How to Install WordPress Using Docker on Windows 11

Are you using Windows 11 and want to install WordPress for testing or development? No need to install XAMPP, no need to configure a complex server — just use Docker. It’s simple, easy to follow, and doesn’t require any programming knowledge.

Requirements:

• Docker Desktop installed and running on Windows 11
  (Guide: https://itsmeit.co/how-to-install-docker-desktop-windows-11/)
• Any text editor, such as Sublime Text or Notepad.

Open Docker Desktop and make sure it’s working, or run the docker info command from PowerShell.

Step 1: Create a Project Folder

Search for and open PowerShell, then run the command:

mkdir wordpress-docker

This command creates a folder named wordpress-docker at the path
C:\Users\<your_username>\wordpress-docker to store the WordPress configuration files. You can create this folder anywhere — just make sure it’s easy to locate.

Move into the folder you just created:

cd wordpress-docker

Step 2: Create the docker-compose.yml File

You can use any text editor you prefer — Notepad, VS Code, Sublime Text, etc.

Since I’m using PowerShell, I’ll use Notepad to create the file:

notepad docker-compose.yml

This will open Notepad and ask if you want to create a new file. Click OK and paste in the following content:

services:
  wp_itsmeit:
    image: wordpress:latest
    ports:
      - "8000:80"
    environment:
      WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: wordpress_db
      WORDPRESS_DB_USER: db_user
      WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: db_password
      WORDPRESS_DB_NAME: db_name
    volumes:
      - wordpress_data:/var/www/html
    depends_on:
      - wordpress_db

  wordpress_db:
    image: mariadb:10.5
    environment:
      MYSQL_DATABASE: db_name
      MYSQL_USER: db_user
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: db_password
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: root_password
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/mysql

volumes:
  wordpress_data:
  db_data:

Explanation:

• wp_itsmeit: Main container running WordPress (you can name it anything).
• wordpress:latest: Pulls the latest WordPress version, or specify a version like wordpress:<version>.
• wordpress_db: Name of the MariaDB service container. It also acts as the hostname WordPress will use to connect to the database. You can rename this as long as it’s consistent throughout the config.
• volumes: Ensures data is stored even if containers are stopped or deleted.
• /var/www/html: Path inside the container that holds WordPress source code.
• wordpress_data: Docker volume storing WordPress data.
• image: mariadb:10.5: Uses MariaDB v10.5 — stable and well-supported. You can also use MySQL or other versions like mariadb:latest, mysql:latest, or mysql:5.7.
• db_data:/var/lib/mysql: Mounts the database data to a persistent volume.
• MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: Required by MySQL/MariaDB, even if not strictly needed by you. Just set it as root_password.

Step 3: Run WordPress Using Docker

In CMD, within the wordpress-docker folder (which now contains docker-compose.yml), run:

docker compose up -d

Docker will automatically:

• Download the WordPress and MySQL images
• Create and start two containers
• Connect WordPress to MariaDB using the environment variables defined in the docker-compose.yml file, over a network Docker Compose creates automatically.

Step 4: Access the WordPress Setup Page

Open your browser and go to:

http://localhost:8000

You’ll see the WordPress installation screen. Select your language and follow the basic setup instructions like:

• Site title
• Admin username
• Login password

This step is simple — just follow the on-screen instructions. If you need help, refer to our article on how to set up a new WordPress site from step 4.

👉 After installation, you can view logs, source files, container status, etc., using the left menu in the Docker Desktop app (Volumes, Images, Containers, etc.).

Or run:

docker ps -a

Example output:

CONTAINER ID   IMAGE              COMMAND                  CREATED       STATUS       PORTS                                     NAMES
d295b55d89dc   wordpress:latest   "docker-entrypoint.s…"   3 hours ago   Up 3 hours   0.0.0.0:8000->80/tcp, [::]:8000->80/tcp   wordpress-docker-wp_itsmeit-1
f7318e1caae2   mariadb:10.5       "docker-entrypoint.s…"   3 hours ago   Up 3 hours   3306/tcp                                  wordpress-docker-wordpress_db-1

Troubleshooting WordPress Installation on Docker

For unclear or vague errors, check logs in Docker Desktop or use the following commands to help identify issues:

docker compose logs

or

docker logs <container_name>

Tip: When faced with confusing errors, I usually copy the exact error message and paste it into ChatGPT or ClaudeAI. It often saves me a lot of time.

1. Error Establishing a Database Connection

Cause: Incorrect database configuration in docker-compose.yml.
Make sure you’ve set the correct values for:

• Database name
• Username
• Password

Also, if you’ve previously run a test setup and forgot to remove old containers, or renamed a container incorrectly, it could conflict with the new setup.

Fix it with:

docker compose down -v
docker volume prune

2. Docker is stopped or not running

Error message example:

unable to get image 'wordpress:latest': error during connect: Get "http://%2F%2F.%2Fpipe%2FdockerDesktopLinuxEngine/v1.51/images/wordpress:latest/json": open //./pipe/dockerDesktopLinuxEngine: The system cannot find the file specified.

→ Just restart Docker Desktop on your machine.

Running WordPress with Docker on Windows 11 is incredibly simple and powerful. It’s a great way to create a development, learning, or demo environment quickly — without messing with your main OS.

Docker Management Commands

Check containers:

docker ps -a

Stop containers:

docker compose down

Remove containers and volumes:

docker compose down -v

Remove image:

docker image rm <image_id_or_name>

Access a running container:

docker exec -it <container> bash

Delete a container:

docker rm <container_name_or_id>

Remove an image:

docker image rm <container>

Delete a volume:

docker volume rm <volume_name>

List all volumes:

docker volume ls

Finally, if you need to back up or restore data, check out the article: How to Backup WordPress Data in Docker