Docker Container: PHP - MySQL - Apache

I do quite a bit of PHP development where I am deploying to cloud based hosting provides (e.g. BlueHost, HostGator, etc.) where they are running Linux that uses PHP, MySQL, and Apache. This is the necessary docker files to run the application locally using Docker.

Some background, the file structure looks like this:

1. /
   
   1. application
      
      1. {php/html files go in this directory}
   2. docker-compose.yml
   3. Dockerfile
   4. php.ini

Dockerfile:

Code:

---

FROM php:8.2-apache

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    libzip-dev libmariadb-dev libmariadb-dev-compat libpq-dev \
    vim \
    && docker-php-ext-install \
    pdo pdo_mysql zip

COPY ./php.ini /usr/local/etc/php/php.ini

WORKDIR /var/www/html

COPY . /var/www/html

RUN chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html \
    && chmod -R 755 /var/www/html

# this assumes you're using composer to install 3rd party libraries
# if not, then comment the next line or delete it
COPY --from=composer:latest /usr/bin/composer /usr/bin/composer

EXPOSE 80

CMD ["apache2-foreground"]

RUN echo "ServerName localhost" > /etc/apache2/conf-available/servername.conf \
    && ln -s /etc/apache2/conf-available/servername.conf /etc/apache2/conf-enabled/servername.conf

RUN a2enmod rewrite

---

docker-compose.yml:

Code:

---

services:
  app:
    build: .
    container_name: php_app
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    volumes:
      - ./application:/var/www/html
      - ./php.ini:/usr/local/etc/php/php.ini
    environment:
      - APACHE_DOCUMENT_ROOT=/var/www/html
    depends_on:
      - db

  db:
    image: mysql:5.7
    container_name: mysql_db
    ports:
      - "3306:3306"
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: root_password
      MYSQL_DATABASE: change_me_database_name
      MYSQL_USER: change_me_database_username
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: change_me_database_password
    volumes:
      - mysql_data:/var/lib/mysql

  phpmyadmin:
    image: phpmyadmin:5.2.1
    container_name: phpmyadmin
    depends_on:
      - db
    ports:
      - "8081:80"
    environment:
      PMA_HOST: db
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: change_me_database_password

volumes:
  mysql_data:

---

What this will do is copy the source code, located in the application directory, to the /var/www/html and install all the necessary infrastructure to run PHP locally.

To run the application, start Docker then run the following commands:

Code:

---

docker-compose build --no-cache && docker-compose up -d

---

To access the PHP application, go to localhost:8080 in your browser. To access phpMyAdmin, go to localhost:8081.

To stop the application, run this command:

Code:

---

docker-compose down --remove-orphans

---

Because of the db column in docker-compose.yml, it will save the state of the database when you shut down the docker container.

This setup is useful because:

1. You do not need PHP/MySQL/Apache installed on your local machine.
2. You can manage your code base via a code repository (i.e. Git)
3. Your developing environment will replicate the exact environment you are deploying to.

This tid bit of information is useful in development.

You can set up the Docker container to recognize changes in your application directory by using volume mounts in your docker-compose.yml.

1. Start the Docker container by running build/compose (see post #1)
2. Edit the apache2.conf by running:
   
   Code:

   ---

   docker exec -it php_app bash
vim /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

   ---

3. Scroll to the bottom of the file using the keyboard
4. Hit the insert key
5. Paste the following at the end of the file:
   
   Code:

   ---

   EnableSendfile Off
FileETag None

   ---

6. Save the file by hitting escape followed by shift + Z + Z
7. Restart the Docker container by running:
   
   Code:

   ---

   docker-compose down --remove-orphans && docker-compose build --no-cache && docker-compose up -d

   ---