File Manager for WordPress Site on Digital Ocean Droplet
Easy way to access Wordpress core directories and files from Digital Ocean's Wordpress Droplet.
In adherence to our rigorous editorial policy, this article's content has undergone careful testing for accuracy and trustworthiness and hence, this content is marked source of information. View editorial history of this content.
WordPress droplet on DigitalOcean is backed by Ubuntu – a Linux distribution.
DigitalOcean Droplets are Linux-based virtual machines (VMs) that run on top of virtualized hardware. Each Droplet you create is a new server you can use, either standalone or as part of a larger, cloud-based infrastructure.
Digital Ocean
You can install and setup WordPress on Digital Ocean in multiple ways. Based on the method you used, it depends how you want to access the server files now. This guide helps you to access WP Files on Digital Ocean with/without SSH Client/CMD.
- Access via CMD or SSH Console
- Access without SSH Console or CMD
- Steps to access droplet or server files via FileZilla
Accessing WP Files on Digital Ocean with CMD or Console
If you are using WordPress without installing cPanel or File Manager on server end, you have to access files via command line interface or console. Command console is accessible via your Digital Ocean’s control panel as well as connecting to server via SSH client such as PuTTY.
Accessing WP Directories/Files on Digital Ocean without CMD or Console
To access files without command line interface or SSH client, file manager is recommended.
We do not recommend file manager plugins available in WordPress plugins list. The major reason is security. It is hard to know and track vulnerabilities in 3rd party file managers.
However, we can somehow rely on well-established, reputed, and trustworthy file manager. Therefore, we recommend FileZilla.
FileZilla is a free and open-source, cross-platform FTP application, consisting of FileZilla Client and FileZilla Server. Clients are available for Windows, Linux, and macOS. Both server and client support FTP and FTPS (FTP over SSL/TLS), while the client can in addition connect to SFTP servers.
Wikipedia
Steps to Access WP Core and Server Files on Digital Ocean Server
These steps are applicable for all types of Linux OS distributions on digital ocean.
- Add SSH key pair for authorization on your digital ocean’s WordPress droplet. If you have already done this while setting up droplet, skip this step.
- Download FileZilla Client
- From the ‘Edit’ menu item or tab in FileZilla, click ‘Settings’.
- Under ‘Connections‘ in left side options, click ‘SFTP‘.
- Click ‘Add Key File‘.
- Open the private key (.ppk) file and click ‘OK’ to save/close the settings panel.
- If prompted to update file format, click ‘yes’. It’ll ask for password as well. Enter the key passphrase that you setup while generating SSH keys.
- From ‘File‘ menu in the top-bar in FileZilla, click ‘Site Manager‘.
- From left-side pane, add your website or droplet name or a any name for identification of this server.
- On the right side, select ‘SFTP – SSH Protocol‘ as Protocol.
- Enter the server or droplet IP (IPv4 is recommended) in Host field.
- Default port for SFTP communication is 22. In case you’ve a different setup or changed it, use that.
- Choose ‘Interactive‘ for ‘Logon Type‘ option.
- Enter server user to connect to. If you don’t have multiple server users yet, you might be using only default ‘root’ user. Therefore, enter ‘root’ in user field.
- Click Connect.
- If the .ppk file was right, FileZilla shall prompt you to enter passphrase again. Enter that.
- Here you go, you’ve access to your droplet files.
- From the top level listing or root, go to var/www/html folder. You should see all WP regular core directories and files here. To edit any file, drag and drop it to left-side (in your system), edit it, and drag/upload it back to droplet files.
Digital Setups has enforced a strict sourcing policy. Every content piece published on our website is passed through strict editorial review for contextual correctness, communication ethics, and programmatic tests wherever required. Our team research solutions from only credible, authentic, and trustworthy sources. Learn more about our editorial process.
This article may have additional citations but they are not yet reviewed for trustworthiness. We will add them here at our earliest.
This article may have additional citations but they are not yet reviewed for trustworthiness. We will add them here at our earliest.
Based on our editorial policy, we update our content time to time to ensure its usefulness, reliability, and validity.
Our standardized editorial process ensures right, timely, and usefulness updates to our content. Your honest opinion drives significant improvement to our content. We appreciate you are taking time to share that.
Readers who read this also found these helpful:
- Custom Rewrite Rules vs. REST Routes in WordPress
- Verify Company Registration Status of Any Country
- Does daily manual or dynamically changing content on page impact SEO?
- wp_list_users_args Hook – Explanation & Usage Example
- Authorship in SEO (2022)
- Is it possible to change wp-config.php via functions.php or plugin?
- Why my site webpages are not indexing properly in search results?
- Unlock new cross-device capabilities & More with Google Signals
- Google Ads: Keyword Planner Tool – Easy & Powerful Guide
- What is trademark infringement in digital business?