Purchase a Self-Managed VPS with Magento 2 Installation

Magento 2 is a platform used to create and manage online stores. It lets you sell products, track orders, and handle customers in one system. It’s flexible and can be customized to fit different business needs. Many businesses use it because it can handle large stores and high traffic.

Reimage Your Server for Magento 2 Installation

1. Log in to your Bluehost Portal.
2. In the left-hand menu, click Hosting.

   
    

3. Click the Manage button on the Self-Managed VPS package.

   
    

4. Click the Reimage button.

   
    

5. Select the Applications tab.

   
    

6. From the list, locate Magento and click Select.

   
    

7. To confirm, type "reimage" and then click Proceed to start the process.

   
    

8. Wait a few minutes while the installation completes.

   
    

9. Once completed, you will see Magento listed in the Server Image section.

   
    

Setting Up Your Magento 2 Server

Welcome to your new Magento 2 server! Your server comes pre-installed with Magento 2, Nginx, PHP 8.3, MySQL, and OpenSearch. Follow this guide to log in, secure your account, and connect your custom domain.

Step 1: Log In and Retrieve Your Credentials

Your temporary login details and administrative URLs are securely stored directly on your server.

1. Log in to your Bluehost Portal.
2. In the left-hand menu, click the Hosting tab.

   
    

3. Look for the server you want to manage then click the View Details to see more options.

   
    

4. Click the Reset Password.

   
    

5. In the pop-up window, type your new root password, then click Reset Password again to confirm and save the changes.

   
    

Your choice [d/i/q]

6. Connect to your VPS via SSH.
   Open your computer's terminal (or an SSH client like PuTTY) and run the following command to log into your server as the administrator, using your server's public IP address: Follow the prompts and enter the new root password you created in the step above.

   ssh root@your_server_ip

   Example Output:

   Welcome to Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS (GNU/Linux 6.8.0-111-generic x86_64)
   ********************************************************************************
   
   Welcome to your Magento 2 installation!
   
       Store URL:   https://12.1.1.123/
       Admin URL:   https://12.1.1.123/admin_dqfm2f1
       Admin user:  testing
       Admin email: [email protected]
   
   Your admin login and service credentials are saved in the following file: /root/.app_passwords
   
   See /root/README.md for more information about using magento
   
   This prompt is shown automatically only once. To run it again later, execute:
     /root/domain_connect
     [d] — Connect a domain name to magento (nginx + SSL will be updated for that host)
     [i] — Keep using the server's IP address (current behavior)
     [q] — Quit
   
   Your choice [d/i/q]:

7. If you ever need to quickly review the system's deployment notes directly inside your server terminal, you can print out the original README file by running:

   cat /root/README.md

8. View your credentials:

   cat /root/.app_passwords

   Example Output:

   root@server-123456:~# cat /root/.app_passwords
   root_mysql_pass="99c5db785d3f281c50ec9ddfba60ee80"
   admin_mysql_pass="d41cb09d23abd5395b9b82cea14cbf73"
   app_mysql_pass="334b29c7de73e35703437ccf4a013f95"
   opensearch_pass="dK-v_9!^*SF)3^Gd"
   magento_admin_pass="02d9e05bb6e4f716bdec7419c06404a3"
   [email protected]
   magento_admin_user=testing
   magento_admin_pass=02d9e05bb6e4f716bdec7419c06404a3
   magento_admin_url=https://12.1.1.123/admin_dqfm2f1
   magento_store_url=https://12.1.1.123/

Step 2: Access the Magento Dashboard

Open your web browser and navigate to the admin URL you found in the previous step. Log in using the default admin username and the password from your password file.

1. Store URL: https://your-ip-address/

   
    

2. Admin URL: https://your-ip-address/admin_dqfm2f1

   
    

Step 3: Secure Your Admin Account

For security purposes, you must create a personal administrator account and remove the default one.

1. Run the user creation script in your terminal:

   Follow the on-screen prompts to set up your unique username, password, and email.

   /root/user_create

   Example Output:

   root@server-123456:~# /root/user_create
   
   --- New Magento admin account ---
   
   First name [q=quit]: Test
   Last name [q=quit]: Account
   Email address [q=quit]: test [email protected]
   Admin username (letters, digits, underscore only) [q=quit]: jc
   
   Admin password: at least 12 characters with upper and lower case, a digit, and one of !@#$%^&* — or press Enter or type r to generate a random password.
   Password [Enter/r=random, q=quit]:
   
   Remove the existing admin user 'testing' after creating 'jc'? If you choose no, both accounts will remain.
     [y] — Remove the old admin after creating the new one
     [n] — Keep the old admin and add the new account
     [q] — Quit
   
   Your choice [y/n/q]: y

2. Go back to your Magento Admin Dashboard, log out of the default account, and log back in using the brand-new credentials you just created.

   
    

3. Once you successfully log in with your new account, navigate to System ➔ Permissions ➔ All Users. Locate the default admin user and delete it to secure your store.

   
    

Step 4: Configure Your Domain Name and HTTPS

Right now, your site is running on the raw server IP address. To connect your actual domain name:

1. Update your DNS: Go to your domain registrar and point your domain's A Record to your server's primary IP address.
2. Wait for DNS to propagate.
3. Once DNS is pointing to the server, run the built-in connection script as root:

   /root/domain_connect

4. Enter your domain name when prompted. The script will automatically update Magento, configure Nginx, and attempt to install a free, trusted Let's Encrypt SSL certificate.
   Note: If the Let's Encrypt process fails or you need to manually force/renew the trusted certificate later, run this command (replace with your actual domain and email):

   certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com -m [email protected] --non-interactive --agree-tos --force-renewal

Step 5: Update Store Email Addresses

The automated installer uses a placeholder email ([email protected]). You need to change this so you can receive system and order notifications.

1. Log into your Magento Admin Dashboard.
2. Update Store Emails: Navigate to Stores ➔ Configuration ➔ General ➔ Store Email Addresses and replace the placeholders with your operational emails.
3. Update Admin Account Email: Navigate to System ➔ Permissions ➔ All Users, click on your user profile, and ensure your admin email address is correct.

Quick Maintenance Commands

Your server has a built-in shortcut alias (magento) so you don't have to switch users constantly to manage the store. Whenever you make layout changes or configuration updates, run:

Flush Cache:

magento cache:flush

Reindex Data:

magento indexer:reindex

Additional Information and Example Documentation Output

You can run cat /root/README.md to see more information and useful commands:

root@server-123456:~# cat /root/README.md
# Magento

## Description

Magento 2 is a self-hosted, PHP e-commerce platform for stores that need more
than a simple shop-in-a-box: you own the code, themes, and extensions, and you
are not tied to a closed SaaS product.

It shines when you need **scale and flexibility**-one admin for multiple
stores, strong catalog and order workflows, merchandising (promotions,
cross-sells), and integrations for search, checkout, and marketing-backed by
a large extension ecosystem and solid vendor documentation.


## Services

Service          | Ports | Purpose
----------------|-------|---------
OpenSSH         | 22    | SSH
Nginx           | 80/443| Magento
OpenSearch      | 9000  | Magento Search

Ports are protected using ufw.


## How-to-use

On first boot, Magento is installed automatically using the server's
primary IP as the site URL. A Let's Encrypt certificate is requested
and installed for that address so HTTPS works out of the box. A
default Magento user is created so the installation can
finish. **Create your own administrator account** by running
`/root/user_create`. **You should remove the default admin** once your
account is in place.


### Custom domain and HTTPS

To point Magento at your own hostname, run **`/root/domain_connect`** as **root** (same as `python3 /root/domain_connect`). The script updates Nginx and Magento base URLs and (re)issues TLS for the chosen host.

**First SSH session:** The same wizard runs **automatically once** when you first log in as root-root's `.bashrc` starts it and records that it has run, so you are prompted immediately. **Later sessions:** Run `/root/domain_connect` yourself whenever you want to switch between a domain and the server IP or change the hostname.

**Let's Encrypt vs self-signed** (see `create_nginx_config` in `/opt/magento_util.py`):

- **Domain name (not an IP literal):** If **DNS for that name resolves to this server's primary IP**, the tool uses **Let's Encrypt** (`certbot` with the nginx plugin). If **DNS does not** resolve to this server yet, a **self-signed** certificate is generated so HTTPS can still be enabled until DNS is correct (you can run `/root/domain_connect` again after DNS propagates).
- **Primary IP as hostname:** When you keep using the IP and the hostname is that IPv4 address, **Let's Encrypt** is requested with Certbot's **IP certificate** flow (`certonly` / short-lived profile).
- If a Let's Encrypt request **fails** while DNS already points at this host (or in the IP flow), Certbot errors are surfaced and the script **does not** silently fall back to self-signed in those paths-fix DNS/rate limits/etc. and re-run.

This server is provisioned with **Magento 2** under `/home/magento/www` (web root: `/home/magento/www/pub`). The stack includes **Nginx**, **PHP 8.3** (FPM), **MySQL** (database `magento`), and **OpenSearch** for catalog search.


## First-boot installation

On first boot, cloud-init runs `/root/magento_install.py` as **root**. That script:

- Uses this machine's **primary IPv4 address on `ens3`** as the hostname for the initial **HTTPS base URL** and for **Nginx** `server_name`.
- Creates a **self-signed TLS certificate** and an **Nginx virtual host** (HTTP redirects to HTTPS).
- Runs **`bin/magento setup:install`** as the `magento` user, deploys static content, then records **admin credentials** and URLs.

You do not need to run `magento_install.py` yourself unless you are re-running or troubleshooting an install (it must be run as root).


## Where to find passwords and URLs

- **`/root/.app_passwords`** - MySQL app password, Magento admin password, admin URL, and related values.
- **`/etc/update-motd.d/99-magento`** - Shown when you log in via SSH: store URL, admin URL (path only; no password), admin user, and a pointer to the password file.


## Magento CLI

As root, the shell alias **`magento`** runs CLI commands as the `magento` user, for example:

```bash
magento cache:flush

Summary

If you're making a bigger online store with a lot of products or expect more traffic over time, Magento 2 is a great choice. There are many ways to change how your store looks and works. Just keep in mind that it needs more resources and setup than simpler platforms. That's why VPS hosting is usually better for businesses that want to grow or already have one.