Installing WP-CLI in Docker WordPress Container
· 2 min read
TL;DR
The official WordPress Docker image doesn't include WP-CLI. Add a command configuration in docker-compose.yml to auto-install WP-CLI on container startup—no manual container entry required.
Problem
Running wp command inside WordPress Docker container:
docker exec -it wordpress_container wp --version
Returns:
bash: wp: command not found
Root Cause
The official WordPress Docker image is built on php:apache with a focus on minimal size. WP-CLI is a separate CLI tool that requires additional installation—it's not included in the default image.
Solution
Add a command to the WordPress service in docker-compose.yml to auto-install WP-CLI on startup:
services:
wordpress:
image: wordpress:latest
volumes:
- ./wordpress:/var/www/html
command: >
bash -c "curl -sO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wp-cli/builds/gh-pages/phar/wp-cli.phar &&
chmod +x wp-cli.phar &&
mv wp-cli.phar /usr/local/bin/wp &&
docker-entrypoint.sh apache2-foreground"
Key points:
curl -sO- Silently download WP-CLI phar packagechmod +x- Add execute permissionmv ... /usr/local/bin/wp- Move to PATH directory for global accessdocker-entrypoint.sh apache2-foreground- Execute original image entrypoint to start Apache
Verify after restart:
docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d
docker exec -it wordpress_container wp --version
# Output: WP-CLI 2.x.x
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