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Install Docker

For Windows and macOS, install Docker Desktop using the official links below — it includes everything you need:

For Linux (Ubuntu), do not use Ubuntu’s built-in apt packages — they are outdated and missing the Compose plugin. Instead, follow these steps to install from Docker’s official repository:

1a — Remove any old Docker packages

for pkg in docker.io docker-doc docker-compose docker-compose-v2 podman-docker containerd runc; do sudo apt-get remove $pkg; done

1b — Add Docker’s official repository

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ca-certificates curl
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

echo \
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
  $(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME") stable" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

sudo apt-get update

1c — Install Docker Engine and the Compose plugin

sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

1d — Verify everything is working

docker --version
docker compose version

You should see version numbers for both. If docker compose version returns a result, you’re good to go.

Set Up WordPress with Docker

Create a new folder for your project and save the following as docker-compose.yml. This uses the official WordPress Docker image.

version: '3'
services:
  db:
    image: mysql:8.0
    restart: always
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: your_root_password
      MYSQL_DATABASE: wordpress
      MYSQL_USER: wordpress
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: your_db_password
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/mysql

  wordpress:
    image: wordpress:latest
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    environment:
      WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: db
      WORDPRESS_DB_USER: wordpress
      WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: your_db_password
      WORDPRESS_DB_NAME: wordpress
    volumes:
      - wordpress_data:/var/www/html
    depends_on:
      - db

volumes:
  db_data:
  wordpress_data:

Replace your_root_password and your_db_password with your own secure passwords, then start it:

docker compose up -d

Once running, open http://localhost:8080 to confirm WordPress is loading.

Add Your Domain to Cloudflare

1. Log in to your Cloudflare dashboard.
2. Click Add a domain and enter your domain name.
3. Select the Free plan.
4. Cloudflare will display two nameserver addresses. Go to your domain registrar and update the nameservers to match.
5. Wait for propagation — usually a few minutes, up to 24 hours. Cloudflare emails you when confirmed.

Create a Cloudflare Tunnel

1. In the Cloudflare dashboard, open Zero Trust.
2. Navigate to Networks → Tunnels.
3. Click Create a tunnel, choose Cloudflared as the connector type, then click Next.
4. Give your tunnel a name (e.g. my-home-server) and click Save tunnel.

Install cloudflared on Your Machine

Cloudflare will show an install command tailored to your OS. Copy and paste it into your terminal. On Ubuntu it looks like:

curl -L --output cloudflared.deb \
  https://github.com/cloudflare/cloudflared/releases/latest/download/cloudflared-linux-amd64.deb

sudo dpkg -i cloudflared.deb
sudo cloudflared service install <YOUR_TUNNEL_TOKEN>

Configure a Public Hostname

In the tunnel settings, go to the Public Hostname tab and click Add a public hostname:

Click Save hostname.

Complete the WordPress Installation

Navigate to your public domain (e.g. https://yourdomain.com). The WordPress setup wizard should appear. Choose your site title, create an admin username and secure password, and within a couple of minutes your site will be live! 🎉