13. Running WordPress & Database Containers on Portenta X8

Overview

The Arduino Portenta X8's robust features are ideally complemented by Docker containers, simplifying various applications. This tutorial demonstrates how to deploy a WordPress web server on the Portenta X8, leveraging containers for web service and database management.

You will learn to set up and access a WordPress site hosted on the X8 via a web browser.

Goals

• Prepare the necessary files for Docker container deployment
• Deploy and activate the Docker containers on the Portenta X8
• Access and configure the WordPress site hosted on the Portenta X8

Required Hardware and Software

• Portenta X8
• USB-C® cable (either USB-C® to USB-A or USB-C® to USB-C®)
• The docker-compose.yml file used in this tutorial

Instructions

Begin by ensuring your Portenta X8 is ready for use, following the setup guide in the User Manual's Out-of-the-Box Experience.

Creating the docker-compose.yml File

Our WordPress setup involves a multi-container approach, integrating both the WordPress and a MariaDB database server containers. The WordPress container uses Apache as the web server, merged within the container for easy deployment.

To direct this setup, we will craft a docker-compose.yml file describing the configurations for both WordPress and MariaDB containers, including essential settings like usernames, passwords, time zones, and database names. For security, ensure the default passwords are substituted with stronger alternatives in the provided configuration template.

Complete docker-compose.yml File

In this section, you can find the complete docker-compose.yml file that we will be using for this tutorial.

Copy
1version: "3.9"
2    
3services:
4  db:
5    image: mariadb:latest
6    container_name: mariadb
7    environment:
8      - PUID=1000
9      - PGID=1000
10      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=Wordpress
11      - TZ=Europe/London
12      - MYSQL_DATABASE=Wordpress
13      - MYSQL_USER=Wordpress
14      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=Wordpress
15    volumes:
16      - db_data:/var/lib/mysql
17    restart: unless-stopped
18    
19  Wordpress:
20    depends_on:
21      - db
22    image: wordpress:latest
23    volumes:
24      - Wordpress_data:/var/www/html
25    ports:
26      - "8000:80"
27    restart: always
28    environment:
29      WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: db
30      WORDPRESS_DB_USER: Wordpress
31      WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: Wordpress
32      WORDPRESS_DB_NAME: Wordpress
33volumes:
34  Wordpress_data: {}
35  db_data: {}

Now, let's prepare our Portenta X8 by creating a directory for our docker-compose.yml file, which can be downloaded here.

Installing The Containers

Begin by creating a directory for the Docker setup, naming it wordpress-test. Navigate into this directory and either copy the docker-compose.yml file into it or create the file directly within.

To create the file on the device, use

cat > docker-compose.yml

CTRL + C

<path to docker-compose.yml file>

Copy
1adb push <path to docker-compose.yml file> /home/fio/wordpress-test

Alternatively, you could place the

docker-compose.yml

wordpress-test

Alternatively, if the docker-compose.yml is already inside the wordpress-test directory on your computer, use:

Copy
1adb push .\wordpress-test\ /home/fio

Choose the method that best suits your workflow.

Access Docker with administrative privileges by executing

sudo su -

fio

Ensure no conflicting containers are running on your intended ports by inspecting current containers with

docker ps -a

Copy
1docker stop <container id>

Then removing them with:

Copy
1docker rm <container id>

If you want more information about handling containers on your Portenta X8, take a look at our Managing Containers with Docker tutorial.

With the setup directory ready and no port conflicts, begin the container installation with:

Copy
1docker compose up -d

The

-d

The installation of the WordPress and MariaDB containers will begin and may take some time. To monitor the installation process, use:

Copy
1docker-compose logs -f

Upon completion, your WordPress site will be accessible from the Portenta X8.

Connecting to the WordPress Site

Accessing your WordPress site on the Portenta X8 is straightforward. Use the following URL format, composed with your Portenta X8's unique id and port, in your browser:

Copy
1http://portenta-x8-<uuid>.local:<port>

Replace

<uuid>

<port>

<uuid>

adb

http://192.168.7.1:8000

http://192.168.8.1:8000

Upon establishing a connection, your terminal will display details similar to those below.

Your browser will then present the WordPress setup page, allowing you to commence the configuration process.

You are now free to go through the WordPress setup process and configure it however you like.

Removing the Containers

Should you need to remove the containers, navigate back to the

/home/fio/wordpress-test

To remove the containers while retaining your WordPress data:

Copy
1docker compose down

To delete both the containers and all associated data:

Copy
1docker compose down --volumes

Confirm the removal by executing

docker ps -a

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we went through installing and running a WordPress and database container on the Portenta X8. We then accessed the WordPress site on our X8 through our web browser. Now, you can set up your WordPress site on your X8 device and access it from another device.

Troubleshooting

• If the containers are not being installed or running correctly, check if any other containers are currently running on the same ports as the ones used by the WordPress container. You can check it with

  docker ps -a

  .

• If there is any issue running docker commands, ensure you are using

  sudo

  before the commands or having root access using:

  sudo su -r

  with the password you selected at first access.

• If you cannot connect to the site when everything is running, you can double-check the X8's IP address. Run the command

  ip -h address

  in the adb shell. This will display the X8's IP address via USB and Wi-Fi®. Try connecting via those IP addresses if all the rest fails.