To upload a local WP installation to a server:
Step 1
If you are on a host where you can expand an archived file (ie. Cpanel / File Manager) then easiest way is to ZIP or GZIP your entire WP install and upload it to the server, and use File Manager to expand the files and ensure they are placed in the appropriate position (ie. the www root directory usually called www or public_html or httpdocs – check your server details). There are also php based files which you install which will call the appropriate expanders. Either that, if you cannot easily expand an archived file you may wish to do a direct install of WP on from your server via URL or using an inbuilt s/w installer such as Fantastico/Softaculous and then FTP the extra plugin / theme folders and any other files which are additional to a standard WP install individually.
Step 2
On your web host, setup your database (MySQL or PostgresSQL), making note of the full DB name, DB user and passwords, and DB table prefix.
Step 3
Update your wp-config.php file with the above DB details.
IMPORTANT: WordPress chooses to store absolute URL references in the
database. As such, if the live web site will use a hostname which is
different than what you setup for your local development installation
(ie. if you didn’t setup the same hostname on your development install
as what you will use on the live site) then you will need to change
the default absolute URL to the new base URL.
I simply use a text editor to do a find and replace the base ref URL in the SQL database prior to upload.
ie. If I used http://localhost but it will be running under http://www.example.com when live then I do a simple text find and replace from http://localhost with http://www.example.com