You can use Docker Compose to easily run WordPress in an isolated environment built with Docker containers. This quick-start guide demonstrates how to use Compose to set up and run WordPress. Before starting, make sure you have Compose installed.
-
Create an empty project directory.
You can name the directory something easy for you to remember. This directory is the context for your application image. The directory should only contain resources to build that image.
This project directory contains a
docker-compose.yml
file which is complete in itself for a good starter wordpress project.Tip: You can use either a
.yml
or.yaml
extension for this file. They both work. -
Change into your project directory.
For example, if you named your directory
my_wordpress
:$ cd my_wordpress/
-
Create a
docker-compose.yml
file that starts yourWordPress
blog and a separateMySQL
instance with volume mounts for data persistence:services: db: # We use a mariadb image which supports both amd64 & arm64 architecture image: mariadb:10.6.4-focal # If you really want to use MySQL, uncomment the following line #image: mysql:8.0.27 command: '--default-authentication-plugin=mysql_native_password' volumes: - db_data:/var/lib/mysql restart: always environment: - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=somewordpress - MYSQL_DATABASE=wordpress - MYSQL_USER=wordpress - MYSQL_PASSWORD=wordpress expose: - 3306 - 33060 wordpress: image: wordpress:latest volumes: - wp_data:/var/www/html ports: - 80:80 restart: always environment: - WORDPRESS_DB_HOST=db - WORDPRESS_DB_USER=wordpress - WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD=wordpress - WORDPRESS_DB_NAME=wordpress volumes: db_data: wp_data:
Notes:
- The docker volumes
db_data
andwordpress_data
persists updates made by WordPress to the database, as well as the installed themes and plugins. Learn more about docker volumes
- WordPress Multisite works only on ports
80
and443
. {: .note-vanilla}
Now, run docker compose up -d
from your project directory.
This runs docker compose up
in detached mode, pulls
the needed Docker images, and starts the wordpress and database containers, as shown in
the example below.
$ docker compose up -d
Creating network "my_wordpress_default" with the default driver
Pulling db (mysql:5.7)...
5.7: Pulling from library/mysql
efd26ecc9548: Pull complete
a3ed95caeb02: Pull complete
<...>
Digest: sha256:34a0aca88e85f2efa5edff1cea77cf5d3147ad93545dbec99cfe705b03c520de
Status: Downloaded newer image for mysql:5.7
Pulling wordpress (wordpress:latest)...
latest: Pulling from library/wordpress
efd26ecc9548: Already exists
a3ed95caeb02: Pull complete
589a9d9a7c64: Pull complete
<...>
Digest: sha256:ed28506ae44d5def89075fd5c01456610cd6c64006addfe5210b8c675881aff6
Status: Downloaded newer image for wordpress:latest
Creating my_wordpress_db_1
Creating my_wordpress_wordpress_1
Note: WordPress Multisite works only on ports
80
and/or443
. If you get an error message about binding0.0.0.0
to port80
or443
(depending on which one you specified), it is likely that the port you configured for WordPress is already in use by another service.
At this point, WordPress should be running on port 80
of your Docker Host,
and you can complete the "famous five-minute installation" as a WordPress
administrator.
Note: The WordPress site is not immediately available on port
80
because the containers are still being initialized and may take a couple of minutes before the first load.
If you are using Docker Desktop for Mac or Docker Desktop for Windows, you can use
http://localhost
as the IP address, and open http://localhost:80
in a web
browser.
The command docker compose down
removes the
containers and default network, but preserves your WordPress database.
The command docker compose down --volumes
removes the containers, default
network, and the WordPress database.