How to increase maximum file upload size for Wordpress site without a plugin

Hey!

To increase the maximum file upload size for a WordPress site hosted on a DigitalOcean Droplet without using a plugin, you can modify the PHP configuration files directly. Here’s how you can do it:

1. First, you need to SSH into your DigitalOcean Droplet. You can do this using a terminal or command prompt. Use the following command, replacing your_username with your actual username and your_droplet_ip with your Droplet’s IP address:

   ssh your_username@your_droplet_ip
   

2. The PHP configuration file, php.ini, controls many PHP settings, including file upload limits. The location of php.ini depends on the PHP version and the server configuration. You can typically find it in /etc/php/{version}/apache2/ if you are using Apache or /etc/php/{version}/cli/ or /etc/php/{version}/fpm/ if you are using Nginx. You can use the php -i | grep "Loaded Configuration File" command to find the exact path.

3. Once you’ve located the php.ini file, open it in a text editor like nano or vim. For example, if you’re using nano and PHP 8.1, you might use:

   sudo nano /etc/php/8.1/apache2/php.ini
   

   Look for the following lines:

   • upload_max_filesize: This directive sets the maximum size of an uploaded file.
   • post_max_size: This directive sets the max size of post data allowed. This setting also affects file upload. To upload large files, this value must be larger than upload_max_filesize.

   Increase these values as needed, for example:

   upload_max_filesize = 64M
   post_max_size = 64M
   

   Replace 64M with the size you need.

4. After saving the changes, you need to restart your web server for the changes to take effect. The command to restart the server depends on the server you are using. For Apache, you can use:

   sudo systemctl restart apache2
   

   Or for Nginx:

   sudo systemctl restart nginx
   

5. To ensure your changes are active, create a PHP info file (if you don’t already have one) and check the upload_max_filesize and post_max_size values. You can create a file named info.php in your WordPress root directory with the following content:

   <?php phpinfo(); ?>
   

   Access this file in your browser (http://yourdomain.com/info.php), and check the updated values. Don’t forget to delete this file after checking for security reasons.

Let me know how it goes!

Best,

Bobby

Thank you!