Running WordPress locally on Mac OS X
Tags: wordpress, mac
Published: 2021-06-11 06:45:44

Today we'll learn how to run a WordPress installation on our Mac OS X system.

I used to do a lot of WordPress development and always had to leverage MAMP/XAMP for this.
However, in this article, I'll guide you on setting it up locally.

The elements we need to run a WordPress installation locally are as follows:

- Enable PHP
- Apache vhost
- Rewrite and htaccess
- Localhost pointer
- MySQL setup
- WordPress installation

You might be thinking, wow, that's a lot of stuff, but your Mac will come with most of this stuff pre-installed. We will just enable and tweak it.

## Enable PHP

Nowadays, your Mac will come with PHP installed. However, you might want to update the version.
This is not a needed step, so check out my article on [updating the PHP version on Mac OS X](https://daily-dev-tips.com/posts/installing-php-on-your-mac/).

Once you have a version you're happy with, we have to enable apache to use it.

Open up the `httpd.conf` file by running:

```bash
sudo nano /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
```

Search (`CTRL` + `W`) and remove the `#` before the php7_module line.

```text
old: # LoadModule php7_module libexec/apache2/libphp7.so
new: LoadModule php7_module libexec/apache2/libphp7.so
```

## Apache vhost

The next thing we need to set up is a virtual host.
Firstly let's enable it in our `httpd.conf` file.

Look for the following line, and place the new line under it.

```text
#Include /private/etc/apache2/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf
Include /private/etc/apache2/vhosts/*.conf
```

This will make sure we can use a new config for this virtual host.

> For more information, check out [Mac OS X setting up Virtual Hosts](https://daily-dev-tips.com/posts/mac-os-x-setting-up-virtual-hosts/)

Let's go ahead and create the config file.

```bash
sudo nano /etc/apache2/vhosts/wordpress.conf
```

And place the following content in it.

```apacheconf
<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot "/Users/chrisbongers/www/wordpress"
    ServerName wordpress.dev

    <Directory "/Users/chrisbongers/www/wordpress">
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>
```

You have to set the DocumentRoot to your own directory on your local machine. For me, it's a www folder at my user level.
Next, set the ServerName to the URL you want to serve it on.

## Localhost pointer

Now we have our domain setup, but nothing is pointing to it yet.
So let's enable our localhost pointer.

Open up the local host file.

```bash
sudo nano /etc/hosts
```

And add the following line:

```text
127.0.0.1       wordpress.dev
```

## Rewrite and htaccess

Now let's enable mod_rewrite, so our htaccess will work once we have that setup.

Open the `httpd.conf` again.
And uncomment the following line.

```text
old: #LoadModule rewrite_module libexec/apache2/mod_rewrite.so
new: LoadModule rewrite_module libexec/apache2/mod_rewrite.so
```

Now we should also restart apache.

```bash
sudo apachectl restart
```

To read more, check out [Making htaccess work on Mac OS X](https://daily-dev-tips.com/posts/making-htaccess-work-on-mac-os-x/).

## MySQL setup

Of course, we'll also need a database, so let's make sure MySQL is installed or installed.

```bash
brew install mysql
```

> Alternatively, you can download and install it manually: [Mac installing MySQL](https://daily-dev-tips.com/posts/mac-installing-mysql/).

Next, use your [favorite Mac MySQL client](https://daily-dev-tips.com/posts/top-5-mysql-clients-for-mac/) and create a new table called `wordpress`.

## WordPress installation

By this point, we should have all the building blocks to install WordPress.

You can install it through homebrew, but I'm a bit old school and will install it by downloading it.

Create the folder as you set it in your virtual host.

Then, visit the WordPress download section and [download WordPress](https://wordpress.org/download/).

Unzip the folder, and move its contents to the folder you created.

Now by visiting: `http://wordpress.dev`, we should enter the WordPress setup wizard.

![Mac OS X Local WordPress installation](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1623046881199/RBNl73Oov.png)

Follow the setup wizard and complete the steps.

![Running WordPress locally on Mac OS X](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1623047065698/ZNLwqexXm.png)

And there you go, a local WordPress installation!

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