> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://bunnynet-cb9733c2-support-migration.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# WordPress

> Deploy WordPress to Magic Containers

This guide walks you through deploying WordPress with MariaDB to Magic Containers. You can deploy using a one-click template or configure the containers manually.

<Info>
  This is a starter guide intended to show how quickly a real workload can run
  on Magic Containers. It's aimed at developers comfortable customising Docker
  images, working with environment variables and volumes, and making changes to
  a WordPress install at the file level. A production-grade WordPress deployment
  will need additional hardening, image tuning, backup, and caching decisions
  beyond what's covered here.
</Info>

<Tip>
  Don't have a bunny.net account yet? [Sign up](https://dash.bunny.net/auth/register) and enable Magic Containers to get started.
</Tip>

## Deploy with a template

The fastest way to get WordPress running is to use the built-in template, which pre-configures WordPress and MariaDB with persistent volumes.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the WordPress template">
    In the bunny.net dashboard, go to **Magic Containers** and open the [**WordPress template**](https://dash.bunny.net/magic-containers/templates/wordpress-0).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name your app">
    Give your application a name.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure environment variables">
    The template includes pre-configured environment variables for WordPress and MariaDB. Review and update passwords as needed before deploying.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose a region">
    Select the region where you want to deploy your application.

    <Warning>
      WordPress with MariaDB should use single region deployment with a single instance. Each pod gets its own dedicated volume with no data replication — this applies both across regions and within the same region.
    </Warning>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Deploy">
    Click **Deploy** to launch your WordPress site.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Once deployed, open the endpoint URL to complete the WordPress installation wizard.

## Deploy manually

If you prefer to configure everything yourself, follow these steps.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a new app">
    Go to the [bunny.net dashboard](https://dash.bunny.net), select **Magic Containers**, and click **Add App**. Select **Single region deployment**.

    <Warning>
      WordPress with a database should use single region deployment with a single instance. Each pod gets its own dedicated volume with no data replication — scaling to multiple pods or regions would result in separate, isolated databases each with their own data.
    </Warning>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add the WordPress container">
    Click **Add Container** and configure the image:

    * **Registry**: Docker Hub
    * **Image**: `library/wordpress`
    * **Tag**: `apache`

    Configure the following environment variables:

    | Variable                | Value             |
    | ----------------------- | ----------------- |
    | `WORDPRESS_DB_HOST`     | `127.0.0.1`       |
    | `WORDPRESS_DB_USER`     | `wordpress`       |
    | `WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD` | a strong password |
    | `WORDPRESS_DB_NAME`     | `wordpress`       |
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add a volume for WordPress content">
    In the **Volumes** section of the WordPress container, add a volume:

    * **Name**: `wp-content`
    * **Mount path**: `/var/www/html/wp-content`

    This persists your themes, plugins, and uploads across restarts.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add the MariaDB container">
    Click **Add Container** and configure a second container:

    * **Registry**: Docker Hub
    * **Image**: `library/mariadb`
    * **Tag**: `latest`

    Configure the following environment variables:

    | Variable                | Value                                    |
    | ----------------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
    | `MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD` | a strong root password                   |
    | `MARIADB_USER`          | `wordpress`                              |
    | `MARIADB_PASSWORD`      | same password as `WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD` |
    | `MARIADB_DATABASE`      | `wordpress`                              |
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add a volume for MariaDB">
    In the **Volumes** section of the MariaDB container, add a volume:

    * **Name**: `mariadb-data`
    * **Mount path**: `/var/lib/mysql`

    This ensures your database files persist across restarts and redeployments.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add an endpoint">
    Go to the **Endpoints** tab, click **Add New Endpoint**, and set the container port to `80`. Select the **WordPress** container.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Deploy">
    Review your settings and click **Confirm and Create**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the site URL">
    After deploying, copy the WordPress endpoint URL from the **Endpoints** tab (e.g. `https://mc-xxx.bunny.run`). Go to the WordPress container's **Environment Variables** and add:

    | Variable     | Value                       |
    | ------------ | --------------------------- |
    | `WP_HOME`    | your WordPress endpoint URL |
    | `WP_SITEURL` | same as `WP_HOME`           |

    This prevents WordPress from auto-detecting the wrong URL, which can happen in multi-container setups where multiple endpoints exist. Redeploy after adding these variables.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Complete the installation

<Info>
  If you plan to use a custom domain, add it to your WordPress endpoint and
  update `WP_HOME` and `WP_SITEURL` **before** running the installation wizard.
  WordPress stores the site URL during installation, and completing setup on the
  default `mc-xxx.bunny.run` URL means you'll need to update it later. See [Add
  a custom hostname](#add-a-custom-hostname) for details.
</Info>

Once your app is running, open the WordPress endpoint URL in your browser. WordPress will display the installation wizard where you can:

1. Select your language
2. Set the site title
3. Create an admin account
4. Complete the installation

After setup, your WordPress site is live and accessible at the endpoint URL.

## Environment variables

The WordPress container supports these key environment variables:

| Variable                 | Description                                                       |
| ------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `WORDPRESS_DB_HOST`      | Database host (use `127.0.0.1` for multi-container)               |
| `WORDPRESS_DB_USER`      | Database username                                                 |
| `WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD`  | Database password                                                 |
| `WORDPRESS_DB_NAME`      | Database name                                                     |
| `WORDPRESS_TABLE_PREFIX` | Table prefix (default: `wp_`)                                     |
| `WORDPRESS_DEBUG`        | Enable debug mode (`1` or `0`)                                    |
| `WP_HOME`                | Full URL of the site (e.g. `https://mc-xxx.bunny.run`)            |
| `WP_SITEURL`             | Full URL where WordPress is installed (usually same as `WP_HOME`) |

<Warning>
  Use `127.0.0.1` instead of `localhost` for the database host. Some clients
  interpret `localhost` as a Unix socket connection, which will fail in a
  container environment. Using `127.0.0.1` forces a TCP connection.
</Warning>

## Persistent volumes

The WordPress template uses two persistent volumes:

| Volume         | Mount path                 | Purpose                      |
| -------------- | -------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| `wp-content`   | `/var/www/html/wp-content` | Themes, plugins, and uploads |
| `mariadb-data` | `/var/lib/mysql`           | Database files               |

Without these volumes, all data is lost when containers restart. See [persistent volumes](/magic-containers/persistent-volumes) for more details.

<Info>
  Always set strong passwords for database credentials, even if the database is
  not exposed externally. Other containers in the same pod can access the
  network, and a password protects against accidental or unauthorized access.
</Info>

## Manage files with File Browser

Since Magic Containers don't yet provide SSH access, you can temporarily add [File Browser](https://filebrowser.org) as a sidecar container when you need to inspect files, copy something out, or run a manual procedure that can't be done from WordPress admin (for example, editing `wp-config.php`, removing a broken plugin directory, or uploading a file that exceeds the WordPress upload limit).

<Warning>
  Treat File Browser as a short-lived tool. The `filebrowser/filebrowser` image
  doesn't accept credentials through environment variables, and on first boot it
  generates a random password that is printed **once** to the container logs and
  not stored anywhere you can retrieve later. Use it for the task at hand, then
  remove the endpoint and container. For anything you do regularly, do it
  through WordPress admin instead.
</Warning>

<Steps>
  <Step title="Add the File Browser container">
    In your app settings, click **Add Container** and configure:

    * **Registry**: Docker Hub
    * **Image**: `filebrowser/filebrowser`
    * **Tag**: `latest`

    Since WordPress already uses port `80`, configure File Browser to listen on a different port by setting the following environment variable:

    | Variable  | Value  |
    | --------- | ------ |
    | `FB_PORT` | `8085` |
  </Step>

  <Step title="Mount the wp-content volume">
    In the **Volumes** section, mount the same `wp-content` volume used by the WordPress container:

    * **Name**: `wp-content`
    * **Mount path**: `/srv`

    File Browser serves files from `/srv` by default, so this gives it access to your WordPress themes, plugins, and uploads.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add an endpoint">
    Go to the **Endpoints** tab and add a new endpoint for the File Browser container on port `8085`.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Capture the generated password from the logs">
    Open your app and go to the **Logs** tab as it deploys. On first boot, File Browser prints a line similar to:

    ```
    User 'admin' initialized with randomly generated password: <random-password>
    ```

    The password is shown once. If you miss it, redeploy the container to generate a new one.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Log in">
    Open the File Browser endpoint URL in your browser and sign in:

    * **Username**: `admin`
    * **Password**: the value you copied from the logs

    Do your file work, then move on to the cleanup step below.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Remove File Browser when you're done">
    Once you've finished, remove the File Browser endpoint and container from your app and redeploy. This closes off the publicly reachable login page and avoids leaving a long-lived tool exposed alongside your site.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  Anyone with the endpoint URL can reach the File Browser login page.
</Warning>

## Add a custom hostname

To use your own domain with WordPress:

1. Go to your app's **Endpoints** tab
2. Add a custom hostname to your CDN endpoint
3. Update the `WP_HOME` and `WP_SITEURL` environment variables to your custom domain (e.g. `https://example.com`)

<Warning>
  If you installed WordPress using the default `mc-xxx.bunny.run` URL, you must
  update `WP_HOME` and `WP_SITEURL` to match your custom domain. Without this,
  WordPress will continue redirecting to the old URL for login, admin pages, and
  internal links.
</Warning>

See [endpoints](/magic-containers/endpoints) for more details on configuring custom hostnames.