TFGrid WordPress Guide¶

Self-hosted WordPress with Caddy and MariaDB on ThreeFold Grid.

Overview¶

Deploy a production-ready WordPress installation with automatic SSL, database management, and backup capabilities.

Key Features:

🌐 One-click deployment - Deploy in under 5 minutes
🔒 Automatic SSL - Caddy handles Let's Encrypt certificates
💾 Persistent storage - Docker volumes for data safety
📦 Easy backups - Built-in backup and restore commands
🔧 WP-CLI included - Full command-line management

Quick Start¶

Prerequisites¶

TFGrid account with mnemonic configured
tfgrid-compose installed (Installation Guide)

Deploy¶

# Deploy from registry
tfgrid-compose up tfgrid-wordpress

# Or with custom configuration
tfgrid-compose up tfgrid-wordpress --var DOMAIN=blog.example.com

Access Your Site¶

After deployment completes:

WordPress: https://your-domain.com
Admin Panel: https://your-domain.com/wp-admin

Complete the WordPress setup wizard to create your admin account.

Configuration¶

Environment Variables¶

Variable	Required	Default	Description
`DOMAIN`	Yes	-	Public domain for WordPress
`SSL_EMAIL`	No	-	Email for Let's Encrypt
`DB_PASSWORD`	No	Auto-generated	MariaDB password
`DB_ROOT_PASSWORD`	No	Auto-generated	MariaDB root password

Example Configuration¶

Create a .env file:

DOMAIN=blog.example.com
SSL_EMAIL=admin@example.com

Or pass variables directly:

tfgrid-compose up tfgrid-wordpress \
  --var DOMAIN=blog.example.com \
  --var SSL_EMAIL=admin@example.com

Architecture¶

┌─────────────┐     ┌───────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐
│   Internet  │────▶│  Caddy :443   │────▶│  WordPress   │
│             │     │  (auto-SSL)   │     │  :8080       │
└─────────────┘     └───────────────┘     └──────┬───────┘
                                                 │
                                          ┌──────▼───────┐
                                          │   MariaDB    │
                                          │   :3306      │
                                          └──────────────┘

Components:

Caddy - Reverse proxy with automatic HTTPS
WordPress - Official Docker image (latest)
MariaDB - Database with health checks

Commands¶

Backup & Restore¶

# Create full backup
tfgrid-compose backup

# List available backups
tfgrid-compose list-backups

# Restore from backup
tfgrid-compose restore --backup /path/to/backup.tar.gz

Logs¶

# All logs
tfgrid-compose logs

# Specific service
tfgrid-compose logs wordpress
tfgrid-compose logs db
tfgrid-compose logs caddy

# Follow logs
tfgrid-compose logs wordpress --follow

Management¶

# Open WordPress container shell
tfgrid-compose shell

# Run WP-CLI commands
tfgrid-compose wp core version
tfgrid-compose wp plugin list
tfgrid-compose wp user list
tfgrid-compose wp cache flush

# Restart services
tfgrid-compose restart

# Health check
tfgrid-compose healthcheck

Resource Requirements¶

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
CPU	1 core	2 cores
Memory	1 GB	2 GB
Disk	20 GB	50 GB

Estimated Cost: $10-20/month on ThreeFold Grid

Backup Details¶

What's Backed Up¶

Database - Full MySQL dump
WordPress files - wp-content, themes, plugins, uploads
Configuration - .env and Caddyfile

Backup Location¶

Backups are stored in /opt/wordpress/backups/ with format:

wordpress_backup_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.tar.gz

Automated Backups¶

Set up a cron job for automated backups:

# Add to crontab (daily at 2 AM)
0 2 * * * /opt/wordpress/scripts/backup.sh

SSL Configuration¶

Automatic SSL (Default)¶

Caddy automatically obtains and renews Let's Encrypt certificates when you provide a domain.

Requirements for SSL¶

Domain DNS must point to your server's IP
Ports 80 and 443 must be accessible
(Optional) Provide SSL_EMAIL for certificate notifications

Local Development¶

For local development without SSL:

DOMAIN=localhost

Caddy will serve HTTP only when using localhost or IP addresses.

Customization¶

Installing Plugins¶

# Via WP-CLI
tfgrid-compose wp plugin install woocommerce --activate

# Or via WordPress admin panel
# https://your-domain.com/wp-admin/plugins.php

Installing Themes¶

# Via WP-CLI
tfgrid-compose wp theme install flavor --activate

# Or via WordPress admin panel

PHP Configuration¶

To modify PHP settings, edit the WordPress container:

tfgrid-compose shell
# Inside container:
echo "upload_max_filesize = 64M" >> /usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/uploads.ini
echo "post_max_size = 64M" >> /usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/uploads.ini

Troubleshooting¶

Common Issues¶

"Error establishing database connection"

Check MariaDB is running:
```
docker ps | grep wordpress-db
```
Verify database credentials in /opt/wordpress/.env
Check database logs:
```
tfgrid-compose logs db
```

SSL certificate not working

Ensure domain DNS points to server IP:
```
dig +short your-domain.com
```
Check Caddy logs:
```
tfgrid-compose logs caddy
```
Verify ports 80/443 are open

WordPress is slow

Install a caching plugin (e.g., W3 Total Cache)
Check available memory:
```
free -h
```
Consider upgrading VM resources

White screen of death

Enable WordPress debug mode:

tfgrid-compose wp config set WP_DEBUG true

Check WordPress logs:
```
tfgrid-compose logs wordpress
```

Health Check¶

Run a comprehensive health check:

tfgrid-compose healthcheck

This checks: - Docker service status - Container health - HTTP response - Disk space

Migration¶

From Existing WordPress¶

Export your existing site using a plugin (e.g., All-in-One WP Migration)
Deploy TFGrid WordPress
Install the same migration plugin
Import your backup

To Another Server¶

Create a backup:
```
tfgrid-compose backup
```
Copy backup file to new server
Deploy TFGrid WordPress on new server

Restore:

tfgrid-compose restore --backup /path/to/backup.tar.gz

Security Best Practices¶

Keep WordPress updated - Enable auto-updates or update regularly
Use strong passwords - For admin and database
Install security plugins - Wordfence, Sucuri, etc.
Regular backups - Set up automated daily backups
Limit login attempts - Use a plugin to prevent brute force
Use HTTPS - Already enabled by default with Caddy

TFGrid Studio Ecosystem

Integrated tools and resources

TFGrid Studio

tfgrid.studio

Install

install.tfgrid.studio

Registry

registry.tfgrid.studio

You are here

Documentation

docs.tfgrid.studio