Wordpress: Debian packages vs manual?

[VA1DER]

I am creating a new server to take over for my an old Debian Jessie machine. My old machine has three different Wordpress sites hosted on it, plus a multi-domain virtual mail system using Roundcube and I want to migrate them over. One of the factors in creating a new machine rather than attempting an upgrade on the old is that at the time I used Debian's Wordpress and Roundcube packages. They are heavily Debianized (ie: different parts of them are spread all over the base system) and over the years upgrades and customizations have taken the form of modifications to many Debian package files.

My goal is a sever I don't have to rebuild from scratch again. In the years since I first did that install, I have learned that the secret to a pain-free successful upgrade of a Debian-based distribution is keeping things as absolutely stock as possible. In that vein, I am thinking that it will actually be better in the long run if I avoid Debian's packages for Wordpress and go with a manual (and relatively self-contained) installation into /srv. This should keep it more-or-less completely independent of the OS and Debian's upgrade process, no matter what customizations I make.

I would like to know what experiences others have had. I liked Debian's Wordpress packages before. It made installation relatively painless. And in general, I like the way packages are "Debianized". But I am thinking it may be better for upgrade purposes to make the site less integrated with Debian itself.

[pcalvert]

Based on my (limited) experience, I am inclined to agree with you. And one of the reasons I am inclined to agree is because this tool should help you manage the Wordpress side of things:

https://wp-cli.org/

Phil