Learn Containers and Databases at Home with WordPress

 

Learn Containers and Databases at Home with WordPress on a Raspberry Pi or Tiny VM

YouTube: https://youtu.be/imKHhUHS_9k

One of the best ways to learn modern infrastructure is by building something real.

And few projects are better for beginners than running your own WordPress site using containers.

Why?

Because in a single small project, you learn:

  • Containers
  • Docker
  • Databases
  • Networking
  • Infrastructure automation
  • Linux
  • Web applications

All from a Raspberry Pi or a tiny VM on your laptop.

Even better, you end up with a real working website you can customise, experiment with, and rebuild anytime you want.

Why WordPress Is Perfect for Learning

WordPress powers a huge portion of the internet.

Blogs, business sites, documentation portals, portfolios, and online stores all run on it.

But behind the scenes, WordPress is also a fantastic way to understand how modern applications work.

A WordPress deployment needs:

  • A web application
  • A database
  • Networking between services
  • Persistent storage
  • Configuration management

That sounds complicated…

…but containers make it surprisingly approachable.

Raspberry Pi or Tiny VM?

You do not need enterprise hardware.

This setup works beautifully on:

  • A Raspberry Pi 5
  • A mini PC
  • An old laptop
  • Or a small virtual machine

Modern containers are lightweight enough that a tiny home lab can run real-world software comfortably.

That’s one of the most exciting parts of modern infrastructure.

Why Use Vagrant?

Vagrant lets you describe an entire machine in code.

Instead of manually:

  • Installing Ubuntu
  • Installing Docker
  • Configuring networking
  • Deploying applications

…you automate everything.

One command creates the whole environment.

This is called Infrastructure-as-Code, and it’s how modern DevOps teams operate.

The Vagrantfile

Here’s the reference setup:

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
 config.vm.box = "bento/ubuntu-24.04"

 config.vm.provider "vmware_fusion" do |v|
   v.memory = 4096
   v.cpus = 2
 end

 config.vm.synced_folder ".", "/vagrant", disabled: true

 config.vm.network "public_network",
   ip: "192.168.1.253",
   use_dhcp_assigned_default_route: true

 config.vm.provision "shell", inline: <<-SHELL
      sudo apt update -y

      sudo ufw disable

      sudo systemctl stop apparmor
      sudo systemctl disable apparmor

      sudo sed -i '/swap/d' /etc/fstab
      sudo swapoff -a

      echo "192.168.1.253 aionpi" >> /etc/hosts

      groupadd docker
      usermod -aG docker vagrant

      apt-get -y install docker.io
      apt-get -y install slirp4netns

      curl -L \
      "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/latest/download/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" \
      -o /usr/bin/docker-compose

      chmod 755 /usr/bin/docker-compose

      git clone https://github.com/docker/awesome-compose.git

      docker-compose -f \
      /home/vagrant/awesome-compose/wordpress-mysql/compose.yaml up -d
  SHELL
end

What This Setup Actually Does

At first glance, this may look technical.

But it’s really just automating a small Linux server build.

Step 1: Create Ubuntu Automatically

config.vm.box = "bento/ubuntu-24.04"

This downloads a clean Ubuntu Linux image.

Every deployment starts from the same predictable foundation.

That means:

  • Easy rebuilding
  • Consistent environments
  • Less troubleshooting

Step 2: Allocate Resources

v.memory = 4096
v.cpus = 2

The VM receives:

  • 4GB RAM
  • 2 CPU cores

More than enough for:

  • WordPress
  • MySQL
  • Docker
  • Learning experiments

Even older laptops can comfortably handle this.

Step 3: Put the VM on Your Home Network

config.vm.network "public_network",
  ip: "192.168.1.253"

Now the VM behaves like a real machine on your network.

You can access your WordPress site from:

  • Your laptop
  • Tablet
  • Phone
  • Another computer

Simply open:

http://192.168.1.253

And your site appears.

That feels pretty magical the first time.

Docker Makes Everything Easier

The setup installs:

  • Docker
  • Docker Compose

Containers package applications together with all their dependencies.

Instead of manually configuring:

  • PHP
  • Apache
  • MySQL
  • Web server settings

…Docker handles it automatically.

This is one of the biggest reasons containers became so popular.

The Awesome Compose Project

This line is especially useful:

git clone https://github.com/docker/awesome-compose.git

Docker Awesome Compose RepositoryAttachment.tiff contains ready-made multi-container examples for learning.

Instead of writing everything from scratch, you can explore:

  • WordPress
  • Databases
  • APIs
  • Monitoring stacks
  • Web applications
  • Developer platforms

It’s an incredible learning resource.

Understanding the WordPress Stack

The deployment uses multiple containers working together.

This is a great introduction to real-world architecture.

WordPress Container

The WordPress container provides:

  • The website
  • PHP
  • Apache
  • Themes
  • Plugins
  • Admin dashboard

This is the application layer.

MySQL Database Container

Behind every WordPress site sits a database.

Typically this is MySQL.

The database stores:

  • Posts
  • Users
  • Settings
  • Comments
  • Plugin data
  • Site configuration

This separation is important.

Modern applications usually split:

  • Frontend
  • Backend
  • Databases
  • Services

Into independent components.

Containers Teach Real Infrastructure Concepts

Even in a tiny home lab, you start learning:

  • Service isolation
  • Networking
  • Persistent storage
  • Infrastructure automation
  • Application dependencies

These are exactly the concepts used in:

  • Cloud platforms
  • Enterprise systems
  • AI infrastructure
  • Kubernetes clusters

Why This Is Such a Great Beginner Project

WordPress is perfect because the reward is immediate.

You deploy containers…
…and suddenly you have:

  • A real website
  • An admin portal
  • A database-driven application
  • A multi-container stack

You are not just reading documentation.

You are building something tangible.

Raspberry Pi + Containers = A Tiny Web Platform

It’s remarkable how much modern hardware can do.

A small Raspberry Pi can now run:

  • Web applications
  • Databases
  • APIs
  • Containers
  • Full development environments

That would have required expensive dedicated servers years ago.

Today it fits beside your router.

The Best Part: It’s Safe to Experiment

Because everything is containerised and automated:

  • You can rebuild anytime
  • Break things safely
  • Experiment freely
  • Learn by doing

That’s one of the biggest advantages of modern infrastructure tooling.

Final Thoughts

Running WordPress in containers is one of the best entry points into modern DevOps and cloud-native technology.

With:

  • A Raspberry Pi or tiny VM
  • Docker
  • Vagrant
  • WordPress
  • MySQL

…you gain hands-on experience with the same concepts powering modern platforms everywhere.

And the best part is this:

You are learning real infrastructure skills while building something useful and fun.

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