At the time this video was recorded, 25% of all websites on the internet ran on WordPress. That number has only grown since. What that means for you is this: if you want to freelance, build client sites, or even host your own projects, knowing how to spin up a WordPress site on Amazon Web Services is one of the most marketable technical skills you can add to your resume in under an hour.
This walkthrough covers exactly how to create a live WordPress site using an EC2 instance on AWS, with the Bitnami WordPress AMI from the AWS Marketplace. You will launch the instance, retrieve the admin password from the system log, log in to the WordPress dashboard, and then cleanly terminate the instance when you are done. Every step is shown so you can follow along without getting stuck.
What You’ll Walk Out With
- A clear understanding of how AWS EC2 instances connect to WordPress hosting
- Step-by-step instructions for finding and launching the Bitnami WordPress AMI
- Knowledge of which security group settings matter for a public-facing WordPress site
- The exact method for retrieving the Bitnami Application Password from the EC2 system log
- Hands-on experience logging in to the WordPress admin dashboard and making live changes
- A proper shutdown process so you are not charged after the tutorial ends
- A marketable skill that opens the door to freelance web work — find out what skill to monetize first at finder.platformproof.com
Why WordPress on AWS?
WordPress powers a massive share of the web, which means client demand for people who understand it never dries up. Most people who learn WordPress only learn the front-end: picking themes, writing posts, installing plugins. Far fewer understand the infrastructure side — how the server is actually set up, what makes a site go live, and how cloud hosting works at the configuration level.
That gap is where your advantage sits. If you can walk into a client conversation and say you know how to provision a WordPress server on AWS, configure the security groups, and manage the instance lifecycle, you are a completely different tier of hire than someone who only knows how to click around in a dashboard. AWS is the dominant cloud provider, and EC2 is its core compute service. Understanding these tools together gives you a skill set that is both deep and immediately useful.
The process shown here uses the free-tier eligible t2.micro instance type, which means you can complete this entire tutorial at zero cost as long as you terminate the instance afterward. AWS offers new accounts 750 hours per month of t2.micro usage in the free tier for the first 12 months. That makes this a genuinely risk-free way to get hands-on experience with real infrastructure.
What You Need Before You Start
Before launching anything, you need an AWS account. If you do not have one, create it at aws.amazon.com. You will be asked for a credit card during setup, but nothing will be charged if you stay within free-tier limits and terminate your instance when you are done.
You also need to be logged in either as the root user or as an IAM user with full EC2 access. If you are not sure whether your user has the right permissions, the video walks through how to check: go to IAM (Identity and Access Management), find your user or role, and confirm that AdministratorAccess or a full EC2 policy is attached. Without those permissions, you will not be able to launch the instance. Most people setting this up for the first time are using the root account, which has full access by default.
Step 1: Log In and Verify IAM Permissions
Log in to your AWS account at console.aws.amazon.com. Once you are at the main AWS console, the first thing to confirm is that your account has the permissions needed to create and manage EC2 instances. To check this, go to the IAM service. From the IAM dashboard, you can view users, select your user, and inspect the attached policies. You want to see either AdministratorAccess or a policy that explicitly grants EC2 full access.
This step is easy to skip, but it is worth doing before you try to launch anything. IAM permission errors mid-launch are confusing to troubleshoot, especially for people who are new to AWS. Getting this confirmed up front saves you from chasing a problem that has nothing to do with your instance configuration.
Step 2: Go to EC2 and Click Launch Instance
From the AWS console home, find and click on EC2. This takes you to the EC2 dashboard, where you will see a summary of your running instances. If your account is new, you will see zero running instances. Click the Launch Instance button to begin the process of creating a new server.
The Launch Instance wizard walks you through a series of configuration steps. The first step is choosing an Amazon Machine Image, which is the pre-built server template that your instance will run. Most people default to the Amazon Linux AMI here, but for this tutorial you are not using that option. Instead, you are going to the AWS Marketplace to find a purpose-built WordPress image.
Step 3: Find WordPress on the AWS Marketplace
On the AMI selection page, look for the AWS Marketplace tab in the left column and click it. This opens a searchable catalog of pre-configured server images published by third parties. Type “WordPress” into the search bar and press Enter.