how to cleanly uninstall WP local install

  • Hi there! Question from a newbie… Installed LAMP stack and WP on Linux 18 machine. However, seemed to have messed up on the last stage, forgot the user name or password created in the wp welcome screen (in the browser). So, after unsuccessful attempts to recover the lost password, want to just totally uninstall wp and start again. Tried deleting all files created in /var/www/, then unpacking tarball and configuring again- but, “localhost” in browser does not take me to welcome screen, but straight to default theme screen – so some residue remains from the previous install (?). How can I “start again from scratch”? Thanks!

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Moderator Steven Stern (sterndata)

    (@sterndata)

    Volunteer Forum Moderator

    drop the database, create a new one, and start over.

    Thread Starter otlichnik73

    (@otlichnik73)

    Ok, er… thanks… but as I said, sorry, you are dealing with a total newbie here… How do you “drop” the “database”?…

    Dion

    (@diondesigns)

    Something doesn’t seem right here. If you’re a total newbie, how were you able to install a LAMP stack in Ubuntu? (I’m assuming “Linux 18” is Ubuntu 18.10).

    Running a localhost setup on Ubuntu is the equivalent of using an unmanaged VPS without a control panel. That’s getting into expert-level territory.

    But to answer your question, type the following at the Ubuntu command line:

    mysql -uroot -p

    When it prompts for a password, enter the password you set up for the MySQL/MariaDB root user when you ran mysql_secure_installation. If you did not run that program, then press/tap the Enter key instead of entering a password. ALternately, use the database usen and password found in wp-config.php. Change root in the command line to the name of the DB user.

    Now, if the database name in your wp-config.php file was named wp_database, you would enter the following two commands:

    drop database wp_database;
create database wp_database character set = utf8 collate = utf8_general_ci;

    This may not work with a general DB user, which is why you should first try to access MySQL/MariaDB with the root user.

    If you get “QUery OK” after both command, type quit to leave MySQL/MariaDB, and try your WordPress installation again.

    Thread Starter otlichnik73

    (@otlichnik73)

    Thanks, Dion! I guess I am a newbie compared to wizards like you. But it is amazing what you can do following online guides… Thanks for your help!

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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