1. Get a VPS

Choose a VPS provider such as DigitalOcean, AWS EC2, Linode, Vultr, or Hostinger. Follow their instructions to create and configure your VPS.

2. Access Your VPS

Use SSH to access your VPS using the command:

3. Update Your VPS

Before installing software, update your VPS:

4. Install Apache Web Server

Install Apache to serve your website:

5. Install PHP

Install PHP and necessary modules:

6. Install MySQL Database

Install MySQL or MariaDB for database management:

7. Create a MySQL Database and User

Log in to MySQL and create a database and user:

8. Upload Your Website Files

You can use FTP or SCP to upload your website files to the server. Place them in the /var/www/html directory.

9. Set Proper Permissions

Set the correct permissions for the Apache server to access your files:

10. Test Your Website

Visit your server's IP or domain to test your website:

11. Configure Virtual Host (Optional)

If you’re hosting multiple sites, set up a virtual host:

12. Setup SSL (Optional)

Use Let’s Encrypt to install SSL certificates:

13. Configure PHP and MySQLi for Your Website

Ensure your PHP code uses MySQLi to connect to the database:

                <?php
                    $servername = "localhost";
                    $username = "my_user";
                    $password = "my_password";
                    $dbname = "my_database";

                    $conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

                    if ($conn->connect_error) {
                        die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
                    }

                    // Your code to fetch or insert data goes here

                    $conn->close();
                ?>
            

14. Troubleshooting

Check Apache and MySQL logs for errors: