A WordPress server environment shouldn't be slow or complicated to set up. LEMPress addresses those problems. LEMPress is a super easy to use setup script for creating an optimized WordPress server. LEMPress packs a full LEMP stack (Linux/Nginx/MySQL/PHP) with Varnish and Memcache for caching. With these tools, your site will be prepared for heavy traffic right from the start.

LEMPress gets the server ready to make Wordpress fast, but one step that hasn't been automated yet, is configuring a caching plugin. Because WordPress is dynamic, a content aware caching plugin is ideal. LEMPress has been tested with WP Total Cache, but other plugins may work. There are lots of articles about how to get WP Total Cache installed and configured. In the future, we'll add some supporting documentation for WP Total Cache.

Because LEMPress is taking advantage of caching via Varnish, it will break Wordpress comments. The solution is to use Disqus. It's free, it's good, use it.

LEMPress expects and has only been tested with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS x64

Create the "deployer" user

    sudo useradd -d /home/deployer -s /bin/bash -G sudo -m deployer
    sudo passwd deployer
    su deployer
    cd ~

Install Git

    yes | sudo apt-get install git-core

Download LEMPress

    git clone git://github.com/okor/LEMPress.git
    cd LEMPress

Setup the server

    bash build_server.sh

Add a Wordpress site

    bash add_site.sh

The build_server.sh script will guide you though the WordPress and LEMPress stack install. Once you've set up a WordPress caching plugin (WP Total Cache is recommended), you'll have a highly optimized WordPress site ready for viral loads.

Just hit up @okor on Twitter or submit an issue.