WP-Host - WordPress Hosting Automation

Professional WordPress batch deployment tool for hosting providers, developers, and system administrators

Automate the deployment of multiple WordPress instances with MySQL databases using a simple spreadsheet. Perfect for hosting providers, development agencies, and anyone managing multiple WordPress sites. Features CSV-based configuration, automatic database creation, and production-ready security.

✨ Key Features

🚀 Batch WordPress Deployment - Deploy dozens of WordPress sites simultaneously
📊 Spreadsheet Configuration - User-friendly CSV format that works with Excel/Google Sheets
🗄️ Automated Database Management - Creates MySQL databases, users, and proper permissions
🔐 Production Security - Generates unique security keys, proper file permissions, secure passwords
🔑 Application Password Generation - Auto-creates API access credentials for each site
📱 WP-CLI Integration - Uses WordPress CLI for reliable, scriptable installations
🔗 Permalink Management - Automatically configures permalinks for wp-json API support
🌐 Smart Domain Detection - Automatically detects domains from directory paths
📋 Deployment Reports - Comprehensive CSV exports with all credentials and URLs
⚡ Performance Optimized - Minimal logging, fast parallel processing

🎯 Perfect For

• Hosting Providers - Bulk WordPress deployment for clients
• Development Agencies - Rapid staging/development environment setup
• System Administrators - Automated WordPress infrastructure management
• Freelancers - Quick client site deployment and handoff
• Educational Institutions - Student/course WordPress instances

🏃‍♂️ Quick Start

1. Install

npm install -g wp-host

2. Create Configuration

Download the template spreadsheet:

wp-host init
# This creates template.csv - edit it with your sites

3. Deploy

wp-host deploy -c sites.csv

That's it! Your WordPress sites are ready with databases, admin users, and working wp-json APIs.

📋 Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• MySQL 5.7+ or 8.0+
• PHP 7.4+ with required extensions
• Web Server (Apache/Nginx)
• Root/Sudo Access for WP-CLI installation

🛠️ Installation

Global Installation (Recommended)

npm install -g wp-host
wp-host --help

Local Development

git clone https://github.com/auroradream04/wp-host.git
cd wp-host
npm install
npm run build
wp-host deploy -c sites.csv

📊 Configuration

CSV Format (Simple Spreadsheet)

Edit the generated template.csv file in Excel, Google Sheets, or any spreadsheet application:

site_name,directory_path,wordpress_site_title,wordpress_admin_username
mybusiness.com,/var/www/html/mybusiness.com,My Business Website,admin
portfolio.net,/var/www/html/portfolio.net,Creative Portfolio,webmaster
techblog.org,/var/www/html/techblog.org,Tech Blog,blogger

CSV Template Columns:

• site_name - Unique identifier for the site
• directory_path - Where WordPress files will be installed
• wordpress_site_title - The site title shown in WordPress admin
• wordpress_admin_username - Admin username (optional, defaults to 'admin')

Environment Configuration

Create a .env file with your MySQL and WordPress credentials:

# .env file
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=your_mysql_root_password
MYSQL_SHARED_DB_PASSWORD=shared_password_for_all_sites
WORDPRESS_ADMIN_PASSWORD=your_wordpress_admin_password
[email protected]

Auto-Generated Values

The tool intelligently generates:

• Database Names: sitename_db
• Database Users: sitename_user
• Site URLs: Extracted from directory paths
• Security Keys: Unique WordPress authentication keys
• Application Passwords: For API/mobile access

🚀 Commands

Main Deployment

# Basic deployment
wp-host deploy -c sites.csv

# With application passwords for API access
wp-host deploy -c sites.csv --app-passwords

# Export credentials to spreadsheet
wp-host deploy -c sites.csv --export

# Validate configuration first
wp-host validate -c sites.csv

⚠️ Advanced Options

# Force recreate databases (DESTRUCTIVE - deletes all data)
wp-host deploy -c sites.csv --force-recreate

# Use root MySQL user instead of isolated users (NOT RECOMMENDED)
wp-host deploy -c sites.csv --use-root-db-user

# Database suffix management
wp-host deploy -c sites.csv --no-db-suffix

🔥 IMPORTANT - Data Safety:

• Default behavior: Preserves existing databases and their data (safe mode)
• With --force-recreate: Drops and recreates databases, deleting ALL data (destructive mode)
• When a database exists, wp-host will use it and preserve your data
• You'll see clear messages indicating whether databases are new or existing

Security Warning: The --use-root-db-user flag uses the MySQL root user for all sites instead of creating isolated database users. This is NOT RECOMMENDED for production environments because:

• ❌ If one site is hacked, ALL databases are compromised
• ❌ Attacker can delete/modify ALL sites' data
• ❌ No audit trail per site
• ❌ Against WordPress security best practices

When to use: Only for local development, testing environments, or temporary setups where security isolation is not a concern.

Individual Operations

# Database management
wp-host create-databases -c sites.csv
wp-host check-databases -c sites.csv

# WordPress installation
wp-host install-wordpress -c sites.csv
wp-host check-wordpress -c sites.csv

# Security & permissions
wp-host set-permissions -c sites.csv
wp-host check-permissions -c sites.csv

# Application passwords
wp-host generate-app-passwords -c sites.csv

# Export deployment info
wp-host export-deployment -c sites.csv --include-app-passwords

Update Existing Sites

# Fix permalink structure for wp-json API support
wp-host update-permalinks --confirm

# Use custom permalink structure
wp-host update-permalinks --structure="/%year%/%monthnum%/%postname%/" --confirm

🔄 Updating Existing Sites

Permalink Structure Update

If you have existing WordPress sites with "Plain" permalinks that need wp-json API access:

# Update all sites to use "Post name" permalinks (/%postname%/)
wp-host update-permalinks --confirm

# Use custom permalink structure
wp-host update-permalinks --structure="/%year%/%monthnum%/%postname%/" --confirm

Why this matters:

• WordPress wp-json API requires pretty permalinks to function
• Plain permalinks (/?p=123) break REST API endpoints
• Post name structure (/%postname%/) enables full API functionality
• All new deployments automatically use Post name structure

What it does:

• Uses WP-CLI to safely update permalink structures
• Flushes rewrite rules to ensure changes take effect
• Verifies the changes were applied correctly
• Only affects existing WordPress installations
• Skips sites without WordPress or missing configuration

📈 Deployment Workflow

1. Configuration Validation - Checks CSV format and required fields
2. Database Creation - Creates MySQL databases and users with proper permissions
3. WordPress Installation - Downloads, extracts, and configures WordPress
4. Security Configuration - Sets file permissions, generates security keys
5. WP-CLI Setup - Completes WordPress installation with admin users
6. Permalink Configuration - Sets up pretty permalinks for wp-json API
7. Application Passwords - Generates API access credentials (optional)
8. Export Generation - Creates comprehensive deployment report

🔐 Security Features

• Unique Security Keys - WordPress authentication salts for each site
• Proper File Permissions - 755 for directories, 644 for files
• Isolated Database Users - Each site gets its own MySQL user
• Application Passwords - Secure API access without exposing main passwords
• Password Hashing - WordPress-compatible password encryption
• API-Ready Permalinks - Configures permalink structure for REST API support

📊 Export & Reporting

After deployment, get a comprehensive CSV report containing:

• Site URLs and admin login links
• Database connection details
• WordPress admin credentials
• Application passwords for API access
• REST API endpoints (wp-json)
• Deployment status and errors

Perfect for client handoff, team documentation, or development environment setup.

🌐 Web Server Configuration

The tool creates WordPress installations ready for production. Configure your web server:

Apache Virtual Hosts

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName yoursite.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/yoursite.com
    <Directory /var/www/html/yoursite.com>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Nginx Server Blocks

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yoursite.com;
    root /var/www/html/yoursite.com;
    index index.php index.html;
    
    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
    }
    
    # WordPress pretty permalink support
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
    }
}

🛠️ Management Commands

Database Operations

# Check database status
wp-host check-databases -c sites.csv

# Clean up databases (careful!)
wp-host cleanup-databases -c sites.csv

WordPress Operations

# Check WordPress installations
wp-host check-wordpress -c sites.csv

# Update permalink structures
wp-host update-permalinks --confirm

# Generate deployment report
wp-host report -c sites.csv

📁 CSV Template

The included template.csv provides a user-friendly spreadsheet format:

| site_name | directory_path | wordpress_site_title | wordpress_admin_username | |-----------|----------------|---------------------|---------------------------| | example.com | /var/www/html/example.com | Example Website | admin | | portfolio.dev | /var/www/html/portfolio.dev | My Portfolio | webmaster | | blog.site | /var/www/html/blog.site | Tech Blog | blogger |

Download this template, add your sites, and you're ready to deploy!

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Development Setup

git clone https://github.com/auroradream04/wp-host.git
cd wp-host
npm install
npm run dev

📄 License

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

🙋‍♂️ Support

• Documentation: GitHub Wiki
• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions

🌟 Related Projects

• WP-CLI - WordPress command line interface
• WordPress - The WordPress content management system
• MySQL - Database management system

Keywords: wordpress automation, bulk wordpress deployment, hosting provider tools, wordpress batch install, mysql automation, wordpress cli, hosting management, wordpress developer tools, site deployment automation, wordpress hosting solution, csv configuration, spreadsheet deployment