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.

1. 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.
2. Download FileZilla Client
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Here you go, you’ve access to your droplet files.
6. 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.