I will cover how to migrate the data first as it is the essential component to get WordPress site going. In my previous blog post, I covered how to backup data, so please refer to it to back up the existing WordPress data.
Install MariaDB
MariaDB is a forked database engine from MySQL. As far as I remember, it has 100% compatibility with MySQL and it’s completely free.
SSH into the host you provisioned.
$ ssh opc@[IP address for the host]
Install MariaDB on the host.
$ sudo yum install mariadb-server
Start the database server.
$ sudo systemctl start mariadb
Make sure that the service starts on OS start up.
$ sudo systemctl enable mariadb
Start the initial configuration process.
$ sudo mysql_secure_installation
The command above will ask the following questions.
- Enter current password for root (enter for none): -> Simply hit enter here.
- Set root password? [Y/n] –> Y
- New password: –> New password for root credential of MariaDB.
- Re-enter new password: –> Repeat.
- Remove anonymous users? [Y/n] –>Y
- Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n] –> Y or n depending on your need but Y is securer.
- Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n] –> Y
- Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n] –>Y
Your MariaDB is now more secured and ready for you to use.
Install NGINX (web server)
I am choosing NGINX for web server to serve the WordPress pages. Follow the steps below to install and configure NGINX.
First, create nginx.repo file under /etc/yum.repo.d/
$ sudo vi /etc/yum.repo.d/nginx.repo
Paste the following text.
[nginx]
name=nginx repo
baseurl=http://nginx.org/packages/mainline/centos/7/$basearch/
gpgcheck=0
enabled=1
Save the file and exit.
:wq
Back in the command line, install the latest NGINX.
$ sudo yum -y install nginx
Start NGINX.
$ sudo systemctl start nginx
Make sure NGIX survives the restart.
$ sudo systemctl enable nginx
Make sure the host can accept incoming traffic to HTTP and HTTPS.
$ sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=http --permanent --zone=public
$ sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=https --permanent --zone=public
sudo firewall-cmd --reload
If you browse to http://[Your public IP address], you will see welcome screen from NGINX.

Recap
I am planning to cover how to restore data in MariaDB and configure it in the next blog. More to come!