Running WordPress Locally with Docker Compose

If you want to run WordPress locally, skip XAMPP/MAMP and use Docker Compose. Here’s a setup that works for migrations, plugin/theme dev, or testing.

1. Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose installed (docker compose CLI should work)
• Project folder (name it whatever you want)

2. The Compose File

Paste this as compose.yml in your project root:

services:
  wordpress:
    image: wordpress:6.5-php8.2-apache
    container_name: wp_site
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    environment:
      WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: db
      WORDPRESS_DB_NAME: wordpress
      WORDPRESS_DB_USER: wpuser
      WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: wppassword
      WORDPRESS_TABLE_PREFIX: your_table_prefix_
      WP_DEBUG: true
    volumes:
      - ./public_html:/var/www/html
    depends_on:
      - db

  db:
    image: mariadb:10.6
    container_name: wp_db
    restart: always
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: rootpassword
      MYSQL_DATABASE: wordpress
      MYSQL_USER: wpuser
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: wppassword
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/mysql

volumes:
  db_data:

Replace yourprefix_ with your table prefix (default is wp_).
Update passwords as needed.

3. Add Your Files

• New site: download WP core and put it in public_html
• Existing site: extract your public_html from production here

You can also drop your database export (database.sql) in the root directory for later.

4. Start Containers

docker compose up -d

This will:
– Start WordPress at http://localhost:8080
– Start MariaDB for your WP instance

5. Import Database (if migrating)

Replace database.sql with your file name:

docker exec -i wp_db mysql -u wpuser -pwppassword wordpress < database.sql

6. Table Prefix

If your imported DB tables use a custom prefix (not wp_), set WORDPRESS_TABLE_PREFIX in your compose file (as above).
Otherwise, WordPress will act like it’s a fresh install.

7. URLs and Media

If you migrated from production, update all site URLs:

docker run --rm --network yourproject_default \
  -v "$PWD/public_html:/var/www/html" \
  -w /var/www/html \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_HOST=db \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_USER=wpuser \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD=wppassword \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_NAME=wordpress \
  -e WORDPRESS_TABLE_PREFIX=yourprefix_ \
  wordpress:cli \
  php -d memory_limit=512M /usr/local/bin/wp search-replace 'https://yourproductiondomain.com' 'http://localhost:8080' --skip-columns=guid

Adjust network name, domain, and prefix as needed. Run the command twice, the first time as shown above and the second time remove the ‘http’ / ‘https’ from the url listed, since both forms exist in WordPress dbs.

Check our Website Repair service and our SEO Audit service

8. Logging In

If your WP admin login doesn’t work after importing, reset the password with:

docker run --rm --network yourproject_default \
  -v "$PWD/public_html:/var/www/html" \
  -w /var/www/html \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_HOST=db \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_USER=wpuser \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD=wppassword \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_NAME=wordpress \
  -e WORDPRESS_TABLE_PREFIX=yourprefix_ \
  wordpress:cli \
  php -d memory_limit=512M /usr/local/bin/wp user update youradmin --user_pass='yournewpass'

9. Done

Site is up at http://localhost:8080.
Debug as needed using WP_DEBUG or by checking logs.

No magic, no plugins required. If you break it, just blow away containers and volumes and start over.