NGINX Unit

WordPress§

Note

For a more specific walkthrough that includes SSL setup and NGINX as a proxy, see our blog post.

To run the WordPress content management system using Unit:

  1. Install Unit with a PHP 7.3+ language module.

  2. Install and configure WordPress’s prerequisites.

  3. Install WordPress’s core files. Here, we install it at /path/to/app/; use a real path in your configuration.

  4. Update the wp-config.php file with your database settings and other customizations.

  5. Run the following command so Unit can access the application directory:

    # chown -R unit:unit /path/to/app/
    

    Note

    The unit:unit user-group pair is available only with official packages, Docker images, and some third-party repos. Otherwise, account names may differ; run the ps aux | grep unitd command to be sure.

    For further details, including permissions, see the security checklist.

  6. Next, prepare the WordPress configuration for Unit (use real values for share and root):

    {
        "listeners": {
            "*:80": {
                "pass": "routes"
            }
    
        },
    
        "routes": [
            {
                "match": {
                    "uri": [
                        "*.php",
                        "*.php/*",
                        "/wp-admin/"
                    ]
                },
    
                "action": {
                    "pass": "applications/wordpress/direct"
                }
            },
            {
                "action": {
                    "share": "/path/to/app$uri",
                    "fallback": {
                        "pass": "applications/wordpress/index"
                    }
                }
            }
        ],
    
        "applications": {
            "wordpress": {
                "type": "php",
                "targets": {
                    "direct": {
                        "root": "/path/to/app/"
                    },
    
                    "index": {
                        "root": "/path/to/app/",
                        "script": "index.php"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
    

    Note

    The difference between the pass targets is their usage of the script setting:

    • The direct target runs the .php script from the URI or defaults to index.php if the URI omits it.
    • The index target specifies the script that Unit runs for any URIs the target receives.
  7. Upload the updated configuration. Assuming the JSON above was added to config.json:

    # curl -X PUT --data-binary @config.json --unix-socket \
           /path/to/control.unit.sock http://localhost/config/
    

    Note

    The control socket path may vary; run unitd -h or see Startup and Shutdown for details.

    After a successful update, browse to http://localhost and set up your WordPress installation:

    WordPress on Unit - Setup Screen

    Note

    The resulting URI scheme will affect your WordPress configuration; updates may require extra steps.