What makes installing WordPress via SSH better than FTP or using a one-click option that most hosting providers offer? Loading WordPress using SSH is much faster than FTP, and I like the control I have over one-click options to customize the install.

At the end of the day its a matter of preference, but if you’ve ever had to load WordPress via FTP you’re in for a treat using SSH.

For this tutorial we are using putty and loading to a MediaTemple (gs).

This tutorial assumes you know enough about SSH to navigate to the directory you plan to install WordPress in.

Secure Shell or SSH is a network protocol that allows data to be exchanged using a secure channel between two networked devices. – (via Wikipedia)

How to Install WordPress Using SSH from Headway Marketing on Vimeo.

Step 1: Navigate to where you want to install WordPress

This is specific to MediaTemple (gs)

cd domains
cd {yourdomain.com}
cd html

Step 2: Get and Uncompress the Latest Version of WordPress

wget http://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz
tar xfz latest.tar.gz

Step 3: Move All Files from WordPress Back a Directory

After uncompressing you may notice that all files reside in the /wordpress directory. We need to move those files back a directory.

cd wordpress/
cp -rpf * ../
cd ..

Step 4: A Little House Cleaning

Let’s remove the /wordpress directory and the compressed file since we no longer need them.

rm -rf ./wordpress/
rm -f latest.tar.gz

Pat yourself on the back, you know how to install WordPress using SSH.