Question

Can I use a single DigitalOcean Droplet to host multiple wordpress, node.js, and other apps

Hi,

Currently, I have several WordPress sites hosted with Bluehost and Node.js apps hosted with Heroku. I am also working on some Python development that will eventually need to be hosted. Generally, these sites and apps are very low traffic.

I would like to be able to manage these different sites/apps from a single location, as well as save on hosting costs.

Is this possible with DigitalOcean? Are there other options that you would recommend? Specifically:

  • Can a single DigitalOcean droplet host sites/apps with different server-side languages (including full CMS’ like WordPress)?
  • If yes, how difficult is this to configure and manage?
  • Would this configuration translate to savings on hosting costs?
  • Are there solutions other than DigitalOcean that would address this problem more effectively (Bluehost? AWS?) And does anyone have experience doing this with different services and the pros/cons of each?

Thank you for any answers, tips, recommendations, or links to useful resources!!

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Bobby Iliev • April 3, 2021

Hi there,

You could follow the steps from this video on how to host multiple WordPress websites on the same server with Apache Virtual Hosts:

Essentially, what needs to happen is:

  • Download a new copy of WordPress with the wget command:
wget wordpress.org/latest.zip
  • After that extract the files
unzip latest.zip
  • Then move the files to the /var/www/ folder:
mv wordpress /var/www/your_site.com
  • Then set the owner of the file to the Apache2 user:
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/your_site.com
  • After that copy the existing Apache config:
sudo cp /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf /etc/apache2/sites-available/your_site.conf
  • Then enable the new site:
sudo a2ensite
  • Run a configtest:
sudo apachectl -t
  • If you get Syntax OK reload Apache:
sudo systemctl reload apache2
  • Then create a new MySQL database and username. To create the database first access MySQL:
mysql

Then run the following queries:

CREATE DATABASE wp_site;

CREATE USER 'wp_site'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'use_secure_password_here';

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wp_site.* TO 'wp_site'@'%' WITH GREANT OPTION;
  • Finally, access the site via your web browser to finish the installation.

Hope that this helps. Regards, Bobby

Kevin Yancy • May 14, 2019

Yes, u can but some easier than others. I teach a full stack dev class and we set them up here on DO. I have used other services and am very happy with DO. There are tons of guides on deploying whatever u might imagine but some are better than others. Plus, many are geared for production deployments which I also did not need as I just use it for side projects and my Students are just wanting to share their work, so some overly complex.

I have non-large scale deployments down for Node.js/MERN/Django so if I can be of any assistance with any of those let me know. Especially if you might open a new account as u can use my referral code and do me a solid. ;-)

Oh and BTW, I saved a bundle by moving my stuff from Rackspace to here if that helps. For an independent hobbyist who just needed a VPS to deploy my pet projects and experiments, DO has been great!