How To Migrate WordPress Website to AWS Using EC2 and RDS

Introduction

Have you ever wondered how to take your WordPress website to the next level by harnessing the power of Amazon Web Services (AWS)? Migrating your WordPress site to AWS using EC2 and RDS can significantly enhance your website’s performance, scalability, and security. But the process can seem daunting, especially if you’re new to cloud computing.

In this blog post, I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of migrating your WordPress website to AWS using EC2 for your server and RDS for your database. Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting out, we’ll break down the complex aspects of this migration into easy-to-follow instructions. By the end of this guide, you’ll have a fully functional WordPress site running on a robust, scalable AWS infrastructure, ready to handle whatever traffic comes your way. Let’s get started!

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

An active AWS account
Basic knowledge of WordPress
Familiarity with SSH and command-line interfaces
A backup of your existing WordPress site and database

Step 1 – Setting Up Your AWS Environment

Launch an EC2 Instance

Log in to your AWS Management Console
Navigate to EC2 service
Click “Launch Instance”
Choose an Amazon Linux 2 AMI
Select an instance type (t2.micro is suitable for most small websites)
Configure instance details, add storage, and configure security group
Launch the instance and save the key pair

Create a MySQL Database with Amazon RDS

Navigate to RDS service in AWS Console
Click “Create database”
Choose MySQL as the engine type
Select the desired version and instance size
Configure storage, connectivity, and security settings
Create the database

Step 2 – Preparing Your EC2 Instance

Connect to Your EC2 Instance

Open your terminal or SSH client
Use the following command to connect: Copy

ssh -i /path/to/your-key-pair.pem ec2-user@your-instance-public-dns

Install Required Software

Update your system: Copysudo yum update -y
Install Apache web server, PHP, and related modules:

sudo amazon-linux-extras install -y lamp-mariadb10.2-php7.2 php7.2 sudo yum install -y httpd

Start Apache and enable it to run at system boot:

sudo systemctl start httpd sudo systemctl enable httpd

Step 3 – Migrating Your WordPress Files

Transfer WordPress Files

Use SFTP or SCP to transfer your WordPress files to the EC2 instance
Copy files to the Apache web root:

sudo cp -R /path/to/wordpress/* /var/www/html/

Configure WordPress

Update the wp-config.php file with your RDS database details
Set proper permissions:

sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/

Step 4 – Importing Your Database

Import Database to RDS

Connect to your RDS instance using a MySQL client
Create a new database for WordPress
Import your WordPress database dump:

mysql -h your-rds-endpoint -u your-username -p your-database-name < your-database-dump.sql

Step 5 – Configuring DNS and SSL

Update DNS Settings

Obtain the public IP address of your EC2 instance
Update your domain’s DNS settings to point to the EC2 instance IP

Install SSL Certificate

Install Certbot for SSL:

sudo amazon-linux-extras install epel -y sudo yum install -y certbot python2-certbot-apache

Obtain and install SSL certificate:

sudo certbot --apache -d yourdomain.com

Step 6 – Final Checks and Optimization

Test Your Website

Visit your domain in a web browser
Check for any broken links or missing images
Test all functionality, including forms and plugins

Optimize Performance

Install and configure a caching plugin like W3 Total Cache
Set up Amazon CloudFront for content delivery (optional)
Configure automated backups using AWS Backup

Conclusion

You have successfully migrated your WordPress website to AWS using an EC2 instance and MySQL database. This setup provides improved scalability, reliability, and performance for your website. Remember to regularly update your WordPress installation, plugins, and themes to maintain security and optimal performance.