WordPress with Docker Compose

Run WordPress production-ready on your own server – with Docker Compose, MariaDB and an optional Nginx reverse proxy.

Prerequisites

Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 server with root access
At least 1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended)
Docker and Docker Compose installed
A domain with a DNS A record (for SSL)

Step 1: Create a project directory

mkdir -p ~/wordpress && cd ~/wordpress

Step 2: Create docker-compose.yml

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  db:
    image: mariadb:11
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: geheim_root_pw_aendern
      MYSQL_DATABASE: wordpress
      MYSQL_USER: wp_user
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: geheim_wp_pw_aendern
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/mysql

  wordpress:
    image: wordpress:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      - db
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    environment:
      WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: db:3306
      WORDPRESS_DB_USER: wp_user
      WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: geheim_wp_pw_aendern
      WORDPRESS_DB_NAME: wordpress
    volumes:
      - wp_data:/var/www/html

volumes:
  db_data:
  wp_data:

Security: Replace all password placeholders before the first start: MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD, MYSQL_PASSWORD and WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD. MYSQL_PASSWORD and WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD must be identical (as must MYSQL_USER/WORDPRESS_DB_USER and MYSQL_DATABASE/WORDPRESS_DB_NAME), otherwise WordPress cannot connect to the database. MariaDB only applies these values on the very first start – if you change them later, you have to change the password inside the database as well or recreate the db_data volume (this deletes the database). In production, use a .env file instead of hard-coded values.

Step 3: Start the containers

docker compose up -d

# Check the status
docker compose ps

# View the logs
docker compose logs -f wordpress

Open http://YOUR-IP:8080 in your browser. You will see the WordPress installation wizard.

Step 4: Secure it with a .env file

# .env
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=dein_sicheres_root_passwort
MYSQL_PASSWORD=dein_sicheres_wp_passwort

Then use ${MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD} in docker-compose.yml instead of the plain-text root password, and ${MYSQL_PASSWORD} for both MYSQL_PASSWORD and WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD – that way the two values always match.

Step 5: Set up backups

# Database backup
docker compose exec db mysqldump -u root -p wordpress > backup.sql

# Back up the WordPress files
docker compose cp wordpress:/var/www/html ./wp-backup

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