You’re now at the WordPress installer UI, which means:

• Web server ✅
• PHP-FPM ✅
• DB connection ✅
• Permissions ✅
• DNS ✅

All core layers are functioning correctly.

Now proceed carefully—this step defines your application-level configuration.

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1. Installation Screen Flow

Step 1: Language

You already see this.

• Select: English (United States) (or your preference)
• Click Continue

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Step 2: Site Configuration

You will get a form with these fields:

1. Site Title

• Example: Pravesh Garnu Blog
• This is not permanent; can be changed later.

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2. Username (IMPORTANT)

• Do NOT use:admin root wordpress
• Use something non-trivial:pravesh_admin wp_mgr_01

Reason: Prevents brute-force attacks.

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3. Password

• WordPress suggests a strong password—keep it.
• Store it securely (password manager)

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4. Email

• Use a valid email (used for password recovery)

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5. Search Engine Visibility

• For now:
  ✔️ Check it (discourage indexing)

Reason:

• Site is not production-ready
• Prevents accidental indexing by Google

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Click: Install WordPress

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2. After Installation (Critical Immediate Actions)

Once installed, you’ll be redirected to:

/wp-login.php

Login using the credentials you just created.

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3. Post-Install Hardening (Do This Immediately)

3.1 Fix File Editing in Admin

Edit wp-config.php:

define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true);

Why:

• Prevents attackers from editing PHP files via dashboard

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3.2 Set Correct URL (Avoid Future Redirect Issues)

Go to:

Settings → General

Ensure:

WordPress Address (URL): https://yourdomain.com
Site Address (URL): https://yourdomain.com

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3.3 Permalinks (VERY IMPORTANT)

Go to:

Settings → Permalinks

Select:

Post name

Save.

This enables SEO-friendly URLs.

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3.4 Verify Upload Permissions

Go to:

Media → Add New

Try uploading an image.

If it fails → permissions issue (but yours likely correct).

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3.5 Remove Default Content

Delete:

• Sample Post
• Sample Page
• Hello Dolly plugin

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4. NGINX-Specific Adjustment (Often Missed)

Ensure this is working:

try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;

Why:

• Required for permalinks to work

Test:

• Create a post → open /sample-post/
• If 404 → NGINX misconfiguration

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5. TLS Validation

Check:

https://yourdomain.com

Ensure:

• No browser warnings
• Certbot auto-redirect working

Optional improvement:

return 301 https://$host$request_uri;

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6. Basic Security Plugins (Optional but Recommended)

Install:

• Wordfence OR
• iThemes Security

Do NOT install too many plugins.

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7. Backup Strategy (Often Ignored)

At minimum:

• DB dump:mysqldump -u wpuser -p wordpress > backup.sql

Better:

• Use plugin (UpdraftPlus)
• Or automate via cron

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8. What You Should Validate Now (Checklist)

Layer	Check
Web	Site loads
PHP	Pages render
DB	Posts save
FS	Media uploads
DNS	Domain resolves
TLS	HTTPS works
NGINX	Permalinks work

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9. Common Mistakes at This Stage

• Using admin username ❌
• Leaving file permissions as 777 ❌
• Not setting permalinks ❌
• Not enabling HTTPS redirect ❌
• Not securing wp-config.php ❌

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10. Next Step (Recommended)

Now that base is working, the most valuable next evolution is:

Option A (infra focus):

→ Convert this into Terraform-managed EC2 + SG + Route53

Option B (app reliability):

→ Add:

• RDS
• EFS (shared uploads)
• ALB + Auto Scaling

Option C (DevOps maturity):

→ Add:

• Git-based deployment
• CI/CD pipeline

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If you want, I can now:

• Audit your current setup (based on configs)
• Or evolve this into production-grade architecture step-by-step