WordPress is a popular, open-source tool for the agile deployment of a blogging system. In this article, we offer a step-by-step guide for deploying WordPress in vSphere Integrated Containers. This involves creating two containers: one running a mysql database and the other running the wordpress web server. We provide three options:

1. Deploy using docker commands in vSphere Integrated Container
2. Deploy using docker-compose in vSphere Integrated Containers
3. Deploy using Admiral and vSphere Integrated Containers

Deploy using docker commands in vSphere Integrated Containers

First, we need to install the virtual container host (VCH) with a volume store, which is used to persist the db data. In the following example, I create a VCH with a volume store test with the tag default under datastore1:

vic-machine-linux create --name=vch-test --volume-store=datastore1/test:default --target=root:pwd@192.168.60.162 --no-tlsverify --thumbprint=… --no-tls

Second, we deploy a container which runs the mysql database:

docker -H VCH_IP:VCH_PORT run -d -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=wordpress -e MYSQL_DATABASE=wordpress -e MYSQL_USER=wordpress -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=wordpress -v mysql_data:/var/lib/mysql --name=mysql mysql:5.6

Replace VCH_IP and VCH_PORT with the actual IP and port used by the VCH, which can be found from the command line output of the above vic-machine-linux create. Here -v mysql_data:/var/lib/myql mounts the volume mysql_data to the directory /var/lib/mysql within the mysql container. Since there is no such volume  mysql_data on the VCH, the VIC engine creates a volume with the same name in the default volume store test.

Third, we deploy the wordpress server container:

docker -H VCH_IP:VCH_PORT run -d -p 8080:80 -e WORDPRESS_DB_HOST=mysql:3306 -e WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD=wordpress --name wordpress wordpress:latest

Now if you run docker –H VCH_IP:VCH_PORT ps, you should see both containers running. Open a browser and access http://VCH_IP:8080. You should be able to see the famous WordPress start page below:

In addition, if you connect to your ESXi host or vCenter which hosts the VCH and the volume store, you should be able to find the data volume mysql_data under datastore1/test:

Deploy using docker-compose in vSphere Integrated Containers

Using docker-compose on vSphere Integrated Containers is as easy as on vanilla docker containers. First, you need to create the docker-compose.yml file as follows:

version: '2'

services:
   db:
     image: mysql:5.6
     environment:
       MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: wordpress
       MYSQL_DATABASE: wordpress
       MYSQL_USER: wordpress
       MYSQL_PASSWORD: wordpress

   wordpress:
     depends_on:
       - db
     links:
       - db
     image: wordpress:latest
     ports:
       - "8080:80"
     environment:
       WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: db:3306
       WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: wordpress
       WORDPRESS_DB_NAME: wordpress

Then simply run

docker-compose –H VCH_IP:VCH_PORT up –d

Open a browser and access http://VCH_IP:8080. You should be able to see the WordPress start page. Note that as of VIC engine 0.8, the volumes option is not yet support for docker-compose, which is why we only store the db data in the db container instead of persistent storage. A future release will include this feature.

Deploy using Admiral and vSphere Integrated Containers

Admiral is the management portal through which you can easily deploy containers using the Admiral UI or a template (similar to the docker-compose.yml file used by docker-compose). In this example, we will focus on deploying WordPress via the Admiral UI.

First, we need to deploy a container which runs the Admiral service:

docker –H VCH_IP:VCH_PORT run -d -p 8282:8282 --name admiral vmware/admiral

Go to the web page http://VCH_IP:8282 and add the VCH host to Admiral based on these instructions.

Second, create the mysql container by choosing Resources -> Containers -> Create Container, and input the parameters of the docker command you used previously when deploying WordPress on VIC. Don’t forget to set the ENVIRONMENT variables. Click on Provision to launch the container.

Now you should be able to see both the admiral container and the mysql container in the Admiral UI. Note down the actual container name of the mysql container (Admiral adds suffix to your specified name as the actual container name).

Third, deploy the wordpress container following the same flow as in the second step. Note that the environment variable WORDPRESS_DB_HOST should be set to mysql_container_name:3306.

Finally, open a browser and access http://VCH_IP:8080. You should be able to see the WordPress start page again.

Alternatively, you can also use the Admiral template, which works in a way similar to docker compose, to deploy your WordPress application.  Simply go to Templates and choose the icon of Import template or Docker Compose. Then copy and paste the content of our docker-compose.yml file into the text box. Click the Import button on the bottom right and then click provision on the next page.  The wordpress application is ready for access after the status of the Provision Request becomes Finished.

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