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.

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.