Deploy and Host ClassicPress on Railway

ClassicPress is a business-focused, community-led fork of WordPress without the Gutenberg block editor, offering a lightweight, fast, and highly stable Content Management System (CMS). This Railway template deploys ClassicPress (classicpress) paired with a MariaDB database (db), configured with persistent storage volumes and automated secret wiring.

About Hosting ClassicPress

Hosting ClassicPress on Railway deploys a two-tier container architecture:

ClassicPress Web Application (classicpress): Container service running classicpress/classicpress:php8.3-apache on port 80. It mounts a persistent volume at /var/www/html to safeguard uploaded media, plugins, themes, and configuration files across deployments.
MariaDB Database (db): Relational database service using mariadb:10.6. It mounts a persistent volume at /var/lib/mysql to ensure database state (posts, pages, options, and user accounts) remains safe across redeployments, and offers public TCP proxy access on port 3306.

Common Use Cases

Lightweight CMS hosting: Run a high-performance blog, news publication, or business site built on ClassicPress.
Block-editor-free publishing: Enjoy a traditional, streamlined classic editing interface without Gutenberg bloat.
Custom PHP application hosting: Extend ClassicPress with classic WordPress-compatible plugins and custom themes.
Self-hosted content platform: Maintain complete data ownership over media assets and database records on Railway infrastructure.

Dependencies for ClassicPress Hosting

ClassicPress image: classicpress/classicpress:php8.3-apache
MariaDB image: mariadb:10.6
Two persistent volumes:
- /var/www/html on the classicpress service
- /var/lib/mysql on the db service
Railway public domain mapped to port 80 for classicpress
Auto-generated secret: MySQL password (MYSQL_PASSWORD)

Upstream: ClassicPress Site · GitHub · Docker Hub

Implementation Details

Service	Image	Role	Internal Port	Volume Mount
classicpress	`classicpress/classicpress:php8.3-apache`	PHP 8.3 + Apache Web Server & CMS	`80`	`/var/www/html`
db	`mariadb:10.6`	MariaDB Database Server	`3306`	`/var/lib/mysql`

Topology

Service	Role	Volume	Public	Notes
classicpress	Apache Web Server + CMS Files	`/var/www/html`	Yes (Port `80`)	Connects to `db` using `${{db.RAILWAY_PRIVATE_DOMAIN}}`
db	MariaDB Database Engine	`/var/lib/mysql`	TCP Proxy (Port `3306`)	Private networking with optional public TCP proxy access

Volumes (drives) — what to mount

Service	Mount path	What is stored
classicpress	`/var/www/html`	ClassicPress core PHP files, `wp-content/` (themes, plugins, uploads), `.htaccess`, and configuration
db	`/var/lib/mysql`	MariaDB database tables, post contents, options, and user credentials

Warning: Do not remove or detach the persistent volumes (/var/www/html or /var/lib/mysql). Removing /var/www/html erases media uploads and custom plugins, while removing /var/lib/mysql permanently deletes your database state.

Quick Start

Click the Deploy on Railway button above.
Sign in (or create a free Railway account) and click Deploy.
Wait 1–2 minutes for both the db database and classicpress web application containers to provision.
Open the classicpress service → Settings → Networking and click the generated public domain URL.
Complete the ClassicPress web setup wizard (Language, Site Title, Admin Username, Password, and Email).

Configuration

Application Variables (`classicpress`)

Variable	Default / Source	Description / Notes
`WORDPRESS_DB_HOST`	`${{db.RAILWAY_PRIVATE_DOMAIN}}`	Internal MariaDB hostname provided by the `db` service
`WORDPRESS_DB_USER`	`wordpress`	Database username created for ClassicPress
`WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD`	`${{db.MYSQL_PASSWORD}}`	Database access password referencing the auto-generated `db` secret
`WORDPRESS_DB_NAME`	`wordpress`	Target MariaDB database name
`PORT`	`80`	Web server port listened on inside the container

Database Variables (`db`)

Variable	Default / Source	Description / Notes
`MYSQL_DATABASE`	`wordpress`	Default database created during MariaDB initialization
`MYSQL_USER`	`wordpress`	Database user created during initialization
`MYSQL_PASSWORD`	Auto-generated secret (16 chars)	Password for `MYSQL_USER`
`MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD`	`${{MYSQL_PASSWORD}}`	Administrative root database password
`MYSQLHOST`	`${{RAILWAY_PRIVATE_DOMAIN}}`	Internal private network domain
`MYSQLPORT`	`3306`	MariaDB server port
`DATABASE_URL`	`mysql://${{MYSQL_USER}}:${{MYSQL_PASSWORD}}@${{RAILWAY_PRIVATE_DOMAIN}}:3306/${{MYSQL_DATABASE}}`	Private MySQL connection string
`DATABASE_PUBLIC_URL`	Connection string via TCP Proxy	External connection URL for remote database clients (e.g., TablePlus, DBeaver)

Custom Domain

Open the classicpress service → Settings → Networking → Custom Domain.
Add your custom domain and follow Railway’s DNS configuration instructions.
Railway provisions TLS automatically.
Log in to ClassicPress Admin (Settings → General) and update WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL) to match your new custom domain URL (https://yourdomain.com).

Updating ClassicPress

Open the classicpress service → Settings → Source.
Update the image tag (e.g., classicpress/classicpress:php8.3-apache to a newer version tag).
Click Redeploy.

All uploaded media, installed themes/plugins, and database records will remain safe inside /var/www/html and /var/lib/mysql.

Traps

Common pitfalls and failure modes:

Site URL Redirect Loops on Custom Domains — ClassicPress records site URLs in its database options. Changing Railway domains or configuring custom domains without updating site settings or defining WP_HOME and WP_SITEURL in wp-config.php may cause infinite HTTP redirect loops.
Volume Detachment Data Loss — Because both files (/var/www/html) and database state (/var/lib/mysql) are stored on persistent volumes, removing either volume during maintenance will delete user uploads or database records.
HTTPS Proxy Headers — Railway routes web requests through HTTPS reverse proxies. If CSS/JS assets attempt to load over HTTP or trigger mixed-content warnings, ensure HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO headers are processed correctly.
Database Connection Delay during First Boot — If classicpress boots before MariaDB has finished initializing its database directory, initial connection attempts may time out. Wait for db to become healthy and redeploy classicpress.

Why Deploy ClassicPress on Railway?

Railway provides a complete platform for running web applications and databases together without server maintenance. Hosting ClassicPress on Railway gives you private service networking, isolated volume mounts, auto-generated security credentials, automatic HTTPS encryption, and reliable scaling.