I want to host WordPress websites on my M1 mini colocated...

[Cape Dave]

And I suspect that this cannot be done, but I am having trouble finding a definitive answer. I would probably get one at MacVault.

I think it would be so cool to do this but I do not think it is possible as MacOS cannot host websites. Any out there who have a definitive answer to this? Much appreciated. Dave

 

[brofkand]

Who says macOS can't host websites? It's just a matter of installing server software on the machine.

 

[Pakaku]

Simple websites will run straight out of the box, but you'll need to run server software if you want to do anything involving scripting. XAMPP was just fine for my needs.

 

[Cape Dave]

Who says macOS can't host websites? It's just a matter of installing server software on the machine.

I thought it was the M1 that could not run hosting software. Due to its ARM nature. I am trying to learn. I want to host like 25 low/medium traffic wenbsites on it without having to do it all by command line. Do you have a name for the software I should install? Is it XAMPP? Are there others? I have hosted for decades but only on Linux, so I am quite familiar with that arena, but not MacOS or M1.

 

[Cape Dave]

Simple websites will run straight out of the box, but you'll need to run server software if you want to do anything involving scripting. XAMPP was just fine for my needs.

Thanks. Is there a link for hosting websites on MacOS that I could learn from? I will be looking again at XAMPP. On Linux, I always run an overlay like Server Pilot or the like, which made things super easy, just the way I like them. I have fallen in love with my Mini M1 and thought it might be fun to go all in on the mini I found some links

 

[macdos]

MacOS can certainly host web sites…

Go here https://brew.sh/ and install brew in a terminal window. Then:

brew install php httpd mariadb

and you are up and running. The rest is about configuring httpd, php-fpm and mysql, and will require some research. It is not mac specific, but platform independent.

 

[Cape Dave]

MacOS can certainly host web sites…

Go here https://brew.sh/ and install brew in a terminal window. Then:

brew install php httpd mariadb

and you are up and running. The rest is about configuring httpd, php-fpm and mysql, and will require some research. It is not mac specific, but platform independent.

Thanks much. I will check that out.

 

[brofkand]

You must take the time to configure httpd, php, and mysql carefully. Otherwise your machine will be vulnerable to attack. It's definitely something that's worth learning and not hard to learn. There is plenty of literature on the Internet about setting up a LAMP stack. The only difference is you're setting up a MAMP stack, but the process is basically the same.

 

[Cape Dave]

You must take the time to configure httpd, php, and mysql carefully. Otherwise your machine will be vulnerable to attack. It's definitely something that's worth learning and not hard to learn. There is plenty of literature on the Internet about setting up a LAMP stack. The only difference is you're setting up a MAMP stack, but the process is basically the same.

Thanks much. I have decided to go a different way. I would not be able to sleep for security reasons. I will leverage Cloudways and VULTR. That way, they can worry about uptime/security. Alas, my sites will not be on a Mac Mini

 

[brofkand]

Thanks much. I have decided to go a different way. I would not be able to sleep for security reasons. I will leverage Cloudways and VULTR. That way, they can worry about uptime/security. Alas, my sites will not be on a Mac Mini

You can always set up these services on your Mac at home, just make sure they're not accessible outside of your home's router. Just for the experience of doing it, or maybe to set up a test instance of your website. That way you get the experience of setting them up but don't have to worry about the security/uptime concerns.

 

[Cape Dave]

You can always set up these services on your Mac at home, just make sure they're not accessible outside of your home's router. Just for the experience of doing it, or maybe to set up a test instance of your website. That way you get the experience of setting them up but don't have to worry about the security/uptime concerns.

Good point, thanks.

 

[ashleykaryl]

I have never tried this but I would imagine you can do this using MAMP.

 

[LeeW]

It is entirely possible, no different to buying a 1U server, setting it all up then shipping to the DC. But if it is not something you are experienced in doing then I would avoid doing it. Vultr, Hetzner, DigitalOcean are more complete and simpler options.

 

[Cape Dave]

It is entirely possible, no different to buying a 1U server, setting it all up then shipping to the DC. But if it is not something you are experienced in doing then I would avoid doing it. Vultr, Hetzner, DigitalOcean are more complete and simpler options.

I completely agree. There would be client sites on this and I am much more confident in VULTR. Long ago in the hosting business, I learned that I'd rather sleep at night than worry about security, etc.

 

[JayKay514]

There's a package called MAMP that creates an Apache / MySQL / PHP server on your Mac. The basic version is really useful for doing WordPress development on your computer, as you can do the famous "5 minute setup" in your designated server folder and use the web-based UI to set up the MySQL database as you wish. When running, your live folder gets a localhost IP address.

However, it's really not intended for commercial web server use. And it doesn't include any of the tools that a commercial web host offers (like firewalls, security scans, HTTPS / TLS, etc etc.)

In theory there are a lot of command-line tools you can install to turn a Mac into a server, but then it's on you to manage it and unless you enjoy spending time being your own IT support, it might be more cost and time efficient to outsource your WP hosting, and use MAMP strictly as your local dev hosting environment.

If you need professional WordPress hosting, there are many options out there that will be much easier.

If you are looking to host a medium to high traffic site for a business, I really like WPEngine, a company based in Austin, Texas. They kind of invented the specialty WP hosting business with custom infrastructure, really amazing support, a very easy to use dashboard/control panel for your hosting setup. Automated backup snapshots, automated updates, excellent security, and they give you a free staging server as well. It's not the cheapest, though.

For more of a personal site, if you're ok going with an option that gives you much less control but is easier to use, WordPress.com (the commercial side of the open-source WordPress organization) has really good tools, canned templates and e-commerce options, etc.

Or if you prefer to roll your own, Dreamhost or BlueHost give you decent server options. BlueHost also includes some site-builder tools for WordPress.

Speaking from experience, I would stay away from budget webhosts like GoDaddy, as they don't lock down the security aspects of a WordPress site properly (I helped more than a few people migrate off of it when their sites were hacked - old vulnerabilities in scripts let people install malware).

 

[Cape Dave]

There's a package called MAMP that creates an Apache / MySQL / PHP server on your Mac. The basic version is really useful for doing WordPress development on your computer, as you can do the famous "5 minute setup" in your designated server folder and use the web-based UI to set up the MySQL database as you wish. When running, your live folder gets a localhost IP address.

However, it's really not intended for commercial web server use. And it doesn't include any of the tools that a commercial web host offers (like firewalls, security scans, HTTPS / TLS, etc etc.)

In theory there are a lot of command-line tools you can install to turn a Mac into a server, but then it's on you to manage it and unless you enjoy spending time being your own IT support, it might be more cost and time efficient to outsource your WP hosting, and use MAMP strictly as your local dev hosting environment.

If you need professional WordPress hosting, there are many options out there that will be much easier.

If you are looking to host a medium to high traffic site for a business, I really like WPEngine, a company based in Austin, Texas. They kind of invented the specialty WP hosting business with custom infrastructure, really amazing support, a very easy to use dashboard/control panel for your hosting setup. Automated backup snapshots, automated updates, excellent security, and they give you a free staging server as well. It's not the cheapest, though.

For more of a personal site, if you're ok going with an option that gives you much less control but is easier to use, WordPress.com (the commercial side of the open-source WordPress organization) has really good tools, canned templates and e-commerce options, etc.

Or if you prefer to roll your own, Dreamhost or BlueHost give you decent server options. BlueHost also includes some site-builder tools for WordPress.

Speaking from experience, I would stay away from budget webhosts like GoDaddy, as they don't lock down the security aspects of a WordPress site properly (I helped more than a few people migrate off of it when their sites were hacked - old vulnerabilities in scripts let people install malware).

Thanks kindly. I have dropped this idea being as all the sites I need hosted for clients are with a good host (NameHero) and if I decide I need my own server, I am going with Cloudways and VULTR. My desire to re-invent the wheel has subsided, thankfully I love my mini, but only as my desktop computer.