If you're looking for affordable VPS hosting, Vultr is a viable option. However, it requires you to manually install and manage the servers, which may pose a challenge for beginners. Fortunately, Vultr offers several management panels that simplify the process of installing and managing WordPress. While Plesk was a popular choice, its free version has recently been discontinued, leaving only paid options available. As an alternative to Plesk, you can consider using CyberPanel.
This article will guide you through the process of easily installing WordPress on Vultr using the free CyberPanel app. Additionally, Cloudways—which is popular in South Korea—is a more user-friendly option, albeit at a higher cost than Vultr. It provides an easy-to-use management panel and 24/7 live chat support, making it an excellent choice for those who want to focus solely on running WordPress. Currently, this blog is hosted on Cloudways. 😄
If you're on the lookout for cost-effective international hosting comparable to BlueHost, FastComet or ChemiCloud may be suitable choices. ChemiCloud has recently introduced a server region in Seoul, making it one of the first popular shared hosting options with fast site speeds throughout Asia.
Easily Install WordPress on Vultr Using the Free CyberPanel App
Vultr previously offered a free version of Plesk, but that has now been removed.
As a replacement, several free web control panels are available, including CyberPanel and Webmin/Virtualmin. On Vultr, you can opt for either CyberPanel or Webmin.
Although user feedback on CyberPanel is mixed, it seems to be a frequently used alternative to Plesk. In my experience deploying CyberPanel on Vultr and installing WordPress, I found the process to be quite straightforward. To safeguard against unexpected issues, it's advisable to perform regular backups and store the backup files either on your PC or in cloud storage.
Let's take a closer look at the process of installing WordPress using the CyberPanel control panel on Vultr. I referred to the following video to gain a comprehensive understanding of the steps involved.
1 Log in to Vultr and create a server by selecting Choose Image in the Marketplace Apps tab and choosing CyberPanel.
If you're targeting users in South Korea, selecting the Seoul server region is a practical option. You might also consider choosing the Tokyo region instead. (I chose the Tokyo region for my Linode server on Cloudways.)
2 Once the server installation is complete, verify the server IP address and configure the DNS records for your domain.
The DNS records can typically be set up as follows:
@ -> IP Address (A Record)
www -> IP Address (A Record)Alternatively, you can use:
@ -> IP Address (A Record)
www -> example.com (CNAME) (* replace example.com with your actual domain name)You can choose either option. The reference video shows a setup using the second method with Namecheap. Namecheap is a popular domain registrar for affordable domain registrations such as .COM.
I configured the DNS records at FastComet to link my subdomain. Depending on the domain registrar, you might use a blank field instead of “@.” If you're setting up an A record for the base domain on FastComet, you can leave the field blank.
For linking a subdomain, the configuration in the illustration above should work well.
blog -> IP Address (A Record)
www.blog -> IP Address (A Record)This setup allows you to use a subdomain like blog.example.com. Similarly, the www host can also be set as a CNAME.
Keep in mind that adding A records to your domain may take around three to four hours for DNS propagation, and in some cases, it could take up to two days.
3 Now, you need to verify the password to log in to CyberPanel. You can find the password used to access the CyberPanel admin through SSH.
Use the PuTTY client program to access SSH.
4 After logging in as root, you will be prompted to update the system. Enter y to proceed with the update.
The screen above shows the system update process in progress. It may take some time. I noticed it seemed stuck at 33% for a while but eventually completed after waiting a little. The blue section in the screenshot explains how to retrieve the CyberPanel admin password.
Once the update is complete, execute the following command:
sudo cat .litespeed_passwordThis command will display the CyberPanel admin password.
The password will be displayed in the format admin_pass=your_password. Be sure to take note of this password.
5 You can now log in to the CyberPanel admin panel. The URL for the CyberPanel admin login page is as follows:
https://server_IP_address:8090When accessing the above address, you might encounter a warning stating that the connection is not private along with the NET::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID error code. (The screenshot below is from Microsoft Edge; similar warnings may appear in Chrome.)
Click the Advanced button and then click the IP address (unsafe) link.
On the CyberPanel admin login page, enter admin in the Username field and the password verified in the previous step in the Password field.
You can select the language for the CyberPanel interface; however, Korean is not listed among the available options.
6 You are now logged into CyberPanel. You can proceed to add your site and install WordPress.
Since the DNS records for the domain linked to Vultr have already been set up, we can directly proceed to the site addition process. If you haven't configured the DNS records for your domain yet, please refer to the earlier steps on how to specify the A records.
In the left menu, click Websites » Create Website and enter the domain information.
- Select Package: Choose Default. (This is the only option available.)
- Select Owner: Select admin.
- Domain Name: Enter your domain name without www, like example.com. I will add a subdomain (blog.example.kr).
- Email: Enter your email address.
- Select PHP: You can choose from PHP 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, or 8.2. For running WordPress, select PHP 8.2.
- Additional Features: Check the boxes for SSL and open_basedir Protection.
The open_basedir setting restricts the directories that PHP scripts can access, enhancing security by preventing scripts from accessing files or directories outside specified paths.
7 After the site setup is complete, go to Packages » List Packages and click the Edit button next to the Default package.
Here, you can set restrictions for the domain, disk space, bandwidth (traffic), number of FTP accounts, the number of databases, and email accounts. For Disk Space and Bandwidth, enter 0 to lift the limits.
8 Next, click SERVER » PHP » Edit PHP Configs, select the PHP version (e.g., PHP 8.2), and make appropriate changes to the PHP settings.
If you are using page builders like Elementor for WordPress, it is advisable to set the PHP memory limit to at least 512MB.
Adjust the PHP settings such as memory_limit, max_execution_time, upload_max_filesize, post_max_size, and max_input_time as needed.
9 Now, let’s configure the rewrite rules. Click on Websites » List Websites to see the list of added websites. Click on Manage.
Click on the Rewrite Rules icon and select Force HTTP -> HTTPS, then click the Save Rewrite Rules button. This will automatically redirect visitors to https when accessing the site via http.
Note that you typically do not need to set rules such as Force WWW->NON-WWW, as WordPress will automatically handle redirections based on the site address/WordPress address configured within the dashboard.
Installing WordPress on CyberPanel
10 Now that the previous steps are complete, let's proceed to install WordPress. In the website management page, click on APPLICATION INSTALLER » WP + LSCache.
11 When the WordPress installation screen appears, enter the Blog Title, Login Username, Login Password, Email address, and installation path, among other details.
Leave the Path field empty for installation in the root directory (home directory).
Click the Install Now button to start the WordPress installation process.
12 Once the installation is complete, you'll see a message indicating that it was successfully installed.
You can log into the admin page by adding /wp-admin to your site address, like https://example.com/wp-admin.
After logging into the site, you can change the site language (e.g. to Korean), install themes and plugins, and begin customizing your site.
Additional Tasks
With the above steps completed, you can now start managing your WordPress site. Additionally, in CyberPanel, you can configure the firewall (e.g., ModSecurity) for security and set up backups.
For backups, you can also install a WordPress backup plugin to safeguard your site.
By using a web hosting panel like CyberPanel on Vultr, you can efficiently add sites and install and manage WordPress. However, should any issues arise with the server, CyberPanel, or WordPress, you'll be responsible for troubleshooting them. In contrast, with Cloudways, you can seek assistance 24/7 via live chat for server or WordPress-related issues. 😄