WordPress + Caddy (Auto-HTTPS) — Ultra-Light Starter

Single docker-compose.yml that runs WordPress + MariaDB behind Caddy with automatic HTTPS via Let’s Encrypt.
Tuned to stay around ≤512 MB RAM. Fork it and ship simple brochure/blog sites fast.

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What’s Inside

• 🔐 Auto-HTTPS (Caddy + Let’s Encrypt) — zero config beyond domain + email
• 🐳 Single compose file — no extra proxy files
• 💾 Bind mounts: ./wp (site files) and ./dbdata (database)
• ⚙️ Memory-trimmed MariaDB & WP caps for small droplets

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Repo Layout

• docker-compose.yml — Caddy + WordPress + MariaDB
• .env.example — copy to .env and set secrets
• wp/ — WordPress files (commit with .gitkeep)
• dbdata/ — MariaDB data (commit with .gitkeep)

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Quick Start (Local Development)

1. Copy env and set values:

   cp .env.example .env

2. For production, set:

   DOMAIN=yourdomain.com
   LETSENCRYPT_EMAIL=you@yourdomain.com

3. Bring it up:

   docker compose up -d

4. Open Site:
   • Production: https://yourdomain.com (cert auto-provisioned)
   • Local: https://localhost (browser may warn for local cert)
5. Stop / Remove:

   docker compose down
   # Remove all data (careful!):
   # docker compose down -v && rm -rf wp/* dbdata/*

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Deploy to DigitalOcean (Fast Path)

1. SSH as root

   ssh root@YOUR_DROPLET_IP

2. Install Docker Quickly

   curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

3. Clone your fork and prep

   mkdir -p /opt && cd /opt
   git clone https://github.com/notKeion/wordpress-docker-starter.git wordpress-docker-starter
   cd wordpress-docker-starter
   
   cp .env.example .env
   # Set a real domain + email and strong DB passwords
   nano .env
   
   mkdir -p wp dbdata && touch wp/.gitkeep dbdata/.gitkeep

   Generate a secure password (Optionally, but recommended):

   # Strong hex password (64 chars ≈ 256-bit), great for .env values
   openssl rand -hex 32

4. Open ports and start:

   # If you use UFW:
   ufw allow 22; ufw allow 80; ufw allow 443; ufw --force enable
   
   docker compose up -d

5. Updating Later:

   cd /opt/wordpress-caddy-starter
   git pull --ff-only
   docker compose pull
   docker compose up -d --remove-orphans

Memory Tuning (if you hit OOM)

• In docker-compose.yml:
  • Raise wordpress.mem_limit to 320m if WP admin/plugin installs restart PHP.
  • Raise db --innodb_buffer_pool_size to 96M (or 128M) for larger datasets.
• Avoid heavy plugins; keep active plugins lean.

Common Commands

docker compose ps                 # show services
docker compose logs -f wordpress  # tail WP logs
docker compose logs -f db         # tail DB logs
docker compose exec wordpress bash  # shell into WP container

Database Backups

docker compose exec db sh -c \
'mysqldump -u"$MARIADB_USER" -p"$MARIADB_PASSWORD" "$MARIADB_DATABASE"' \
> db_backup.sql

Files: archive wp/ (uploads, themes, plugins).