How to run Wordpress on OS X Server 10.6.8?

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gazpacho Author

Level 1

6 points

How to run Wordpress on OS X Server 10.6.8?

I'm trying to host my own wordpress site on my Mac Mini Server and I've spent a couple days of fiddling with no joy.

Obviously wordpress wnats us to use MAMP, but that runs Apache and Mysql... services already bundled with OS X Server.

I've followed this advice so far:

http://www.kevinleah.co.uk/2009/11/running-wordpress-on-os-x-10-6-snow-leopard-s erver/

It's was easy enough to follow I guess after I learnt to edit php.ini with terminal using sudo pico...

A worrying thing... out of the box there is no /private/etc/php.ini file... there was however a /etc/php.ini file that I modified... I hope I've modified the right file!!

A further worrying thing... I can set the Mysql password in Server Admin but there seems to be no obvious way to create a unique Mysql user name for the wordpress site.

Thus.. how do you install wordpress on the OS X server?

I installed the contents of the wordpress folder in /Library/Webserver/Sites/myregistereddomain.com/ which is a folder that the Server Admin web setup established. I do not know if that is the best place for it.

wp-config.php setup also seems tricky....

DB_name = "/var/mysql/wordpress" - does mysql create that "wordpress" database automatically in the default Mysql db location: /var/mysql/ or do I have to do something more than just name it in the wp-config.php file?

DB-User = "root" ... In Server Admin there seems to be no obvious way of creating a specific user.

DB-Password = "root" .. I suppose that will match the root password I established in Server Admin Mysql settings... but shouldn't it be unique to wordpress?

DB_Host = "127.0.0.1" ..... should that actually be set to the domain name of the server?

Thanks

Gaz

Posted on Oct 21, 2011 4:31 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

MrHoffman

Community+ 2024

Level 10

117,525 points

Oct 22, 2011 3:33 PM in response to gazpacho

DB-User = "root" ... In Server Admin there seems to be no obvious way of creating a specific user.

Use the command line to create the database, and to then set up the users and passwords and access rights in the newly-created database, or (if you're fond of the GUI interfaces) install and use the Sequel Pro tool. The command line stuff is the same for all MySQL databases.

DB-Password = "root" .. I suppose that will match the root password I established in Server Admin Mysql settings... but shouldn't it be unique to wordpress?

See above.

DB_Host = "127.0.0.1" ..... should that actually be set to the domain name of the server?

That's IP-speak for "me" or "self" or (more correctly) localhost. It is correct.

I don't know off-hand if Wordpress creates the database (does the Wordpress documentation really omit that?) but I'd suspect it does not. That you'll have to use the command line or Sequel Pro to create the database.

Content management systems (CMS) have a history of security issues, so alway ensure you have current backups kept off the box, and get on whatever security notifications are available from Wordpress so that you're immediately notified of new releases and updates. That's your path to try to keep the riff-raff off your server, and the backups are your path back if (when?) your CMS gets breached. For MySQL backups, you'll be using mysqldump for that; to get a restorable copy of your database transferred off the box, and can be restored. (Here is an example of a periodic mysqldump backup procedure.)

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Answer 2

davidh

Level 4

1,890 points

Oct 24, 2011 5:27 AM in response to gazpacho

There are many layers to your onion here ;-)

Do *not* connect as the mysql-root user. That's ignoring a deliberate permissions model.

"Just connect as root" for "easing" mysql setup(s) is just as heinous as "just do everything as root" - what is most simple is often far from best and even bad practice.

Create a dedicated user and configure wordpress to use it.

I have just such a setup working on 10.6.8 server.

Wordpress can - for example - be a subdirectory of your site.

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