> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developer.upsun.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Deploy Composer-based WordPress on Upsun Cloud > Complete the last required steps to successfully deploy WordPress on Upsun Cloud. > [!NOTE] > > Before you start, check out the [Upsun Cloud demo app](https://console.upsun.com/projects/create-project) > and the main [Getting started guide](https://developer.upsun.com/docs/get-started/here). > These resources provide all the core concepts and common commands you need to know before using the following materials. For WordPress to successfully deploy and operate, **after completing the [Getting started guide](https://developer.upsun.com/docs/get-started/here)**, you still need to add some required files and make a few changes to your Upsun Cloud configuration. ## Before you begin You need: > [!NOTE] > > Assumptions > There are many ways you can set up a WordPress site or Upsun Cloud project. > The instructions on this page were designed based on the following assumptions: > > * You are building a composer-based WordPress site using John P Bloch's [WordPress Composer Fork](https://github.com/johnpbloch/wordpress). > * You do not have a `composer.json` file, or are comfortable making changes to your existing version. > * You selected PHP as your runtime, and MariaDB as a service during the Getting Started guide. In the examples below, the top-level application key is shown as ``; replace this placeholder with the name of your own application. ## 1. Add required files To ensure you have all the required files and directories in your project, follow these steps: 1. Copy the following files from the [WordPress Composer Example Snippets](https://github.com/upsun/snippets/tree/main/examples/wordpress-composer) and add them to the root of your project: * The [composer.json](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/upsun/snippets/refs/heads/main/examples/wordpress-composer/composer.json) file declares project dependencies and specifies project settings and metadata for [Composer](https://getcomposer.org/) to use * The [wp-cli.yml](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/upsun/snippets/refs/heads/main/examples/wordpress-composer/wp-cli.yml) file contains the configuration values, related to your site, for the [WordPress CLI](https://wp-cli.org/) to use * The [.environment](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/upsun/snippets/refs/heads/main/examples/wordpress-composer/.environment) file maps and creates environment variables to be used in `wp-config.php` * The [wp-config.php](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/upsun/snippets/refs/heads/main/examples/wordpress-composer/wp-config.php) file contains your site's base configuration details, such as database connection information 2. Optional: To support non-public plugins, add a `plugins` directory to your project. To ensure Git tracks empty folders, add a `plugins/.gitkeep` file as well. 3. Add and commit your changes. ```bash Terminal theme={null} git add . git commit -m "Adds initial WordPress and Upsun configuration files" ``` ## 2. Configure your root location Now that we have added the initial set of files to our repository, we need to make some additional modifications to the Upsun configuration, so Upsun knows how to handle certain requests. Locate the `web:locations` section in the `.upsun/config.yaml` file and update the root (`/`) location as follows: applications: \: source: root: "/" type: 'php:\{\{version:php:latest}}' web: locations: "/": passthru: "/index.php" root: "wordpress" index: \- "index.php" expires: 600 scripts: true allow: true rules: ^/license\\.text\$: allow: false ^/readme\\.html\$: allow: false > [!NOTE] > > If you're migrating your site, you may already have a `composer.json` file. > You may even have generated your own instead of starting from the Upsun Fixed template version.\\ > > If so, you may also have added a [`wordpress-install-dir` property](https://github.com/johnpbloch/wordpress-core-installer?tab=readme-ov-file#usage) for `extras` in your `composer.json` file.\\ > > In this case, set `root:` to the name of the directory where you are installing WordPress. ## 3. Set up a location for uploads WordPress needs a writable location to store uploaded media. To set one up, follow these steps: 1. Create the location.\ To do so, add a `/wp-content/uploads` location as follows: applications: \: source: root: "/" type: 'php:\{\{version:php:latest}}' web: locations: "/": passthru: "/index.php" root: "wordpress" index: \- "index.php" expires: 600 scripts: true allow: true rules: ^/license\\.text\$: allow: false ^/readme\\.html\$: allow: false "/wp-content/uploads": root: "wordpress/wp-content/uploads" scripts: false allow: false rules: '(?\: source: root: "/" type: 'php:\{\{version:php:latest}}' \ mounts: "wordpress/wp-content/uploads": source: storage source\_path: "uploads" > [!NOTE] > > If you have designated a different directory through the `wordpress-install-dir` property in your `composer.json` file, update the > mount location accordingly. ## 4. Install the WP-CLI To ensure we are able to perform tasks later in the deployment stage (e.g. updating the database, flushing cache, etc.) we need to make sure the [wp-cli](https://wp-cli.org/) utility is a dependency of the application container. While still in the `.upsun/config.yaml` file, locate the `dependencies.php` section, and add the following: applications: \: source: root: "/" type: 'php:\{\{version:php:latest}}' \ dependencies: php: wp-cli/wp-cli-bundle: "^2.4" > [!NOTE] > > It is possible the `dependencies` section is commented out. When uncommenting, pay attention to the indentation and that > the `dependencies` key aligns with other sibling keys (e.g. `build`, `hooks`, etc.) ## 5. Install dependencies during the build hook To ensure your Composer dependencies are installed during the [build stage](https://developer.upsun.com/docs/core-concepts/build-deploy.md#the-build), locate the `build:` section (below the `hooks:` section).\ Update the `build:` section as follows: applications: \: source: root: "/" type: 'php:\{\{version:php:latest}}' ... hooks: build: | set -eux composer install --prefer-dist --optimize-autoloader --apcu-autoloader --no-progress --no-ansi --no-interaction rsync -a plugins/ wordpress/wp-content/plugins/ You can adjust the `composer install` command to meet your specific requirements. If you aren't using the `plugins` directory to manage non-public plugins, remove the `rsync` command. ## 6. Launch tasks during the deploy hook Some tasks need to be performed after the images for our application are built, but before the newly built application can receive requests. Therefore, the best time to launch them is during the [deploy hook](https://developer.upsun.com/docs/core-concepts/build-deploy.md#deploy-steps). Such tasks include: * Flushing the object cache, which might have changed between current production and newly deployed changes * Running the WordPress database update procedure, in case core is being updated with the newly deployed changes * Running any due cron jobs To launch these tasks during the deploy hook, locate the `deploy:` section (below the `build:` section).\ Update the `deploy:` and `post_deploy:` sections as follows: applications: \: source: root: "/" type: 'php:\{\{version:php:latest}}' ... hooks: deploy: | set -eux \# Flushes the object cache wp cache flush \# Runs the WordPress database update procedure wp core update-db post\_deploy: | set -eu \# Runs all due cron events wp cron event run --due-now ## 7. Configure your default route Next, instruct the [router](https://developer.upsun.com/docs/core-concepts/structure.md#router) how to handle requests to your WordPress app. To do so, locate the `routes:` section, and beneath it, the `"https://{default}/":` route. Update the route as follows: applications: \: source: root: "/" type: 'php:\{\{version:php:latest}}' ... routes: "https\://\{default}/": type: upstream upstream: "\:http" cache: enabled: true cookies: \- '/^wordpress\_\*/' \- '/^wp-\*/' Matching the application name `` with the `upstream` definition `:http` is the most important setting to ensure at this stage. If these strings aren't the same, the WordPress deployment will not succeed. ## 8. Add your crons Under your application configuration you can now add a cron. applications: \: source: root: "/" type: 'php:\{\{version:php:latest}}' ... crons: wp-cron: spec: '\*/10 \* \* \* \*' commands: start: wp cron event run --due-now shutdown\_timeout: 600 ## 9. Update the `.environment` file We need to add a few environment variables that will be used inside the `wp-config.php` file we added previously. Open the `.environment` file. Just after the other database-related variables, add a blank line or two and add the following: ```bash .environment theme={null} # Routes, URLS, and primary domain export SITE_ROUTES="$(echo "$PLATFORM_ROUTES" | base64 --decode)"; \ export UPSTREAM_URLS="$(echo "$SITE_ROUTES" | jq -r --arg app "$PLATFORM_APPLICATION_NAME" 'map_values(select(.type == "upstream" and .upstream == $app)) | keys')"; \ export DOMAIN_CURRENT_SITE="$(echo "$SITE_ROUTES" | jq -r --arg app "$PLATFORM_APPLICATION_NAME" 'map_values(select(.primary == true and .type == "upstream" and .upstream == $app)) | keys | .[0] | if (.[-1:] == "/") then (.[0:-1]) else . end')" ``` ## 10. Commit and push You can now commit all the changes made to `.upsun/config.yaml` and `.environment` and push to Upsun Cloud. ```bash Terminal theme={null} git add . git commit -m "Add changes to complete my upsun configuration" upsun push ``` ## 11. Install WordPress Once Upsun Cloud has completed building and deploying your project, it will provide the list of routes assigned to your project. You can now visit your site and complete the WordPress installation as you normally would. ## 12. Routinely run WP Cron (optional) If your site does not receive enough traffic to ensure [WP Cron jobs](https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/cron/) run in a timely manner, or your site uses caching heavily such that WP Cron isn't being triggered, you might consider adding a [cron job](https://developer.upsun.com/docs/configure-apps/image-properties/crons.md) to your project's configuration to have WP CLI run those scheduled tasks on a routine basis. To do so, locate the `crons:` section that is commented out, and update it as follows: applications: \: source: root: "/" type: 'php:\{\{version:php:latest}}' \ crons: wp-cron: spec: '\*/15 \* \* \* \*' commands: start: wp cron event run --due-now shutdown\_timeout: 600 The above example will trigger the wp-cli every 15th minute to run WP Cron tasks that are due. Feel free to adjust based on your individual requirements. > [!NOTE] > > When uncommenting, pay attention to the indentation and that the `crons` key aligns with other sibling keys (e.g. `hooks`, `dependencies`, etc.) ## Further resources ### Documentation * [PHP documentation](https://developer.upsun.com/docs/languages/php) * [Extensions](https://developer.upsun.com/docs/languages/php/extensions.md) * [Performance tuning](https://developer.upsun.com/docs/languages/php/tuning.md) * [PHP-FPM sizing](https://developer.upsun.com/docs/languages/php/fpm.md) * [Authenticated Composer](https://developer.upsun.com/docs/languages/php/composer-auth.md) ### Community content * [PHP topics](https://support.platform.sh/hc/en-us/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&query=php) * [WordPress topics](https://support.platform.sh/hc/en-us/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93\&query=wordpress) ### Blogs * [To Upsun, a WordPress migration story](https://upsun.com/blog/to-upsun-a-wordpress-migration-story/) This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.