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What HAProxy changes in a WordPress deployment
HAProxy becomes the public reverse proxy. Visitors resolve one hostname to the HAProxy address, and HAProxy selects a healthy WordPress web server for each request. The origins can be separate virtual machines, containers, or physical servers, but they must behave as one site from the visitor’s perspective.
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The HAProxy project describes its software as “a free, very fast and reliable reverse-proxy offering high availability, load balancing, and proxying for TCP and HTTP-based applications.” In this design, its important jobs are:
- Accepting connections on the public HTTP and HTTPS ports.
- Redirecting clear-text HTTP to the canonical HTTPS URL.
- Presenting the public certificate when TLS terminates at HAProxy.
- Forwarding the original host, scheme, and client address to WordPress.
- Checking whether each origin can actually serve the application.
- Removing failed origins from rotation and returning recovered origins after successful checks.
Load balancing does not make two independent WordPress installations consistent. A plugin activated on one origin, an upload written to one local disk, or a cache entry visible on only one server can still produce errors after traffic moves to another origin. Treat HAProxy and WordPress state as separate design problems.
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Reference architecture and prerequisites
A typical request path is:
Client → HAProxy public IP → frontend https-in → backend wordpress_web → WordPress origins → shared database and shared or replicated media and cache services
Before adding the proxy, prepare the following:
- One public hostname, such as
example.com, used consistently in WordPress, REST responses, canonical links, media URLs, and administrative links. - A certificate and private key available to HAProxy if it terminates TLS.
- Private addresses for each origin, with firewall rules allowing web traffic only from HAProxy or the required internal networks.
- The same WordPress core version, plugins, themes, PHP version, PHP extensions, web-server behavior, and relevant configuration on every origin.
- One authoritative database or a database topology that you have tested for reads, writes, failover, and replication lag.
- A shared or reliably replicated
wp-content/uploadslocation. - A documented design for object caching, PHP sessions, login cookies, admin operations, and scheduled jobs.
- Administrative access restricted to trusted networks, with monitoring for HAProxy, the origins, the database, storage, and certificate expiry.
If the origins are reached over private HTTP, protect that network and keep it inaccessible from the public internet. If policy requires encryption between HAProxy and the origins, configure HTTPS servers and certificate verification in the backend instead of treating private HTTP as an assumption.
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Choose a balancing and persistence policy
Round-robin for equivalent origins
Start with round-robin when every origin can serve any request and shared state is correctly implemented. HAProxy sends successive requests across the available servers, while health checks prevent traffic from being sent to an origin that is not ready.
When persistence is justified
Some legacy plugins or application code store PHP session data locally or expect a sequence of requests to reach the same process. In that case, HAProxy can insert or rewrite a named persistence cookie for the HTTP backend. Use persistence only after identifying the specific state that requires it. A persistence cookie does not copy files, database rows, object-cache entries, or sessions between origins.
Design for a node disappearing even when persistence is enabled. A client pinned to a failed origin must be able to receive a new cookie and continue on a healthy origin, or the application must provide a separate shared session store. Excessive stickiness also reduces balancing efficiency and can overload one origin when clients have uneven request patterns.
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Build the HAProxy configuration
The following is a starting pattern, not a tested drop-in. Adapt certificate paths, HAProxy version syntax, timeouts, access controls, and health endpoints to your environment.
global
log /dev/log local0
maxconn 4096
defaults
mode http
log global
option httplog
timeout connect 5s
timeout client 30s
timeout server 30s
timeout http-request 10s
frontend http-in
bind :80
http-request redirect scheme https code 301 unless { ssl_fc }
frontend https-in
bind :443 ssl crt /etc/haproxy/certs/example.pem
http-request set-header X-Forwarded-Proto https
http-request set-header X-Forwarded-Host %[req.hdr(Host)]
option forwardfor
default_backend wordpress_web
backend wordpress_web
balance roundrobin
option httpchk
http-check send meth HEAD uri /healthz ver HTTP/1.1 hdr Host example.com
http-check expect status 200
server wp1 10.0.0.11:80 check
server wp2 10.0.0.12:80 checkGlobal and defaults sections
maxconn 4096 is only an example ceiling; size it for the proxy host, origin capacity, file descriptors, and expected concurrency. The timeout values prevent connections from hanging forever, but they are not universal WordPress settings. Long-running imports, backups, or media operations may need a separate policy rather than simply increasing every timeout.
HTTP and HTTPS frontends
The port-80 frontend issues one permanent redirect to the HTTPS URL. The TLS frontend presents the certificate, sets the original scheme to https, preserves the public host in X-Forwarded-Host, and enables X-Forwarded-For through option forwardfor. Overwrite these headers at the trusted proxy boundary; never pass arbitrary client-supplied forwarding values through to WordPress.
Backend selection
balance roundrobin distributes requests among available origins. Each server line names an origin, gives its private address and port, and enables active checking with check. Add an origin only after it has the same code, configuration, database visibility, media access, and cache behavior as the others.
Design a health check that proves WordPress is ready
A TCP connection to port 80 proves only that something accepted a socket. HAProxy’s active checks can send HTTP requests regularly; after enough failures, a server leaves the load-balancing rotation, and after enough successful checks, it returns. The check must therefore test the application path that must work for real users.
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Use a lightweight readiness endpoint
The example checks HEAD /healthz and expects status 200. Implement that endpoint so it returns success only when the web server and the PHP path required by your site are usable. Keep it fast and deterministic. A static file may prove only that the web server is alive; a PHP endpoint can prove that PHP routing works, but should not execute expensive WordPress bootstrap code unless that is intentional.
Avoid misleading or expensive checks
- Do not check a slow, uncached home page whose response depends on external APIs or advertising calls.
- Do not run a database-heavy query on every interval if a database outage can overload the remaining origins.
- Return a failure when the origin is in maintenance mode, has lost required storage, or cannot reach a dependency that makes WordPress unusable.
- Send the correct
Hostheader so virtual-host routing and site-specific health logic are exercised. - Confirm that the endpoint does not expose secrets, debug output, stack traces, or internal addresses.
HAProxy supports custom methods, URIs, headers, and expected statuses for HTTP checks. Choose intervals, rise counts, and fall counts according to how quickly you need to remove a failed node and how much check traffic the origins can handle. A very aggressive policy can flap during a brief overload; a very slow policy can continue sending users to a broken server.
Make WordPress understand HTTPS behind HAProxy
When HAProxy terminates TLS, the connection from HAProxy to an origin may be ordinary HTTP. Without an explicit forwarded scheme, WordPress can believe the request is insecure, generate http:// URLs, or redirect an HTTPS request back to HTTPS repeatedly. WordPress’s official HTTPS guidance calls this an infinite redirect-loop risk for reverse-proxy deployments.
Place a trusted-proxy pattern near the beginning of wp-config.php:
if ( isset( $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO'] )
&& strpos( $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO'], 'https' ) !== false ) {
$_SERVER['HTTPS'] = 'on';
}
define( 'WP_HOME', 'https://example.com' );
define( 'WP_SITEURL', 'https://example.com' );The condition should be safe only because HAProxy overwrites the forwarding header and the origins accept traffic solely from trusted proxy addresses. If an origin is directly reachable from the internet, a visitor could forge the header and influence HTTPS detection.
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Set the canonical host and scheme
WP_HOME and WP_SITEURL override database values, include the scheme, and should not end with a slash. Use the exact public hostname, including whether the site intentionally uses a www prefix. Keep DNS, the certificate names, HAProxy’s host handling, and these constants aligned.
Diagnose internal-host URLs
If WordPress emits links to an origin’s private hostname or IP address, inspect the host path first. A reverse proxy can overwrite HTTP_HOST; the application may need the correct forwarded host or server-name handling. Check canonical links, enqueued scripts, media URLs, REST API responses, password-reset links, admin redirects, and feeds—not just the home page.
Make every origin the same site
Database consistency
Point all origins at the same authoritative database, or use a tested topology with clearly defined writer and reader behavior. Verify that writes made through the admin area, REST API, comments, forms, and plugins become visible regardless of which origin receives the next request. Replication lag can make a successful write appear to vanish when the following read reaches a lagging replica.
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WordPress normally writes uploads under wp-content/uploads. Local disks on two origins are separate unless you provide shared storage or reliable replication. Test original files, generated image sizes, deletions, media-library listings, and direct retrieval through the public hostname. A deployment that shares the database but not media will show broken images as soon as traffic changes nodes.
Object and page caches
Use a shared object cache when plugins rely on cross-node cache coherence, or configure each node so stale data cannot violate the application’s correctness requirements. Coordinate page-cache purges after content changes and deployments. If one origin serves an old cached page while another serves new content, users can see inconsistent results even though the database is correct.
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Sessions, cookies, and administration
Prefer stateless application behavior or a shared session store. If a plugin creates server-side PHP sessions, identify where those sessions live and whether a request can move safely between origins. Login cookies are signed by WordPress and normally work across equivalent origins, but custom plugins may keep additional local state. Test login, logout, password resets, carts, forms, and concurrent administrator actions.
WP-Cron and scheduled work
Multiple origins can trigger the same scheduled event. Decide whether the site should run one controlled cron executor, use a locking strategy that your jobs respect, or deliberately allow concurrent execution. Test publishing schedules, email queues, backups, cache purges, and plugin maintenance jobs for duplicate runs.
Deployments and configuration drift
Roll out code, plugins, themes, PHP settings, web-server rules, and HAProxy-facing headers consistently. A node that is online before its files or database migrations are ready can pass a superficial check while serving a different application. Drain or disable it during deployment, update it, run focused checks, and return it only after it matches the other origins.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Secure the proxy and origins
- Allow public access to HAProxy’s listener ports, but restrict origin ports to HAProxy and approved management networks.
- Keep the HAProxy administration socket, statistics interface, and configuration files off the public interface.
- Protect certificate and private-key files with least-privilege permissions and monitor expiry.
- Normalize or overwrite
X-Forwarded-For,X-Forwarded-Host, andX-Forwarded-Protoat HAProxy. - Log enough information to identify the selected backend and response status without exposing cookies, authorization headers, or personal data.
- Use end-to-end TLS when the internal network is not fully trusted; configure backend certificate verification rather than merely changing the backend port.
Validate the deployment before sending real traffic
- Run the syntax checker shipped with the installed HAProxy version against the complete configuration. Resolve parser errors, certificate-path errors, bind conflicts, and permission problems before reloading.
- Query the health endpoint through HAProxy and directly on each origin. Confirm the expected status, host routing, and response time.
- Request the HTTP URL and verify exactly one redirect to the public HTTPS hostname. Check that HTTPS responses do not redirect back to HTTPS.
- Inspect generated canonical, media, REST, feed, password-reset, and admin URLs for the public scheme and host.
- Review HAProxy logs to confirm backend selection and forwarded-header behavior. Keep diagnostic headers out of client responses unless there is a controlled reason to expose them.
- Stop or firewall one origin. Refresh anonymously and while logged in, then test the admin area, REST API, uploads, media retrieval, cache purge, and scheduled jobs.
- Restore the origin only after code, database visibility, media, cache, and health checks are consistent. Confirm that it actually re-enters rotation rather than merely accepting a TCP connection.
Troubleshoot by symptom
| Symptom | Likely cause | Checks and correction |
|---|---|---|
| HTTPS redirects repeatedly | WordPress does not trust the forwarded scheme, or HAProxy is not overwriting it. | Inspect X-Forwarded-Proto, apply the trusted wp-config.php logic, and ensure origins are reachable only from the proxy. |
| Links contain an origin IP or private hostname | The public host was lost or overwritten. | Verify the incoming Host, forwarded host handling, and WP_HOME/WP_SITEURL. |
| One node shows missing images | Uploads exist only on another node, or replication is incomplete. | Compare wp-content/uploads visibility and test newly uploaded and resized files from both origins. |
| Health checks pass while users see errors | The endpoint checks only a static file or a path that bypasses PHP and dependencies. | Make the check represent the minimum PHP and application readiness required by production traffic, without expensive work. |
| Users lose state after a node change | Local PHP sessions or plugin state are not shared. | Move state to shared storage, redesign the plugin flow, or add narrowly scoped persistence while planning for node failure. |
| Scheduled tasks run twice | Each origin triggers WP-Cron independently. | Use one controlled executor or a reliable cross-node locking design, then verify job history. |
| Traffic never reaches the second origin | The first origin is unhealthy, persistence is pinning clients, or the backend is misconfigured. | Check HAProxy backend status, persistence cookies, server addresses, firewall rules, and logs. |
| Reload fails | Configuration syntax, certificate permissions, bind conflicts, or version-specific directives. | Run the installed version’s configuration validator, correct the reported line, and reload only after validation succeeds. |
Compare common deployment choices
| Decision | Option A | Option B | Operational consequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| TLS termination | At HAProxy | At each origin or both proxy and origin | Termination at HAProxy simplifies public certificates and requires correct forwarded-scheme handling; end-to-end TLS adds certificate verification and backend configuration. |
| Health depth | TCP or static-file check | Purpose-built PHP readiness endpoint | Shallow checks react to socket availability; application checks remove origins that cannot serve the required WordPress path. |
| Request routing | Round-robin | Cookie persistence | Round-robin uses capacity evenly when origins are equivalent; persistence helps only with identified session requirements and can concentrate load. |
| Media state | Local uploads | Shared or reliably replicated storage | Local uploads can disappear after a node switch; shared state keeps media available to every origin. |
| Cache state | Independent caches | Shared or coordinated caches | Independent caches may serve stale or conflicting content; coordination improves consistency but adds infrastructure and invalidation work. |
| Proxy availability | One HAProxy node | Redundant HAProxy nodes with a failover address | A single proxy remains a single point of failure even when WordPress has multiple origins. |
Plan HAProxy redundancy separately
Two WordPress origins do not protect you from failure of the one machine that owns the public IP and listener ports. If the proxy is critical, deploy a second HAProxy node and a tested failover mechanism appropriate to your network. Replicate certificates and configuration safely, monitor both nodes, and rehearse promotion and rollback. Verify that DNS, routing, firewall rules, and any floating address converge within the recovery time your site requires.
Measure recovery in your own environment instead of quoting a generic uptime or latency number. The meaningful results depend on check intervals, rise and fall thresholds, database behavior, storage, cache invalidation, client connection reuse, and the workload generated by your plugins.
Operate and change the system safely
- Monitor backend up/down transitions, response codes, latency, connection saturation, check failures, certificate age, and disk and memory pressure.
- Alert on a reduced number of healthy origins before the last origin fails.
- Keep a tested rollback for HAProxy configuration, WordPress code, plugin updates, database migrations, and certificate changes.
- Drain an origin before maintenance so existing requests can finish while new requests move elsewhere.
- After every change, repeat the public-path tests for redirects, canonical URLs, login, REST, uploads, media, cache purge, and scheduled work.
- Document which component owns each piece of state and which team or automation restores it.
The result is reliable only when the proxy’s routing decisions match the application’s readiness and every origin can serve the same site. HAProxy handles connection distribution and failure removal; WordPress architecture, shared services, and disciplined operations handle consistency.
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