Configure a local WordPress development using Docker
One of the most popular articles on my website is “Configure a local WordPress development on macOS from scratch”. I have recently used Docker a lot so I decided to tackle the same subject again but this time using containers.
This is not a Docker tutorial although by following along you learn how helpful this tool can be. I highly encourage you to familiarize yourself with few basic concepts like: images, containers, networks and volumes. Having a Docker app installed makes a lot of sense too. Regular readers know that I am a great friend with Homebrew. Yes, you can use it to download Docker too.
brew cask install docker
Wordpress + MySQL + phpMyAdmin
To comfortably work with WordPress in a bare-bones local environment two components are required, although a third one is nice to have in some circumstances.
- WordPress
- MySQL or MariaDB database
- Database GUI like phpMyAdmin (optional)
Docker compose is a tool for creating multi-container Docker applications defined using single docker-compose.yml file (.yml and .yaml extension works just fine). Sounds like a fantastic method to connect our three building blocks together. I will do my best to provide helpful descriptions and comments to each of the core building blocks. Start by making a new directory for your website, create a docker-compose.yml in there and let’s finally get into the meat of this article.
mkdir wp && cd $_ && touch docker-compose.yml
# Version of the Compose file format
# Version 3 is the most current and recommended one
version: "3"
# Top building block that defines
# All containers used for this service
services:
# Container 1
# https://hub.docker.com/_/mysql
db:
# Image name (optinally version)
# https://docs.docker.com/compose/compose-file/#image
image: mysql:5.7
# Define restart policy
# https://docs.docker.com/compose/compose-file/#restart
restart: always
# Volumes definition
# Named volume, allows persisted data but without caring where locally it is stored
# https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/docker-tip-28-named-volumes-vs-path-based-volumes
volumes:
- db_data:/var/lib/mysql
# Add environment variables
# https://docs.docker.com/compose/compose-file/#environment
environment:
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: password
MYSQL_DATABASE: wordpress
MYSQL_USER: wordpress
MYSQL_PASSWORD: wordpress
# List of networks to join
networks:
- wp
# Container 2
# https://hub.docker.com/_/wordpress
wordpress:
# List of dependencies
depends_on:
- db
# Image name (optinally version)
# https://docs.docker.com/compose/compose-file/#image
# Feel free to add a version of WordPress
# I.e. wordpress:5.2.0
image: wordpress
# Define restart policy
# https://docs.docker.com/compose/compose-file/#restart
restart: always
# Volumes definition
# https://docs.docker.com/compose/compose-file/#volumes
# Maps your local folder, to path in a container
# Useful for file edits
# I like to map only wp-content
# We should not care about WP core files
volumes: ["./:/var/www/html/wp-content"]
# Add environment variables
# https://docs.docker.com/compose/compose-file/#environment
environment:
WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: db:3306
WORDPRESS_DB_USER: wordpress
WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: wordpress
# Ports mapping
ports:
- 80:80
- 443:443
# List of networks to join
networks:
- wp
# Container 3
# https://hub.docker.com/r/phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin
# This one is optional
phpmyadmin:
# List of dependencies
depends_on:
- db
# Image name (optinally version)
# https://docs.docker.com/compose/compose-file/#image
image: phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin
# Define restart policy
# https://docs.docker.com/compose/compose-file/#restart
restart: always
# Ports mapping
ports:
- 8080:80
# Add environment variables
# https://docs.docker.com/compose/compose-file/#environment
environment:
PMA_HOST: db
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: password
# List of networks to join
networks:
- wp
# Top building block that defines
# All networks used for this service
networks:
wp:
# Top building block that defines
# All volumes used for this service
volumes:
db_data:
That’s it — time to build our stack! Bear in mind that when you run it for a first time it is going to download all necessary stack images. Every subsequent invocation is going to be almost instant.
docker-compose up -d
Voilà!
Hopefully you found this helpful. This simple setup helps me a lot to spin up a new WordPress from scratch in absolutely no time.
Ps. For simple websites like this one don’t use Wordpress. Use Hugo instead :)
Hey - Thanks for the nice write, its been helpful. I was windows for a long time and using wamp for my wordpress sites and thinking to switch over to docker now. Wanted to know your experience with the docker in comparison to standalone php-apache-mysql setup. Which one do you use? and does each of your wordpress site have a separate docker-compose file? or there is only one docker-compose file you use and have all your sites inside it.
Docker all the things :)
For each project I create new Docker compose file.
Hopefully that helps.
Have great day 🥑
On the screen where we have to put database details, what hostname should I put for mysql?
That should come preconfigured when you set it up like I did. The piece of config that decides about it is this:
WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: db:3306
WORDPRESS_DB_USER: wordpress
WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: wordpress
Thanks for reply, I am asking about this screen. What information should I put here... https://uploads.disquscdn.c...
What do I do if the ports are already in use? I attempted to kill the ports used but was not able to, so I tried changing them in the config file but still couldn't get this to run.
Hi Pawel! Thanks for nice starting point to create WordPress in seconds but I have question.. I'm using PhpStorm and when it only showing all from `wp-content` directory PhpStorm does not hint the core functions because there are not in project. Do you know how to configure it to use the function hints?
Hi.
I see what is going on. I am affraid that in this case you have to expose a project root level in your volume
["./:/var/www/html"]to make PhpStorm correctly infer WP core methods. I am not a PhpStorm user and potentially there is a much better way. Sorry for being not too helpful.Have a great day 🥑
Hi Pawel! Nice tutorial, thanks! Question though - how would you mount php.ini ? I'm using Ubuntu on WSL.
Great tutorial. However, I also need .htaccess file on my wp folder because some plugins and also WP itself is changing it. How to do that?
Hi Pawel, thanks a lot for this tutorial. I followed your steps, but I cant edit the files of the volume. They all have user `www-data` while my user is adam. File permission is 644, so I can't even edit them, if I add `www-data` group to `adam`. Any advice how to fix it? Also asked this here: https://stackoverflow.com/q...
I recommend to try Codelobster IDE for Wordpress development - http://www.codelobster.com/wordpress.html