Creating a WordPress Web App on Azure

In the digital world, WordPress is the largest self-hosted blogging tool in the world. The Azure Web App PaaS offering by Microsoft allows developers to host a WordPress Web site. You have to follow a series of steps to deploy a functional WordPress Web site on an Azure Web App. In this article, I will demonstrate how to create, install, and customize a WordPress Web site with a Microsoft Azure Web App.

Creating a WordPress Web App On Azure

Log in to your Azure account. Create a free account, if you are new to Azure. After Login, you will see the home screen of Azure portal, as shown in Figure 1.

Azure Home Screen
Figure 1: Azure Home Screen

Next, click “New” and, in the search bar, search with the keyword WordPress. You can see this in Figure 2.

Azure Home Screen Search Option
Figure 2: Azure Home Screen Search Option

Next, choose the first option, WordPress, category ‘Web+Mobile’, as presented in Figure 3

Azure Marketplace Screen
Figure 3: Azure Marketplace Screen

Click the Create button in the new blade to submit the Web app details, as shown in Figure 4.

Azure WordPress Create Screen
Figure 4: Azure WordPress Create Screen

In the next screen, enter the name of the app. Choose a subscription from the drop-down, whichever is applicable to you. Next, you can create a new resource group or choose one from the existing list. Under the database name provider, you have to choose MySQL in App.

Choosing the MySQL in-app option lets you save on cost by creating a MySQL instance within the application. You don’t have to have a dedicated back-end server. In addition, the MySQL in-app will have only one instance for the database; it cannot be increased or scaled up. See Figure 5.

Azure WordPress Detail Entry Screen
Figure 5: Azure WordPress Detail Entry Screen

Next, create a new service plan or choose an existing plan if you already have an App Service Plan created.

You can name the service plan and choose a location where you would like to deploy your app (see Figure 6).

Azure WordPress App Service Plan
Figure 6: Azure WordPress App Service Plan

Check the “Pin to dashboard” option and click “Create.” You have to wait for the app to be created. This is shown in Figure 7.

Create Azure WordPress Service
Figure 7: Create Azure WordPress Service

You will get the screen shown in Figure 8 in the notification section during the app creation.

Notification Azure WordPress Service
Figure 8: Notification Azure WordPress Service

After successful deployment, the following complete and confirmation screen will be shown (see Figure 9).

Azure WordPress Service Deployed
Figure 9: Azure WordPress Service Deployed

Figure 10 depicts the list of resources created by the WordPress Web App.

Azure WordPress Resource Created
Figure 10: Azure WordPress Resource Created

Once the app creation process is completed, you can click the Browse option in the app, as shown in Figure 11.

Azure WordPress Browse Option
Figure 11: Azure WordPress Browse Option

The app will take you to the WordPress installation procedure. Select the language you will be using (see Figure 12), and click “Continue.”

Azure WordPress Select Language
Figure 12: Azure WordPress Select Language

In that screen, you will fill in your Web site details, as shown in Figure 13. Click “Install WordPress.”

Azure WordPress Enter Details
Figure 13: Azure WordPress Enter Details

After you have successfully installed and logged in to your WordPress Web site, the home screen shown in Figure 14 will be opened.

You can click either on “Visit Site” or “Themes” to change the themes. Again, consult Figure 14.

Azure WordPress Deployed—Home Page
Figure 14: Azure WordPress Deployed—Home Page

Conclusion

Azure Web App for Containers is a great choice for installing WordPress. I hope this article provided you with a basic understanding about WordPress installation on Azure.

That is all for today. Continue reading!

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