is what most small to medium web hosts do. In that case you will not need these UNIX commands. We do not recommend it as cPanel itself waste your resource and the price ($200/year) is a waste for an individual. There are free options / open source alternatives to cPanel, but to date as far we know – they do not support 64 bit Cent OS / Red Hat / Debian OS, which your Rackspace Cloud Server will run.

This will work for other standard servers like those from Media Template.

We always prefer that you are using Mac OS X or any distro of Linux, that will make easy to run the console using terminal plus those virus, malware stuffs are avoided. However you can use PuTTY under Windows. Also you can use the console provided on Rackspace account.

Steps to install WordPress on Rackspace Cloud Server

In order to install WordPress on Rackspace Cloud Server, you need to login to your Rackspace account. then go to Hosting and click the Cloud Servers option o the left sided pane :

Now on the right sided pane, Click the Add Server option. You will get a bunch of Linux distro as option to install. We personally prefer Debian. You can use Red Hat Linux (extra charge will be added) or Cent OS. As most uses Cent OS, we will show this tutorial on install WordPress on Rackspace Cloud Server using Cent OS. The commands are nearly the same for Debian too. Next you will get the Server Configuration page –

Type your desired name and select the size of RAM. A pop up will come telling you your password. Copy-paste it to any text editor. It will take few minutes to get ready. You can perform various actions from here –

You can install WordPress on Rackspace Cloud Server using this console or Terminal (Mac OS) or PuTTy (Windows). Just scroll down on this page – you will get the IP address, copy paste it on your text editor if you are going to use PuTTy or Terminal. In this guide to install WordPress on Rackspace Cloud Server, we will use PuTTy. Before using Putty, click the Domain tab and add your domain’s address. Otherwise you can not use the www folder.

The actual command steps to install WordPress on Rackspace Cloud Server

Use the IP address to run PuTTy. Use your Rackspace account username to login and that password that you have copied. We are going to Install WordPress on Rackspace Cloud Server, so need of poetry here, straight cut commands and small explanations.

We are on the root. No one can access it from a browser, so we will change directory (cd) by typying the command and then hitting enter / return key :

Now we are on the desired directory. Type and hit enter / return :

After hitting the key, it will take a bit time to get the compressed wordpress file. You will get indication that its complete. Now extract it :

Thanks to Chris for correcting it (see comments below).

You will see all got extracted. But actually it is in /wordpress directory, is not it ? But we need everything on the root! So, we will move (mv) all the files by typing these and hitting enter :

This command is very important. This is one of the fantastic commands of UNIX. Note the dot – its moving everything to dot – your current directory. Give a space between * and dot. For Debian Linux, dots will be two – simply one directory level up.
You can type ls to list everything. Done. But we need to create a database first to install WordPress. In order to use MySQL, the common packages needs to be installed before. We need to install AMP – that is MySQL, Apache and PHP. Very simple. Just type :

This is a fantastic command and saves huge time. Start MySQL –

Now go to MySQL by –

Hit return. Now create a database by typing –

here is the wrong people usually do –

Type –

then –

Exit. Simple go to for example – http://yourdomainname.com/wp-admin/install.php ; it will say that wp-config.php is not configured, simply you can add data by following on browser options through WordPress installation script. Done.

More Steps, Guides and Videos to Install WordPress on Rackspace Cloud Server : Updated on March, 2013

As, Install WordPress on Rackspace Cloud Server is one of the most searched tutorial on Rackspace unmanaged cloud, we have added more guides and videos for you :

• Adding Domain Name to Rackspace Cloud Server
• Installing WordPress on Rackspace Cloud Server Video Guide
• There has been change in the look and function of the control panel, you can read – Installing WordPress on Rackspace Cloud Server with Cloud Database