WP with Compose

We have already installed docker compose:

docker compose version
docker compose --help | less

1. Install a WP site

1.1 Create a project

Create a directory:

mkdir -p /var/compose/wordpress
cd /var/compose/wordpress/

Create the config file compose.yml:

cat << '_EOF_' > compose.yml
services:
  db:
    image: mariadb
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
        MARIADB_DATABASE: wp5db
        MARIADB_USER: wp5user
        MARIADB_PASSWORD: wp5pass
        MARIADB_ALLOW_EMPTY_ROOT_PASSWORD: '1'
    volumes:
        - ./db:/var/lib/mysql
  wp5:
    image: wordpress
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
        - 127.0.0.1:8086:80
    environment:
        WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: db
        WORDPRESS_DB_NAME: wp5db
        WORDPRESS_DB_USER: wp5user
        WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: wp5pass
    volumes:
        - ./www:/var/www/html
_EOF_

It is similar to the docker create commands that we have used previously.

nano compose.yml
nano /var/docker/db1/create.sh
nano /var/docker/wp3/create.sh

Start the services and look around:

docker compose up -d

ls
ls db/
ls www/

docker network ls
docker network inspect wordpress_default | less

docker compose ls
docker compose ps -a
docker compose logs db -f
docker compose logs wp5 -f
docker compose exec db bash
docker compose exec db mariadb
docker compose exec wp5 bash

docker compose --help | less

1.2 Setup reverse proxy

Create a site configuration on nginx:

cd /etc/nginx/sites-available/
cp wp4 wp5
sed -i wp5 -e 's/wp4/wp5/g'
nano wp5

Make sure to use the correct port on proxy_pass:

proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8086;

Enable it:

cd ../sites-enabled/
ls ../sites-available/wp5
ln -s ../sites-available/wp5 .
ls -l

Get an SSL certificate:

domain=wp5.user1.fs.al
email=dashohoxha@gmail.com

certbot certonly --webroot -w /var/www \
    -d $domain,www.$domain --dry-run

certbot certonly --webroot -w /var/www \
    -d $domain,www.$domain -m $email --agree-tos

certbot certificates

Reload nginx:
```
nginx -t
systemctl reload nginx
```

1.3 Installation wizard

Open in browser https://wp5.user1.fs.al and complete the installation wizard.

1.4 Use an env file

Let's use an environment file for the settings:

Stop the containers and destroy them:
```
docker compose down
```
It will remove the network as well, but not the data volumes/directories.

Create the file db.env:

cat << '_EOF_' > db.env
DBNAME=wp5db
DBUSER=wp5user
DBPASS=wp5pass
_EOF_

Modify compose.yml by adding env_file: db.env to each service, and by using the DB env variables:

services:
  db:
    image: mariadb
    restart: unless-stopped
    env_file: db.env
    environment:
        MARIADB_DATABASE: ${DBNAME:-wp5db}
        MARIADB_USER: ${DBUSER:-wp5user}
        MARIADB_PASSWORD: ${DBPASS:-wp5pass}
        MARIADB_ALLOW_EMPTY_ROOT_PASSWORD: '1'
    volumes:
        - ./db:/var/lib/mysql

  wp5:
    image: wordpress
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
        - 127.0.0.1:8086:80
    env_file: db.env
    environment:
        WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: db
        WORDPRESS_DB_NAME: ${DBNAME:-wp5db}
        WORDPRESS_DB_USER: ${DBUSER:-wp5user}
        WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: ${DBPASS:-wp5pass}
    volumes:
        - ./www:/var/www/html
    depends_on:
        - db

Run the containers:
```
docker compose up -d
```
Check also https://wp5.user1.fs.al in browser.

1.5 Use custom names

The default name of the project is the name of the directory where the configuration file is located. It can be specified using the option -p on the command docker compose, or using the field name: on the configuration file:
```
docker compose ls
docker compose ps
docker network ls

docker compose down

sed -i compose.yml -e '1i name: wp'
head compose.yml

docker compose up -d

docker compose ls
docker compose ps
docker network ls
```

To set the name of the default network we can add something like this:

networks:
  default:
    name: wp-net

docker compose down

cat << _EOF_ >> compose.yml

networks:
  default:
    name: wp-net
_EOF_

tail compose.yml
nano compose.yml

docker compose up -d

docker network ls

To set the name of a container we can use the field container_name: like this

name: wp
services:
  db:
    image: mariadb
    container_name: mariadb1
    # . . . . . . . . . .
  wp5:
    image: wordpress
    container_name: wp5
    # . . . . . . . . . .

docker compose down
nano compose.yml
docker compose up -d
docker compose ps

1.6 Build custom image

The default WP image that we are using, wordpress:latest, does not have the tool wp-cli installed inside it. We want to build and use a custom image that has wp-cli installed as well.

Let's start by creating this Dockerfile:

cat << '_EOF_' > Dockerfile
# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1.4

FROM wordpress:latest

RUN <<EOF
  apt update
  apt upgrade --yes
  
  # install less and mariadb-client
  apt install --yes less mariadb-client

  # install wp-cli
  curl -s -o /usr/local/bin/wp \
      https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wp-cli/builds/gh-pages/phar/wp-cli.phar
  chmod +x /usr/local/bin/wp
EOF
_EOF_

nano Dockerfile

Stop and remove the current project:
```
docker compose down
```
Add the field build: . to compose.yml, like this:
```
  wp5:
    build: .
    image: wordpress:local
    container_name: wp5
```
In this case, build: shows the directory where the Dockerfile is located (. is the current directory).
Build and start the project:
```
docker compose up -d
```
Notice that it will build first the image wordpress:local because it is not available.
```
docker image ls
docker compose ps
```

Let's try wp-cli:

docker compose exec -u www-data wp5 wp
docker compose exec -u www-data wp5 wp user list

Create an alias:

alias wp5cli='docker compose exec -u www-data wp5 wp'
alias
wp5cli user list

Add this alias to ~/.bashrc_custom as well.

2. Install another WP site

We can create another compose project, another directory with another config file compose.yml, similar to the current one. In this case it will start another MariaDB container and another WP container.

But we can also install it on the same project, using the same MariaDB container. Let's try this approach because using a common MariaDB container is a bit more efficient than using separate ones, and because it is more didactic (we can learn more).

First, let's rename the directory www to wp5 and the file db.env to wp5db.env:

docker compose down

mv www wp5
mv db.env wp5db.env

sed compose.yml -e 's#\./www:#./wp5:#' -e 's/db\.env/wp5db.env/'
sed -i compose.yml -e 's#\./www#./wp5#' -e 's/db\.env/wp5db.env/'
sed compose.yml -n -e '/volumes:/,+2 p' -e '/env_file:/ p'

docker compose up -d

Then create the file wp6db.env:

cat << EOF > wp6db.env
DBNAME=wp6db
DBUSER=wp6user
DBPASS=wp6pass
EOF

cat wp6db.env

Create a new database and user on the container mariadb1:

cat << '_EOF_' > wp6db.sh
#!/bin/bash -x

source wp6db.env

DBCONTAINER="mariadb1"
mariadb="docker exec -i $DBCONTAINER mariadb"

cat <<EOF | tee /dev/tty | $mariadb
    create database $DBNAME;
    create user '$DBUSER'@'%' identified by '$DBPASS';
    grant all on $DBNAME.* to '$DBUSER'@'%';
    flush privileges;
EOF
_EOF_

nano wp6db.sh
chmod +x wp6db.sh
./wp6db.sh

echo "show databases;" \
    | docker exec -i mariadb1 mariadb

Add this service definition to compose.yml:

  wp6:
    build: .
    image: wordpress:local
    container_name: wp6
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
        - 127.0.0.1:8087:80
    env_file: wp6db.env
    environment:
        WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: db
        WORDPRESS_DB_NAME: ${DBNAME:-wp6db}
        WORDPRESS_DB_USER: ${DBUSER:-wp6user}
        WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: ${DBPASS:-wp6pass}
    volumes:
        - ./wp6:/var/www/html

docker compose down
nano compose.yml
docker compose up -d

ls
ls wp6/
docker compose ps

Create a reverse proxy site for it:

cd /etc/nginx/sites-available/

ls
cp wp5 wp6
sed -i wp6 -e 's/wp5/wp6/g' -e 's/8086/8087/'
nano wp6

cd ../sites-enabled/
ls ../sites-available/wp6
ln -s ../sites-available/wp6 .
ls -l

nginx -t
certbot certonly --webroot -w /var/www/ \
    -d wp6.user1.fs.al,www.wp6.user1.fs.al \
    -m dashohoxha@gmail.com --agree-tos
certbot certificates

nginx -t
systemctl reload nginx

Open https://wp6.user1.fs.al in browser and finish the installation.

4. Maintenance

4.1 Backup

Create a backup script:

cat << '_EOF_' > ~/wp-backup.sh
#!/bin/bash -x
cd /var/compose/wordpress/

docker compose down
tar cfz ~/wp-$(date +%Y%m%d).tgz -C /var/compose/ wordpress/
docker compose up -d
_EOF_

Make the backup:

cd
nano wp-backup.sh
chmod +x wp-backup.sh
./wp-backup.sh
ls -lh wp-*.tgz
tar tvfz wp-20250210.tgz | less

4.2 Restore

Remove WP:

cd /var/compose/wordpress/
docker compose down
cd ..
rm -rf wordpress/
ls

Restore from the backup:

ls ~/wp-*.tgz
tar xfz /root/wp-20250210.tgz -C /var/compose/
ls /var/compose/
cd /var/compose/wordpress/
ls
docker compose up -d

4.3 Backup DB

Create a backup script:

cat << '_EOF_' > db-backup.sh
#!/bin/bash -x

systemctl stop nginx

wp5cli='docker compose exec -u www-data wp5 wp'
$wp5cli db export db.sql

wp6cli='docker compose exec -u www-data wp6 wp'
$wp6cli db export db.sql

systemctl start nginx
_EOF_

Make the backup:

nano db-backup.sh
chmod +x db-backup.sh
db-backup.sh
ls wp5/
ls wp6/
nano wp6/db.sql

note

Usually we need a backup of the database when we need to change the version of MariaDB container. If we upgrade it, usually it can be done autommatically. However if we need to downgrade, we may have to install a fresh DB and then restore the content of the DB from the backup.

4.4 Update

Update apps:

cat << '_EOF_' > update.sh
#!/bin/bash -x

wp5cli='docker compose exec -u www-data wp5 wp'
wp6cli='docker compose exec -u www-data wp6 wp'

systemctl stop nginx

$wp5cli core update
$wp5cli core update-db
$wp5cli plugin update --all
$wp5cli theme update --all
$wp5cli cache flush

$wp6cli core update
$wp6cli core update-db
$wp6cli plugin update --all
$wp6cli theme update --all
$wp6cli cache flush

systemctl start nginx
_EOF_

nano update.sh
chmod +x update.sh
./update.sh

Update docker images:

docker pull mariadb
docker pull wordpress
cd /var/compose/wordpress/
docker compose build
docker compose up -d

1. Install a WP site​

1.1 Create a project​

1.2 Setup reverse proxy​

1.3 Installation wizard​

1.4 Use an env file​

1.5 Use custom names​

1.6 Build custom image​

2. Install another WP site​

4. Maintenance​

4.1 Backup​

4.2 Restore​

4.3 Backup DB​

4.4 Update​