Deploying Blog Using WordPress on AWS with Docker

Hannah · September 5, 2024

AWS

Prerequisites

  1. AWS Account
  2. Basic knowledge of AWS EC2 and SSH
  3. Docker and Docker Compose installed on your local machine

Step 1: Launch an EC2 Instance

  1. Log in to the AWS Management Console.
  2. Navigate to the EC2 Dashboard and click “Launch Instance”.

  3. Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI): Select Amazon Linux 2 AMI (recommended).

  4. Choose an Instance Type: Select the instance type (t2.micro is eligible for the free tier).

  5. Configure Instance Details: Default settings are usually sufficient. Ensure the instance is in the desired VPC and subnet.

  6. Add Storage: Default 8 GB is typically sufficient, but you can adjust based on your needs.

  7. Add Tags:Optionally, add tags to help identify your instance.

  8. Configure Security Group:
    • Create a new security group or select an existing one b. Add rules to allow HTTP (port 80), HTTPS (port 443), and SSH (port 22) access.
  9. Review and Launch:
    • Review your settings and click “Launch”.
    • Choose an existing key pair or create a new one for SSH access. Make sure to download the key pair if you create a new one.

Step 2: Connect to Your EC2 Instance

  1. Open your terminal and navigate to the directory where your key pair (.pem file) is located.

  2. Connect to your EC2 instance using SSH:

ssh -i "your-key-pair.pem" ec2-user@your-ec2-public-ip

Step 3: Install Docker and Docker Compose

  1. Update the package index: 
    sudo yum update -y
  2. Install Docker: 
    sudo amazon-linux-extras install docker -y
sudo service docker start
sudo usermod -a -G docker ec2-user
  3. Install Docker Compose: 
    sudo curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/1.29.2/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
  4. Verify installation: docker-compose –version

Step 4: Create Docker Compose File for WordPress

  1. Create a new directory for your WordPress project: 
    mkdir wordpress && cd wordpress
  2. Create a docker-compose.yml file: 
    nano docker-compose.yml
  3. Add the following content to the docker-compose.yml file: 
    version: '3.1'
services:
  wordpress:
    image: wordpress:latest
    restart: always
    ports:
      - 80:80
    environment:
      WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: db
      WORDPRESS_DB_USER: exampleuser
      WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: examplepass
      WORDPRESS_DB_NAME: exampledb

  db:
    image: mysql:5.7
    restart: always
    environment:
      MYSQL_DATABASE: exampledb
      MYSQL_USER: exampleuser
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: examplepass
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: rootpassword

Step 5: Start the WordPress and MySQL Containers

  1. Run Docker Compose to start the containers: 
    sudo docker-compose up -d
  2. Verify that the containers are running: 
    sudo docker-compose ps

Step 6: Configure WordPress

  1. Open your browser and navigate to your EC2 instance’s public IP address.

  2. Complete the WordPress installation:

  3. Choose your language.

  4. Enter your site title, username, password, and email.

  5. Click “Install WordPress”.

Step 7: Access Your WordPress Site

  1. Log in to your WordPress site:
    • Go to http://your-ec2-public-ip/wp-admin.
    • Enter the username and password you set during the WordPress installation.
  2. Customize and start blogging: You can now customize your WordPress site and start creating content.

Additional Configuration (Optional)

  1. Enable HTTPS: Consider using a reverse proxy like Nginx with Let’s Encrypt to enable HTTPS for your site.

  2. Backup and Monitoring: Set up regular backups and monitoring to ensure your site’s availability and security.

  3. Scalability: As your site grows, consider scaling your infrastructure using AWS services like Elastic Load Balancing and RDS.

Reference

For additional details, you can refer to this comprehensive guide: How to Build a Web on AWS for Yourself.

This guide should help you get your blog up and running using WordPress on an AWS EC2 instance with Docker. Have fun

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