High Performance Wordpress Webserver Stack with NGINX, PHP-FPM + APC and Varnish

default

# We only have one backend to define: NGINX
backend default {
    .host = "127.0.0.1";
    .port = "8080";
}

# Only allow purging from specific IPs
acl purge {
    "localhost";
    "127.0.0.1";
}

sub vcl_recv {
    # Handle compression correctly. Different browsers send different
    # "Accept-Encoding" headers, even though they mostly support the same
    # compression mechanisms. By consolidating compression headers into
    # a consistent format, we reduce the cache size and get more hits.
    # @see: http:// varnish.projects.linpro.no/wiki/FAQ/Compression
    if (req.http.Accept-Encoding) {
        if (req.http.Accept-Encoding ~ "gzip") {
            # If the browser supports it, we'll use gzip.
            set req.http.Accept-Encoding = "gzip";
        }
        else if (req.http.Accept-Encoding ~ "deflate") {
            # Next, try deflate if it is supported.
            set req.http.Accept-Encoding = "deflate";
        }
        else {
            # Unknown algorithm. Remove it and send unencoded.
            unset req.http.Accept-Encoding;
        }
    }

    # Set client IP
    if (req.http.x-forwarded-for) {
        set req.http.X-Forwarded-For = req.http.X-Forwarded-For + ", " + client.ip;
    } else {
        set req.http.X-Forwarded-For = client.ip;
    }

    # Check if we may purge (only localhost)
    if (req.request == "PURGE") {
        if (!client.ip ~ purge) {
            error 405 "Not allowed.";
        }
        return(lookup);
    }

    if (req.request != "GET" &&
        req.request != "HEAD" &&
        req.request != "PUT" &&
        req.request != "POST" &&
        req.request != "TRACE" &&
        req.request != "OPTIONS" &&
        req.request != "DELETE") {
            # /* Non-RFC2616 or CONNECT which is weird. */
            return (pipe);
    }

    if (req.request != "GET" && req.request != "HEAD") {
        # /* We only deal with GET and HEAD by default */
        return (pass);
    }

    # admin users always miss the cache
    if( req.url ~ "^/wp-(login|admin)" || 
        req.http.Cookie ~ "wordpress_logged_in_" ){
            return (pass);
    }

    # Remove cookies set by Google Analytics (pattern: '__utmABC')
    if (req.http.Cookie) {
        set req.http.Cookie = regsuball(req.http.Cookie, "(^|; ) *__utm.=[^;]+;? *", "\1");
        if (req.http.Cookie == "") {
            remove req.http.Cookie;
        }
    }

    # always pass through POST requests and those with basic auth
    if (req.http.Authorization || req.request == "POST") {
        return (pass);
    }

    # Do not cache these paths
    if (req.url ~ "^/wp-cron\.php$" ||
        req.url ~ "^/xmlrpc\.php$" ||
        req.url ~ "^/wp-admin/.*$" ||
        req.url ~ "^/wp-includes/.*$" ||
        req.url ~ "\?s=") {
            return (pass);
    }

    # Define the default grace period to serve cached content
    set req.grace = 30s;

    # By ignoring any other cookies, it is now ok to get a page
    unset req.http.Cookie;
    return (lookup);
}

sub vcl_fetch {
    # remove some headers we never want to see
    unset beresp.http.Server;
    unset beresp.http.X-Powered-By;

    # only allow cookies to be set if we're in admin area
    if( beresp.http.Set-Cookie && req.url !~ "^/wp-(login|admin)" ){
        unset beresp.http.Set-Cookie;
    }

    # don't cache response to posted requests or those with basic auth
    if ( req.request == "POST" || req.http.Authorization ) {
        return (hit_for_pass);
    }

    # don't cache search results
    if( req.url ~ "\?s=" ){
        return (hit_for_pass);
    }

    # only cache status ok
    if ( beresp.status != 200 ) {
        return (hit_for_pass);
    }

    # If our backend returns 5xx status this will reset the grace time
    # set in vcl_recv so that cached content will be served and 
    # the unhealthy backend will not be hammered by requests
    if (beresp.status == 500) {
        set beresp.grace = 60s;
        return (restart);
    }

    # GZip the cached content if possible
    if (beresp.http.content-type ~ "text") {
        set beresp.do_gzip = true;
    }

    # if nothing abovce matched it is now ok to cache the response
    set beresp.ttl = 24h;
    return (deliver);
}

sub vcl_deliver {
    # remove some headers added by varnish
    unset resp.http.Via;
    unset resp.http.X-Varnish;
}

sub vcl_hit {
    # Set up invalidation of the cache so purging gets done properly
    if (req.request == "PURGE") {
        purge;
        error 200 "Purged.";
    }
    return (deliver);
}

sub vcl_miss {
    # Set up invalidation of the cache so purging gets done properly
    if (req.request == "PURGE") {
        purge;
        error 200 "Purged.";
    }
    return (fetch);
}

sub vcl_error {
    if (obj.status == 503) {
                # set obj.http.location = req.http.Location;
                set obj.status = 404;
        set obj.response = "Not Found";
                return (deliver);
    }
}

functions.php

# How to use the cachebuster function when registering styles in your theme's functions.php
wp_register_style('style',get_bloginfo('stylesheet_directory').autoVer('style.css'),false,NULL,'all');


/**
 * Automated cache-buster function via filemtime
 **/
function autoVer($url){
	$name = explode('.',$url);
	$lastext = array_pop($name);
	array_push($name,filemtime($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].parse_url($url,
		PHP_URL_PATH)),$lastext);
	$fullname = implode('.',$name) ;
	echo $fullname;
}

header.php

# How to use the cachebuster function in your theme's header.php
<?php
autoVer(get_bloginfo('stylesheet_url'));
?>
[...]
<?php
	/*
	 * Circumvent @import CSS for WordPress child themes
	 * If we're in a child theme, build links for both parent and child CSS
	 * This way, we can remove the @import from the child theme's style.css
	 * CSS loaded via link can load simultaneously, while @import blocks loading
	 * See: http://www.stevesouders.com/blog/2009/04/09/dont-use-import/
	 */
	if(is_child_theme()) {
		echo '<link rel="stylesheet" href="';
		autoVer(get_bloginfo('template_url').'/style.css');
		echo '" />'."\n\t\t";
		echo '<link rel="stylesheet" href="';
		autoVer(get_bloginfo('stylesheet_url'));
		echo '" />'."\n";
	} else {
		echo '<link rel="stylesheet" href="';
		autoVer(get_bloginfo('stylesheet_url'));
		echo '" />'."\n";
	} 
?>

mime.types

application/vnd.ms-fontobject           eot;
application/x-font-ttf                  ttf;
font/opentype                           ott;
application/font-woff                   woff;

nginx.conf

user www-data;
worker_processes 2;
pid /var/run/nginx.pid;

events {
    worker_connections 768;
    multi_accept on;
    use epoll;
}

http {

    # Let NGINX get the real client IP for its access logs
    set_real_ip_from 127.0.0.1;
    real_ip_header X-Forwarded-For;

    # Basic Settings
    sendfile on;
    tcp_nopush on;
    tcp_nodelay on;
    keepalive_timeout 20;
    client_max_body_size 15m;
    client_body_timeout 60;
    client_header_timeout 60;
    client_body_buffer_size  1K;
    client_header_buffer_size 1k;
    large_client_header_buffers 4 8k;
    send_timeout 60;
    reset_timedout_connection on;
    types_hash_max_size 2048;
    server_tokens off;

    # server_names_hash_bucket_size 64;
    # server_name_in_redirect off;

    include /etc/nginx/mime.types;
    default_type application/octet-stream;

    # Logging Settings
    # access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log;

    # Log Format
    log_format main '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] '
    '"$request" $status $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" '
    '"$http_user_agent" "$http_x_forwarded_for"';

    # Gzip Settings
    gzip on;
    gzip_static on;
    gzip_disable "msie6";
    gzip_vary on;
    gzip_proxied any;
    gzip_comp_level 6;
    gzip_min_length 512;
    gzip_buffers 16 8k;
    gzip_http_version 1.1;
    gzip_types text/css text/javascript text/xml text/plain text/x-component application/javascript application/x-javascript application/json application/xml  application/rss+xml font/truetype application/x-font-ttf font/opentype application/vnd.ms-fontobject image/svg+xml;

    # Virtual Host Configs
    include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf;
    include /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*;
}

php-fpm.conf

pid = /var/run/php5-fpm.pid
error_log = /var/log/php5-fpm.log
emergency_restart_threshold = 5
emergency_restart_interval = 2
events.mechanism = epoll

php.ini

short_open_tag = Off
ignore_user_abort = Off
post_max_size = 15M
upload_max_filesize = 15M
default_charset = "UTF-8"
allow_url_fopen = Off
default_socket_timeout = 30
mysql.allow_persistent = Off
[...]
# This should go to the end of the file:
[apc]
apc.stat = "0"
apc.max_file_size = "1M"
apc.localcache = "1"
apc.localcache.size = "256"
apc.shm_segments = "1"
apc.ttl = "3600"
apc.user_ttl = "7200"
apc.gc_ttl = "3600"
apc.cache_by_default = "1"
apc.filters = ""
apc.write_lock = "1"
apc.num_files_hint= "512"
apc.user_entries_hint="4096"
apc.shm_size = "256M"
apc.mmap_file_mask=/tmp/apc.XXXXXX
apc.include_once_override = "0"
apc.file_update_protection="2"
apc.canonicalize = "1"
apc.report_autofilter="0"
apc.stat_ctime="0"
;This should be used when you are finished with PHP file changes.
;As you must clear the APC cache to recompile already cached files.
;If you are still developing, set this to 1.
apc.stat="0"

varnish

DAEMON_OPTS="-a :80 \
    -T localhost:6082 \
    -f /etc/varnish/default.vcl \
    -u www-data -g www-data \
    -S /etc/varnish/secret \
    -p thread_pools=2 \
    -p thread_pool_min=25 \
    -p thread_pool_max=250 \
    -p thread_pool_add_delay=2 \
    -p session_linger=50 \
    -p sess_workspace=262144 \
    -p cli_timeout=40 \
    -s malloc,768m"

www.conf

user = www-data
group = www-data
listen = /var/run/php-fpm.socket
listen.owner = www-data
listen.group = www-data
listen.mode = 0666
listen.allowed_clients = 127.0.0.1
pm = dynamic
pm.max_children = 50
pm.start_servers = 15
pm.min_spare_servers = 5
pm.max_spare_servers = 25
pm.process_idle_timeout = 60s
request_terminate_timeout = 30
security.limit_extensions = .php
[...]
# This should to the end of the file:
php_flag[display_errors] = off
php_admin_value[error_reporting] = 0
php_admin_value[error_log] = /var/log/php5-fpm.log
php_admin_flag[log_errors] = on
php_admin_value[memory_limit] = 128M

yourdomain.tld

server {
    # Default server block blacklisting all unconfigured access
    listen [::]:8080 default_server;
    server_name _;
    return 444;
}

server {
    # Configure the domain that will run WordPress
    server_name yourdomain.tld;
    listen [::]:8080 deferred;
    port_in_redirect off;
    server_tokens off;
    autoindex off;

    client_max_body_size 15m;
    client_body_buffer_size 128k;

    # WordPress needs to be in the webroot of /var/www/ in this case
    root /var/www;
    index index.html index.htm index.php;
    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?q=$uri&$args;

    # Define default caching of 24h
    expires 86400s;
    add_header Pragma public;
    add_header Cache-Control "max-age=86400, public, must-revalidate, 
    proxy-revalidate";

    # deliver a static 404
    error_page 404 /404.html;
    location  /404.html {
        internal;
    }

    # Deliver 404 instead of 403 "Forbidden"
    error_page 403 = 404;

    # Do not allow access to files giving away your WordPress version
    location ~ /(\.|wp-config.php|readme.html|licence.txt) {
        return 404;
    }

    # Add trailing slash to */wp-admin requests.
    rewrite /wp-admin$ $scheme://$host$uri/ permanent;

    # Don't log robots.txt requests
    location = /robots.txt {
        allow all;
        log_not_found off;
        access_log off;
    }

    # Rewrite for versioned CSS+JS via filemtime
    location ~* ^.+\.(css|js)$ {
        rewrite ^(.+)\.(\d+)\.(css|js)$ $1.$3 last;
        expires 31536000s;
        access_log off;
        log_not_found off;
        add_header Pragma public;
        add_header Cache-Control "max-age=31536000, public";
    }

    # Aggressive caching for static files
    # If you alter static files often, please use "add_header Cache-Control
    "max-age=31536000, public, must-revalidate, proxy-revalidate";"
    location ~* \.(asf|asx|wax|wmv|wmx|avi|bmp|class|divx|doc|docx|eot|exe|gif|gz|gzip|ico|jpg|jpeg|jpe|mdb|mid|midi|mov|qt|mp3|m4a|mp4|m4v|mpeg|mpg|mpe|mpp|odb|odc|odf|odg|odp|ods|odt|ogg|ogv|otf|pdf|png|pot|pps|ppt|pptx|ra|ram|svg|svgz|swf|tar|t?gz|tif|tiff|ttf|wav|webm|wma|woff|wri|xla|xls|xlsx|xlt|xlw|zip)$ {
        expires 31536000s;
        access_log off;
        log_not_found off;
        add_header Pragma public;
        add_header Cache-Control "max-age=31536000, public";
    }

    # pass PHP scripts to Fastcgi listening on Unix socket
    # Do not process them if inside WP uploads directory
    # If using Multisite or a custom uploads directory,
    # please set the */uploads/* directory in the regex below
    location ~* (^(?!(?:(?!(php|inc)).)*/uploads/).*?(php)) {
        try_files $uri = 404;
        fastcgi_split_path_info ^(.+.php)(.*)$;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php-fpm.socket;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_intercept_errors on;
        fastcgi_ignore_client_abort off;
        fastcgi_connect_timeout 60;
        fastcgi_send_timeout 180;
        fastcgi_read_timeout 180;
        fastcgi_buffer_size 128k;
        fastcgi_buffers 4 256k;
        fastcgi_busy_buffers_size 256k;
        fastcgi_temp_file_write_size 256k;
    }

    # Deny access to hidden files
    location ~ /\. {
        deny all;
        access_log off;
        log_not_found off;
    }

}

# Redirect all www. queries to non-www
# Change in case your site is to be available at "www.yourdomain.tld"
server {
    listen [::]:8080;
    server_name www.yourdomain.tld;
    rewrite ^ $scheme://yourdomain.tld$request_uri? permanent;
}