WordPress Multisite 6.9 on Ubuntu 24.04 | Support by cloudimg

## WordPress Multisite 6.9 on Ubuntu 24.04 by cloudimg

WordPress Multisite 6.9.4 on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, purpose-built for Microsoft Azure and maintained by cloudimg. Multisite Network mode in subdirectory layout — one WordPress install hosting multiple sites that share themes/plugins but keep separate content, users, and admin areas. Ideal for agencies, universities, intranets, and anywhere multiple distinct sites benefit from a shared codebase and central admin.

Why Choose cloudimg?

* 24/7 Expert Support — guaranteed 24-hour response, 1-hour critical-issue average. Contact support@cloudimg.co.uk

* IP-Portable Multisite — the captured image works at any public IP, DNS name, or CDN-fronted hostname. Move the VM, change the public IP, attach Front Door — the multisite Just Works without manual reconfiguration.

* Production-Ready from Launch — security-patched, validated, pre-configured before publication

* Azure-Native Integration — Azure Linux Agent, cloud-init, Gen2 Hyper-V boot

* Per-VM Admin Credential Generation — admin password rotated uniquely at first boot, written to `/etc/cloudimg-credentials.txt` (mode 0600). Every customer VM has a unique admin password.

How the IP-Portable Multisite Works

WP Multisite typically requires the canonical hostname to be known at install time and baked into `wp_blogs.domain` + `wp_options.siteurl/home` + `DOMAIN_CURRENT_SITE`. cloudimg solves this with three layers:

* `wp-config.php` defines `WP_HOME` and `WP_SITEURL` from `$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']` per request

* `wp-content/sunrise.php` overrides `$current_site->domain` and `$current_blog->domain` from `HTTP_HOST` before WP picks the network/site

* `wp-content/mu-plugins/cloudimg-host-rewrite.php` filters `pre_option_siteurl`, `pre_option_home`, `site_url`, `home_url`, `network_site_url`, `rest_url`, `admin_url`, `login_url`, `logout_url` to dynamically rewrite the host portion to the live `HTTP_HOST`

What is Included

* WordPress 6.9.4 from `downloads.wordpress.org/release/wordpress-6.9.tar.gz`

* LAMP stack — Apache 2.4 + MySQL 8.0 + PHP 8.3 from Ubuntu noble universe (no third-party repos)

* Multisite Network in subdirectory mode (`SUBDOMAIN_INSTALL=false`)

* Apache mod_rewrite enabled with multisite-specific RewriteRules in the vhost

* WP-CLI 2.x for programmatic admin user creation + multisite-install

* Per-VM MySQL root + WP DB + WP admin passwords rotated at firstboot

* Document root `/var/www/html/wordpress`; vhost at `/etc/apache2/sites-available/wordpress.conf`

* Ubuntu 24.04 LTS base with latest security patches at build time

Use Cases

* Multi-tenant blog network (one install, many sites)

* Multi-brand corporate site (each brand a sub-site under a shared codebase)

* University departmental intranet (one site per department)

* Agency portfolio platform (one site per client)

* Course/cohort sites (each cohort a sub-site)

Technical Specifications

* Operating System: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat)

* WordPress Version: 6.9.4

* Web Server: Apache 2.4 + mod_rewrite

* Database: MySQL 8.0 (Ubuntu noble universe)

* PHP: 8.3 with mysqli, curl, gd, mbstring, xml, zip, imagick

* Default Port: 80

* Default Admin User: admin (per-VM password)

* Network Mode: subdirectory (Add Site → //)

* Service Management: systemd (apache2.service, mysql.service, wordpress-multisite-firstboot.service)

* Recommended Size: Standard_B2s for development; Standard_D4s_v3 or larger for production multi-tenant traffic

* VM Generation: Hyper-V Gen2 with UEFI boot

Adding More Sites

From Network Admin → Sites → Add New, enter a path slug (e.g. `marketing`). The new site is immediately reachable at `http:///marketing/`. No DNS configuration, no Apache reload, no firstboot re-trigger.

Production Hardening

For TLS, terminate at Azure Application Gateway or Front Door (the mu-plugin handles whatever scheme/host the proxy forwards). For email, configure SMTP via a plugin or `wp_mail` filter. Customers can switch to subdomain multisite (`SUBDOMAIN_INSTALL=true`) by editing `wp-config.php` and configuring wildcard DNS — guide includes the steps.

Support

cloudimg provides 24/7/365 expert technical support. Contact support@cloudimg.co.uk or visit www.cloudimg.co.uk.