How to host a website using Ubuntu?

Seeking Advice
1

I’ve already got the domain, but I haven’t set up the server yet. I’ve done a bit of research and want to use nginx and Drupal. I have zero experience with hosting and only a little with Linux. I’m struggling to find a clear guide to setting this up with nginx and Drupal. Most guides I find seem outdated, especially for PHP or Ubuntu versions.

My end goal is to have a blog or forum where users can post and edit articles across the site. Any pointers or resources to help me get through this would be amazing.

Thanks!

2

Why Ubuntu? If you’re new to this, you might be better off with shared hosting where the host manages all the hard stuff for you.

3

Oakland said:
Why Ubuntu? If you’re new to this, you might be better off with shared hosting where the host manages all the hard stuff for you.

Agreed! Get a shared hosting plan for your main site and then set up a private [WL]AMP server to learn the ropes.

4

@Pace
Not familiar with [WL]AMP. What’s that?

5

Evan said:
@Pace
Not familiar with [WL]AMP. What’s that?

Forget shared hosting, get a Digital Ocean droplet for $5 a month and learn by doing. Shared hosting is overpriced and limited. Digital Ocean even has pre-configured images for stuff like WordPress.

6

@Olive
I use Oracle’s Free Tier hosting. It’s not bad at all. 4 cores, 24GB RAM, 200GB SSD, and I’ve got Linux 20.04 running with Hestia Control Panel. Works like a charm.

7

Carly said:
@Olive
I use Oracle’s Free Tier hosting. It’s not bad at all. 4 cores, 24GB RAM, 200GB SSD, and I’ve got Linux 20.04 running with Hestia Control Panel. Works like a charm.

Just be careful with Oracle Free Tier. I’ve heard stories of accounts being closed without warning.

8

@London
I haven’t had any issues. There are Always Free services, and I’ve never heard of someone getting shut down unless their server activity was problematic. I had my server shut down once, but I fixed it easily and haven’t had trouble since.

9

Evan said:
@Pace
Not familiar with [WL]AMP. What’s that?

[WL]AMP stands for ‘Windows/Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP’. It’s a common server setup bundle. LAMP is for Linux, and WAMP is for Windows.

10

Ubuntu, nginx, and Drupal are fine choices, but why are you specifically choosing these? If you want a forum, you might want to look at other options like XenForo.

11

Molly said:
Ubuntu, nginx, and Drupal are fine choices, but why are you specifically choosing these? If you want a forum, you might want to look at other options like XenForo.

I picked Ubuntu because it has the most documentation, nginx because I read it’s good for high-traffic static sites, and Drupal was one of the first open-source CMSs I found. I’m open to suggestions, though, and I’ll check out XenForo.

12

Why Drupal? WordPress might be a better fit, and there are tons of guides to help you out.

13

Delilah said:
Why Drupal? WordPress might be a better fit, and there are tons of guides to help you out.

I’ll give WordPress a try. Didn’t realize Drupal would be this tricky.

14

https://www.phpbb.com/

15

Avery said:
https://www.phpbb.com/

Wow, I haven’t seen that URL in ages.

16

Ubuntu is great for this. It’s basically Debian with extra tools. Follow Ubuntu’s guide for setting up WordPress and swap Apache for nginx. You’ll be fine. Maybe even try the Caddy web server—some people prefer it.

17

@Brayden
I’ve never heard of Caddy. Is it better than nginx for what I’m doing?

18

I use Hestia Control Panel—it’s super easy to install and use. Comes with Let’s Encrypt, WordPress, and other features out of the box.