Dockerizing PHP Applications: A Complete Guide 🚀

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Dockerizing PHP Applications: A Complete Guide 🚀

Docker has revolutionized how we develop and deploy PHP applications. Instead of dealing with dependency conflicts, manual installations, and server configuration, you can package your entire PHP app into a Docker container that runs the same everywhere!

💡 With Docker, you can:
✅ Set up isolated development environments
✅ Avoid “it works on my machine” issues
✅ Deploy PHP apps quickly on any server
✅ Scale applications easily with Docker Compose & Kubernetes

🎯 In this guide, you’ll learn:

✅ What Docker is and why you should use it
✅ How to Dockerize a PHP application
✅ How to use Docker Compose for multi-container apps
✅ How to connect PHP with MySQL in Docker
✅ How to deploy a Dockerized PHP app to production

By the end, you’ll have a fully Dockerized PHP application running in a containerized environment! 🚀

1️⃣ What is Docker? (Quick Overview)

💡 Docker is a tool that lets you package your application and its dependencies into a standardized unit called a container.

🚀 Why Use Docker for PHP Apps?

Problem Without Docker ❌ Solution With Docker ✅
Different PHP versions on dev/prod Works the same on all environments
Conflicts between dependencies Each app runs in its own container
Manual server setup required Instant setup with docker run
Hard to share project setup Share Dockerfile and everyone can run it

🔥 Docker makes PHP development easy, consistent, and scalable!

2️⃣ Install Docker (Skip if You Already Have It)

First, install Docker on your machine:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker.io

Verify installation:

docker --version

🔥 If you see a version number, Docker is installed! 🚀

3️⃣ Create a Simple PHP Application

Before we Dockerize, let’s create a simple PHP application.

1️⃣ Create a Project Folder

mkdir php-docker-app && cd php-docker-app

2️⃣ Create index.php

<?php
echo "Hello from Dockerized PHP!";
?>

4️⃣ Write a Dockerfile for PHP

💡 A Dockerfile is a blueprint for building a Docker image. It defines which OS, PHP version, and dependencies your application needs.

1️⃣ Create a Dockerfile in the project root

# Use official PHP image with Apache
FROM php:8.2-apache

# Enable PHP extensions
RUN docker-php-ext-install pdo pdo_mysql

# Copy project files to the container
COPY . /var/www/html/

# Expose port 80
EXPOSE 80

🔥 What this does:
✅ Uses PHP 8.2 with Apache
✅ Installs PDO for database support
✅ Copies your PHP files to /var/www/html/
✅ Opens port 80 for web access

5️⃣ Build and Run the Docker Container

Now, let’s turn our Dockerfile into a running container! 🚀

1️⃣ Build the Docker Image

Run:

docker build -t php-docker-app .

🔥 What’s happening?
✅ docker build creates an image named php-docker-app
✅ . means use the current directory

2️⃣ Run the PHP Container

docker run -d -p 8080:80 php-docker-app

🔥 Now your PHP app is running on http://localhost:8080! 🎉

6️⃣ Adding MySQL to Your PHP Docker Setup

Most PHP applications need a database. Let’s add MySQL in Docker.

1️⃣ Create a docker-compose.yml File

version: "3.8"
services:
  php:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    volumes:
      - .:/var/www/html
    depends_on:
      - mysql

  mysql:
    image: mysql:8.0
    restart: always
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: root
      MYSQL_DATABASE: app_db
      MYSQL_USER: app_user
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: app_pass
    ports:
      - "3306:3306"

🔥 What this does:
✅ Creates a PHP container and links it to MySQL
✅ Creates a MySQL database (app_db) with user app_user
✅ Persists data even after container restarts

2️⃣ Connect PHP to MySQL

Modify index.php to connect to MySQL:

<?php
$host = "mysql"; // Docker service name
$user = "app_user";
$pass = "app_pass";
$db = "app_db";

$conn = new mysqli($host, $user, $pass, $db);

if ($conn->connect_error) {
    die("Database connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
} else {
    echo "Connected to MySQL in Docker!";
}
?>

3️⃣ Start Docker Compose

docker-compose up -d

🔥 Now PHP and MySQL are running together in Docker! 🎉

7️⃣ Debugging & Managing Docker Containers

Check Running Containers

docker ps

Stop a Container

docker stop <container_id>

Delete a Container

docker rm <container_id>

View Logs

docker logs php-docker-app

🔥 These commands help manage your containers easily! 🚀

8️⃣ Deploying Your Dockerized PHP App

Once your app works locally, deploying it on a server is easy.

1️⃣ Push Your Image to Docker Hub

docker tag php-docker-app your-dockerhub-username/php-docker-app
docker push your-dockerhub-username/php-docker-app

2️⃣ Deploy on a Remote Server

On the server, run:

docker pull your-dockerhub-username/php-docker-app
docker run -d -p 80:80 your-dockerhub-username/php-docker-app

🔥 Now your PHP app is live on a cloud server! 🚀

9️⃣ Best Practices for Dockerizing PHP

✅ Use .dockerignore to exclude unnecessary files

vendor/
node_modules/
.git/

✅ Use multi-stage builds to reduce image size
✅ Use volumes instead of copying files to prevent rebuilds
✅ Use environment variables for database credentials

🚀 Final Thoughts

Now you can Dockerize PHP applications like a pro!
✅ Build a PHP + Apache container
✅ Use Docker Compose to add MySQL
✅ Run everything locally and in production

👉 Next Challenge: Deploy this setup to AWS or Kubernetes!

Happy coding! 🎉🚀

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