Introduction

WordPress has become one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) worldwide, empowering millions of websites and blogs. Installing WordPress on a local development environment can be beneficial for testing new themes, plugins, or making changes without affecting your live website. With the release of Windows 11, Microsoft has introduced various enhancements and features that make it an attractive platform for developers and users alike. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the step-by-step process of installing WordPress on Windows 11, enabling you to create and manage your own local WordPress development environment.

Prerequisites

Before we dive into the installation process, there are a few prerequisites you need to ensure are met. Please follow these initial steps to prepare your system for the installation:

1. Windows 11 Compatibility Check

Make sure your computer meets the minimum system requirements for Windows 11. Check for any compatibility issues and update your system accordingly.

2. Enable Hyper-V

Hyper-V is a virtualization feature in Windows that allows you to create and run virtual machines on your system. To enable Hyper-V on your Windows 11 PC, follow these steps:

a. Check if Hyper-V is Supported

Open PowerShell as an administrator and execute the following command:

bash

Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V

If the command returns “State: Enabled,” you can skip to the next section. If it returns “State: Disabled,” proceed to the next step.

b. Enable Hyper-V via PowerShell

Again, open PowerShell as an administrator and run the following command:

bash

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V -All

After executing the command, restart your computer to apply the changes.

3. Download and Install WSL 2

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) allows you to run a Linux distribution alongside your Windows installation. WSL 2 offers improved performance and compatibility. Follow these steps to install WSL 2:

a. Enable WSL Feature

Open PowerShell as an administrator and execute the following command:

bash

wsl --install

This command will enable WSL and download the necessary components.

b. Set WSL 2 as the Default Version

After the installation is complete, set WSL 2 as the default version by running the following command:

bash

wsl --set-default-version 2

4. Install Ubuntu from Microsoft Store

To install WordPress on Windows 11, we will use Ubuntu as our Linux distribution within the WSL environment. Go to the Microsoft Store, search for “Ubuntu,” and install the latest version.

With the prerequisites in place, we can now proceed with the installation of WordPress on Windows 11.

Setting Up WordPress on Windows 11

To install WordPress on Windows 11, we will be using the following software stack:

• Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
• Apache web server
• MySQL database
• PHP 7.4 or later

The installation process involves several steps. Let’s go through each of them in detail.

Step 1: Launch Ubuntu on WSL

After installing Ubuntu from the Microsoft Store, you can launch it by searching for “Ubuntu” in the Start menu. The first time you open Ubuntu, it will take a few seconds to set up the environment.

Step 2: Update Ubuntu Packages

Before installing any software, it is essential to update the package list and upgrade existing packages. Run the following commands in the Ubuntu terminal:

bash

sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade

Enter your user password when prompted.

Step 3: Install Apache Web Server

Apache is a widely used web server that will host our WordPress files. To install Apache, use the following command:

bash

sudo apt install apache2

After installation, Apache will start automatically. You can verify its status with:

bash

sudo systemctl status apache2

If Apache is running, you will see “Active: active (running)” in the output.

Step 4: Install MySQL Database

MySQL is a popular relational database management system used by WordPress to store and manage data. Install MySQL with the following command:

bash

sudo apt install mysql-server

During the installation, you will be prompted to set a root password for MySQL. Choose a strong password and remember it for later use.

Start MySQL and enable it to launch at boot:

bash

sudo systemctl start mysql sudo systemctl enable mysql

Confirm that MySQL is running:

bash

sudo systemctl status mysql

Step 5: Configure MySQL for WordPress

Once MySQL is installed, we need to perform some initial configuration to prepare it for WordPress. Run the following command to secure the MySQL installation:

bash

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Follow the prompts and answer the questions as follows:

1. Enter the root password you set during installation.
2. Choose whether to enable the Validate Password Plugin (based on your preference).
3. Choose whether to remove anonymous users. It’s recommended to remove them for security purposes.
4. Decide whether to disallow root login remotely. For security, it’s best to select “Y.”
5. Remove the test database (recommended).
6. Reload privilege tables to apply the changes.

MySQL is now secure and ready to be used with WordPress.

Step 6: Install PHP and Required Extensions

PHP is the server-side scripting language used by WordPress to generate dynamic content. Additionally, we’ll need some PHP extensions to enable WordPress to function correctly. Install PHP and the necessary extensions with the following command:

bash

sudo apt install php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql php-mbstring php-gd php-xml php-curl

Once the installation is complete, restart Apache for the changes to take effect:

bash

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 7: Download WordPress

With the server and database set up, it’s time to download WordPress. Change to the Apache web server root directory and download the latest version of WordPress:

bash

cd /var/www/html sudo curl -O https://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz

Next, extract the downloaded archive:

bash

sudo tar xzf latest.tar.gz

This will create a new directory named “wordpress” containing all WordPress files.

Step 8: Configure WordPress

Before we can start using WordPress, we need to configure it with the database details. Create a MySQL database and user for WordPress:

bash

mysql -u root -p

Enter your MySQL root password and then execute the following SQL commands in the MySQL prompt:

sql

CREATE DATABASE wordpress; CREATE USER 'wp_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_native_password BY 'your_strong_password'; GRANT ALL ON wordpress.* TO 'wp_user'@'localhost'; FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;

Make sure to replace ‘your_strong_password’ with a secure password of your choice.

Step 9: Set Up WordPress Configuration

WordPress needs a configuration file to connect to the database and function correctly. Rename the sample configuration file and edit it:

bash

cd wordpress sudo mv wp-config-sample.php wp-config.php sudo nano wp-config.php

Find the following lines and update them with the database details you created earlier:

php

define( 'DB_NAME', 'wordpress' ); define( 'DB_USER', 'wp_user' ); define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'your_strong_password' ); define( 'DB_HOST', 'localhost' );

Save and close the file (press Ctrl + X, then Y, and finally Enter).