It started like any normal day — except that my WordPress dashboard on dtptips.com had begun to crawl like an old Windows XP system on dial-up. Pages were loading slowly, sometimes even timing out when I edited posts or refreshed analytics.

That’s when it hit me: my little shared hosting plan at Bluehost had finally reached its ceiling.

(Part 2: Moving WordPress, SSL Setup, DNS, and Fixing Every Real-World Error)

My site had grown — over 3,000 daily visitors, thousands of images, scripts, and experiments — and yet, my hosting was still running on shared CPU cycles and throttled memory.

So I decided it was time to make a jump that most website owners eventually have to make —
🚀 From Shared Hosting to a VPS (Virtual Private Server).

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🌍 Step 1: Why I Finally Said Goodbye to Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is like living in a huge apartment complex — cheap rent, shared utilities, but one noisy neighbour and everyone’s lights flicker.

When you buy a VPS (Virtual Private Server), it’s like moving into your own little house. You still share the same city’s power grid (the data centre), but you control every switch, lock, and wall.

Here’s how the two compared for me:

Feature	Bluehost Shared	Hetzner Cloud VPS
CPU	Shared with hundreds of sites	2 vCPU (dedicated)
RAM	Around 1 GB (shared)	4 GB (dedicated)
Storage	Shared SSD	40 GB NVMe SSD
Control	Limited	Full root access
Monthly cost	~$9 USD	≈ €5.80 (~₹520)

👉 Bluehost Hosting Plans | Hetzner Cloud Servers

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⚙️ Step 2: Creating the VPS on Hetzner

Once logged into Hetzner Cloud Console, I clicked Create → Cloud Server.
Hetzner instantly shows a configuration wizard.

I chose:

1. Image: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (64-bit) — stable, long-term support for five years.
2. Location: choose a data-centre nearest to your readers (mine was Helsinki).
3. Type: CX23 – 2 vCPU + 4 GB RAM + 40 GB NVMe.
4. Authentication: Root Password (simpler than SSH keys for beginners).
5. Name: dtptips-vps.

After clicking Create & Deploy, Hetzner began provisioning — it took maybe 30 seconds.

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📩 The Email You’ll Receive Next

Right after creation, you’ll get an email titled “Your Cloud Server is Ready.”

It contains three key details:

• Server IP Address (e.g. xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx)
• Root Username: usually root
• Temporary Password

🧠 Save that email carefully.
It’s your master key to the server. If you lose it, you’ll have to reset the root password manually through the Hetzner Console.

💡 Pro tip: copy the IP address and password into a secure note or password manager — not a plain text file.

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🔐 Step 3: Logging in via SSH for the First Time

On Windows, open Command Prompt or PowerShell and type:

ssh root@your_server_ip

The first time you connect, you’ll see:

The authenticity of host 'xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx' can't be established.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?

Type yes and press Enter.

Now paste the password from the email — remember, when typing or pasting a password in SSH, nothing shows up on screen (not even “*” symbols). That’s normal.

If you see:

root@your-server:~#

🎉 Congratulations — you’re inside your server!

If the window closes immediately, the server might still be booting.
Just reboot from Hetzner Console → Power → Reboot and retry.

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🧱 Step 4: Updating the System

Before installing anything, make sure all existing packages are up to date:

apt update && apt upgrade -y

• apt update tells Ubuntu to fetch the latest package lists.
• apt upgrade -y automatically installs all available updates without asking “yes/no.”

This can take a few minutes the first time.
You’ll see a progress bar as it downloads kernel and security patches.

When it finishes, the system is clean and ready.

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⚙️ Step 5: Installing Nginx, PHP 8.3, and MariaDB

WordPress needs three layers to run:

1. Nginx — the web server that handles HTTP requests.
2. PHP 8.3 — processes WordPress code.
3. MariaDB — the database storing posts and settings.

Install them all together:

apt install -y nginx mariadb-server php8.3-fpm php8.3-mysql php8.3-cli php8.3-curl php8.3-xml php8.3-gd php8.3-zip php8.3-mbstring php8.3-intl unzip

Here’s what each package does:

Package	Purpose
nginx	Web server engine
mariadb-server	Database system (MySQL compatible)
php8.3-fpm	FastCGI Process Manager for PHP
php8.3-mysql	Connects PHP ↔ MariaDB
php8.3-cli	Lets you run PHP commands from terminal
php8.3-curl	Enables API and external requests
php8.3-xml	Parses XML/feeds
php8.3-gd	Handles image processing
php8.3-zip	Reads ZIP archives
php8.3-mbstring	Handles multi-byte (text) strings
php8.3-intl	Language/locale support
unzip	Extracts compressed files

When installation completes, check that everything’s alive:

systemctl status nginx
systemctl status php8.3-fpm
systemctl status mariadb

Each should show active (running) in green.
If any service shows inactive, start it with:

systemctl start servicename

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🗃️ Step 6: Creating Your WordPress Database

MariaDB uses databases to store WordPress content.
We’ll create one and assign it a secure user.

Start MariaDB:

mysql_secure_installation

This short setup script asks a few questions:

Prompt	Recommended answer
Switch to unix_socket authentication?	N
Set root password?	Y
Remove anonymous users?	Y
Disallow remote root login?	Y
Remove test database?	Y
Reload privilege tables now?	Y

Then create your own database and user:

mysql -u root -p

Enter the root password you just set, then:

CREATE DATABASE your_database_name CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'your_db_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON your_database_name.* TO 'your_db_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

✅ This creates an isolated user only WordPress can access.

Write these credentials down securely — you’ll need them in a minute.

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📦 Step 7: Downloading and Installing WordPress

Move to the web directory and grab WordPress directly from the official site:

cd /var/www/
wget https://wordpress.org/latest.zip
unzip latest.zip
mv wordpress your_site_folder

Now set correct ownership and permissions:

chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/your_site_folder
find /var/www/your_site_folder -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
find /var/www/your_site_folder -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

• www-data is the user account Nginx runs under.
• 755 lets directories be entered but not modified by the public.
• 644 lets files be read but not changed.

If you skip this step, WordPress may show “permission denied” when uploading media or installing plugins.

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🌐 Step 8: Configuring Nginx for Your Site

Create a new configuration file:

nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/your_site.conf

Paste:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name _;
    root /var/www/your_site_folder;
    index index.php index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
    }

    location ~ /\.ht {
        deny all;
    }
}

Save and exit (Ctrl + O, Enter, Ctrl + X).

Enable the site and reload Nginx:

ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/your_site.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
nginx -t && systemctl reload nginx

• The ln -s creates a symbolic link, telling Nginx to serve that config.
• nginx -t tests for syntax errors before reloading.
• systemctl reload applies changes without restarting.

Now visit http://your_server_ip in a browser — you should see the WordPress installation screen 🎉

If you instead get “Welcome to Nginx!”, check the root path in your config.
If you get a blank page, ensure PHP-FPM is running.

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🧠 Step 9: Setting Up wp-config.php

Copy the sample configuration:

cp /var/www/your_site_folder/wp-config-sample.php /var/www/your_site_folder/wp-config.php

Edit it (using WinSCP or VS Code SSH):

define( 'DB_NAME', 'your_database_name' );
define( 'DB_USER', 'your_db_user' );
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'your_password' );
define( 'DB_HOST', 'localhost' );

Then add your secret keys:
Generate fresh ones from WordPress Salt Key Generator
and replace the placeholder lines.

These keys secure cookies and sessions, so always use unique values.

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🧰 Step 10: Testing Your Installation

Back in the browser, run the WordPress installer:

• Choose language
• Set site title
• Create admin username & password
• Enter your email

When you see “Success! WordPress has been installed.”, you’re done.

You can now log into your dashboard at http://your_server_ip/wp-admin.

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⚠️ Step 11: Common Pitfalls and Real Fixes

Issue	Symptom	Cause	Fix
500 Error	Blank page after reload	Typo in Nginx config	nginx -t then reload
Database Error	“Error establishing connection”	Wrong DB credentials	Edit wp-config.php
Nano Freezing	Can’t type in SSH	Windows console bug	Use WinSCP or VS Code Remote SSH
Uploads Fail	“Permission denied”	Wrong file ownership	chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/your_site_folder
Slow Performance	High load	Missing cache layer	Install Redis or OPcache later

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💾 Step 12: Making Everything Persistent

Enable services to start automatically on boot:

systemctl enable nginx php8.3-fpm mariadb

Backup your key configs:

cp /etc/nginx/sites-available/your_site.conf /root/
cp /var/www/your_site_folder/wp-config.php /root/

Exit the session safely:

exit

You’ll see your PC prompt again (meaning you’ve disconnected from the VPS).

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🎯 Wrap-Up: What We’ve Built So Far

You now have:

• Ubuntu 24.04 LTS VPS on Hetzner
• Nginx + PHP 8.3 + MariaDB (LEMP stack)
• A fresh WordPress installation
• Proper permissions and ownership
• Services that auto-start on reboot

You can access your dashboard through your server IP and see WordPress fully operational.

The next phase is where things get really interesting:
migrating your live site, fixing broken themes, adding SSL, and re-pointing DNS records without downtime.

👉 Continue to Part 2 → Full Migration, SSL & DNS Configuration

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⚠️ Disclaimer

All server commands are for educational purposes. Replace placeholders with your own secure values.
Always store passwords safely and keep root access private. dtptips.com and its author take no responsibility for data loss caused by misconfiguration or improper server management.

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#WordPress #Hetzner #VPS #Bluehost #Migration #ServerSetup #dtptips

Arjun Nair

Arjun is a seasoned Linux enthusiast and open-source contributor. He has worked with multiple distributions including Debian, Fedora, and Arch-based systems, and regularly tests new desktop environments and community projects. With over a decade in IT system administration, Arjun brings practical, hands-on insights to Linux tutorials and reviews.

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