Control Machine: Ansible 6.0+ installed
Target Server: Ubuntu 20.04+ or Debian 11+ with SSH access and sudo privileges
Network: SSH access (port 22) and web access (ports 80/443)

1. Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/ansible-lemp-wordpress.git
cd ansible-lemp-wordpress

2. Configure Inventory

cp inventory/production.yml.example inventory/production.yml
# Edit inventory/production.yml with your server details

3. Choose Your Deployment Mode

Option A: Basic LEMP + WordPress

# Standard LEMP stack with WordPress
ansible-playbook -i inventory/production.yml playbooks/lemp-wordpress.yml

Option B: Ultimate Performance Setup

# LEMP + WordPress + Redis + OPcache + Nginx optimization
ansible-playbook -i inventory/production.yml playbooks/lemp-wordpress-ultimate.yml

Option C: With SSL/HTTPS

# Enable SSL during deployment
ansible-playbook -i inventory/production.yml playbooks/lemp-wordpress.yml \
  -e "ssl_enabled=true" -e "ssl_email=your-email@domain.com"

# Or with Ultimate Performance + SSL
ansible-playbook -i inventory/production.yml playbooks/lemp-wordpress-ultimate.yml \
  -e "ssl_enabled=true" -e "ssl_email=your-email@domain.com"

4. Access Your WordPress Site

Website: http://your-server-ip (or https:// if SSL enabled)
Admin Panel: http://your-server-ip/wp-admin
Default Login: Check your inventory file for wp_admin_user and wp_admin_password

🐳 Docker Testing Environment

Perfect for testing before deploying to production servers:

cd docker/
docker-compose up -d

# Test Basic LEMP deployment
ansible-playbook -i inventory/docker.yml playbooks/lemp-wordpress.yml

# Test Ultimate Performance deployment
ansible-playbook -i inventory/docker.yml playbooks/lemp-wordpress-ultimate.yml

Access test site: http://localhost:8080

📁 Project Structure

ansible-lemp-wordpress/
├── playbooks/                    # Main Ansible playbooks (PRODUCTION-READY)
│   ├── lemp-wordpress.yml           # Basic LEMP + WordPress deployment
│   └── lemp-wordpress-ultimate.yml  # Ultimate: LEMP + WordPress + Redis + OPcache + Optimization
├── inventory/                    # Server inventory configurations
│   ├── production.yml               # Production server configuration
│   └── docker.yml                   # Docker test environment
├── templates/                    # Jinja2 configuration templates (PRODUCTION-TESTED)
│   ├── wp-config.php.j2            # WordPress configuration
│   ├── wordpress.nginx.j2          # Nginx virtual host (HTTP)
│   ├── wordpress-ssl.nginx.j2      # Nginx virtual host (HTTPS)
│   ├── my.cnf.j2                   # MySQL configuration
│   └── www.conf.j2                 # PHP-FPM pool configuration
├── vars/                        # OS-specific variables
│   └── debian-family.yml           # Debian/Ubuntu variables
├── docker/                      # Docker testing environment
│   ├── docker-compose.yml          # Docker setup
│   ├── Dockerfile                  # Ubuntu test container
│   └── start-services.sh           # Service startup script
└── docs/                        # Documentation
    ├── production-deployment.md
    ├── ssl-setup.md
    └── troubleshooting.md

⚙️ Configuration

Deployment Modes

Basic LEMP Mode (lemp-wordpress.yml)

Standard LEMP stack (Nginx, MySQL, PHP)
WordPress with WP-CLI
SSL support (optional)
Suitable for small to medium sites

Ultimate Performance Mode (lemp-wordpress-ultimate.yml)

Everything from Basic mode, plus:
Redis object caching
PHP OPcache optimization
Nginx performance tuning
MySQL optimization
Suitable for high-traffic sites

SSL Configuration

Both deployment modes support SSL:

# In inventory/production.yml
wordpress_servers:
  hosts:
    your-server:
      ansible_host: your-ip
      ssl_enabled: true
      ssl_email: your-email@domain.com

Variable Configuration

Essential WordPress Variables:

# WordPress Admin
wp_admin_user: admin              # WordPress admin username
wp_admin_password: "{{ vault_wp_admin_password }}"  # Use Ansible Vault!
wp_admin_email: admin@domain.com  # WordPress admin email
wp_site_title: "My WordPress Site"

# Database
mysql_root_password: "{{ vault_mysql_root_password }}"    # Use Ansible Vault!
wordpress_db_name: wordpress
wordpress_db_user: wordpress
wordpress_db_password: "{{ vault_wordpress_db_password }}" # Use Ansible Vault!

# SSL (optional)
ssl_enabled: false
ssl_email: admin@domain.com

Performance Variables (Ultimate Mode):

# Redis Configuration
redis_enabled: true
redis_maxmemory: 256mb

# PHP Optimization
php_memory_limit: 512M
php_upload_max_filesize: 128M
php_opcache_enabled: true

# Nginx Optimization
nginx_worker_processes: auto
nginx_optimization_enabled: true

Server Requirements

OS: Ubuntu 20.04+ or Debian 11+
RAM: Minimum 1GB (2GB+ recommended for Ultimate mode)
Storage: Minimum 10GB free space
Network: SSH access + web ports (80/443)

🔒 Security & Best Practices

Security Features

Secure password handling with Ansible Vault
Proper file permissions for WordPress and system files
MySQL security with custom root password and restricted access
Nginx security headers and configuration hardening
SSL/HTTPS support with Let's Encrypt integration

Best Practices

# Use Ansible Vault for sensitive data
ansible-vault create inventory/group_vars/all/vault.yml

# Example vault.yml content:
vault_mysql_root_password: "your-secure-mysql-password"
vault_wp_admin_password: "your-secure-wp-password"
vault_wordpress_db_password: "your-secure-db-password"

# Deploy with vault
ansible-playbook -i inventory/production.yml playbooks/lemp-wordpress.yml --ask-vault-pass

🧪 Testing

Pre-deployment Testing

# Test with Docker first
cd docker/
docker-compose up -d
ansible-playbook -i inventory/docker.yml playbooks/lemp-wordpress.yml

# Access test environment
curl -I http://localhost:8080/

Validation Commands

# Check WordPress installation
curl -s http://your-server/ | grep "WordPress"

# Test admin access
curl -I http://your-server/wp-admin/

# Check PHP version
ansible all -i inventory/production.yml -m shell -a "php --version"

# Test MySQL connection
ansible all -i inventory/production.yml -m shell -a "mysql -u root -p{{ vault_mysql_root_password }} -e 'SELECT VERSION();'"

🔒 Security

🚀 Performance Features

Basic Mode Performance

PHP-FPM optimization with tuned pool configuration
MySQL optimization with production-ready settings
Nginx optimization with gzip compression and caching headers

Ultimate Mode Performance

Everything from Basic mode, plus:

Redis Object Caching for database query optimization
PHP OPcache for bytecode caching and improved PHP performance
Advanced Nginx tuning with worker optimization and connection handling
MySQL performance tuning with enhanced configurations

Performance Comparison

# Deploy Basic mode
ansible-playbook -i inventory/production.yml playbooks/lemp-wordpress.yml

# Deploy Ultimate mode for high-traffic sites
ansible-playbook -i inventory/production.yml playbooks/lemp-wordpress-ultimate.yml

🌍 OS Compatibility

OS	Version	Status	Notes
Ubuntu	25.04	✅ Supported	Interim release
Ubuntu	24.04 LTS	✅ Fully Tested	Recommended
Ubuntu	22.04 LTS	✅ Fully Tested	Recommended
Ubuntu	20.04 LTS	✅ Supported	Tested
Debian	14	🔶 Testing	Forky (upcoming)
Debian	13	✅ Supported	Current stable
Debian	12	✅ Supported	Compatible
Debian	11	✅ Supported	Compatible

📚 Documentation

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guidelines for details.

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch
Test your changes with the Docker environment
Submit a pull request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

WordPress - The amazing CMS
WP-CLI - WordPress command-line tool
Ansible - Automation platform
Community contributors and testers

📞 Support

📧 Issues: GitHub Issues
📖 Documentation: Wiki
💬 Discussions: GitHub Discussions

⭐ If this project helps you, please give it a star! ⭐

👨‍💻 Author

Sebastian Palencsár

GitHub: @spalencsar

Releases 1

Release v2.5.2 Latest

2026-05-05 06:58:08 +02:00

Languages

Shell 39.2%

Jinja 33.1%

Python 20.2%

Dockerfile 7.5%