Configure WordPress with a Lightsail content delivery network

To create a distribution for your WordPress instance

1. In the left navigation pane, choose Networking.

2. Choose Create distribution.

3. For Choose your origin, choose the Region where you're running your WordPress instance and then choose your WordPress instance. We automatically use the static IP address that you attached to the instance.

4. For Caching behavior, choose Best for WordPress.

5. (Optional) To configure end-to-end encryption, change the origin protocol policy to HTTPS only. For more information, see Origin protocol policy. This requires your WordPress instance to serve HTTPS. For instructions, see Enable HTTPS on your WordPress instance.

6. Configure the remaining options and then choose Create distribution.

7. On the Custom domains tab, choose Create certificate. Enter a unique name for the certificate, enter the names of your domain and subdomains, and then choose Create certificate.

8. Choose Attach certificate.

9. For Update DNS records, choose I understand.

To update the DNS records for your distribution

1. In the left navigation pane, choose Domains & DNS.

2. Under the DNS zones section of the page, choose the domain name to which you want to add the record that will direct traffic for your domain to your distribution.

3. Choose the DNS records tab. Then, choose Add record.

4. Complete one of the following steps depending on the type of domain that you want to point to your distribution:

   • Choose an address (A) record to point an apex domain (e.g., example.com) to your distribution.

     If an A record for the apex of your domain is already present in your DNS zone, then you will need to edit that existing record instead of adding another A record.

   • Choose a canonical name (CNAME) to point a sub domain, such as website.example.com, to your distribution.

5. If you're adding an A record, then in the Resolves to text box choose the name of your distribution. If you're adding a CNAME record, then in the Maps to text box enter the default domain name of your distribution.

   Note

   When you add an A record to your DNS zone, and choose the name of your distribution, you are in fact adding an alias record, which is different than an address record. Lightsail makes it easy for you to add alias records without the additional steps that are typically required at other DNS hosting providers.

6. Choose the save icon to save the record to your DNS zone.

   Repeat these steps to add additional DNS records for domains on your certificate that you are using with your distribution. Allow time for changes to propagate through the Internet's DNS. After a few minutes, you should see if your domain is pointing to your distribution. You should also test your distribution. For more information, see the following Test your distribution.

1. Sign in to the Lightsail console.

2. In the left navigation pane, choose the browser-based SSH client icon that is displayed next to your WordPress instance.

3. After you're connected to your instance, enter the following command to create a backup of the wp-config.php file. If something goes wrong, you can restore the file using the backup.

   sudo cp /var/www/wp-config.php /var/www/wp-config.php.backup

4. Enter the following command to open the wp-config.php file using Vim.

   sudo vim /var/www/wp-config.php

5. Press I to enter insert mode in Vim.

6. Delete the following lines of code in the file.

   define('WP_SITEURL', 'http://' . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . '/');
   define('WP_HOME', 'http://' . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . '/');

7. Add the following lines of code to the file where you previously deleted the code:

   define('WP_SITEURL', 'http://DOMAIN/');
   define('WP_HOME', 'http://DOMAIN/');
   if (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_CLOUDFRONT_FORWARDED_PROTO'])
   && $_SERVER['HTTP_CLOUDFRONT_FORWARDED_PROTO'] === 'https') {
   $_SERVER['HTTPS'] = 'on';
   }

8. Press the Esc key to exit insert mode in Vim, then type :wq! and press Enter to save your edits (write) and quit Vim.

9. Enter the following command to restart the Apache service on your instance.

   sudo systemctl restart apache2

10. Wait a few moments for your the Apache service to restart, then test that your distribution is caching your content. For more information, see Test your Amazon Lightsail distribution.

11. If something went wrong, re-connect to your instance using the browser-based SSH client. Run the following command to restore the wp-config.php file using the backup you created earlier in this guide.

    sudo cp /var/www/wp-config.php.backup /var/www/wp-config.php

    After you restore the file, enter the following command to restart the Apache service:

    sudo systemctl restart apache2