Laravel is one of the most popular PHP frameworks for web development. Docker is a platform offering tools for building, distributing, and running applications inside containers across environments. It’s great for both development and deployment because it allows you to make an environment that runs equally well on any system or operating system. Thus, Laravel + Docker provides portable, consistent development environments with which you can develop better.
We are going to learn how to set up Laravel with Apache and MySQL in Docker so you can keep working efficiently while developing.
Why use Laravel with Docker?
Before we dive into the setup process, let’s quickly highlight the advantages of using Docker for Laravel development:
- Consistency: Docker keeps a consistent development environment, removing from your life that nasty little expression “it works on my machine.”
- Isolation: Every Docker container encapsulates dependencies and configurations, so it cannot conflict with other projects or system configurations.
- Scalability: Docker makes it very easy to scale your Laravel application by easily replicating containers for local development, testing, or production deployment.
- Portability: The Docker container can easily move across various platforms. Thus, it’s quite easy to shift your Laravel application from your development environment to your production environment.
Setting Up Laravel in Docker with Apache and MySQL:
Let’s dive into the step-by-step process of setting up Laravel in Docker with Apache and MySQL:
Step 1: Install Docker
Ensure Docker is installed on your system. If not, you can download and install it from the official Docker website ( https://www.docker.com/get-started ).
Step 2: Create Laravel Project
Begin by creating a new Laravel project or use an existing one. You can create a new Laravel project using Composer by running the following command:
composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel my-laravel-app
Step 3: Dockerfile
Create a `Dockerfile` in the root directory of your Laravel project to define the environment for your Docker container. Here’s an example tailored for Apache and PHP:
Dockerfile
FROM php:8.1-apache // Your project sutable veriosn specify WORKDIR /var/www/html RUN docker-php-ext-install pdo pdo_mysql mysqli COPY . . EXPOSE 80 CMD ["apache2-foreground"]
Step 4: Docker Compose
Create a `docker-compose.yml` file in the same directory to define services for Apache, MySQL, and volumes for data persistence. Here’s an example:
docker-compose.yml
version: '3'
services:
app:
build:
context: .
dockerfile: Dockerfile
ports:
- "8000:80"
volumes:
- .:/var/www/html
db:
image: mysql:5.7
ports:
- "3306:3306"
environment:
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: secret
MYSQL_DATABASE: laravel
MYSQL_USER: laravel_user
MYSQL_PASSWORD: secret
Step 5: Environment Configuration
Ensure your Laravel `.env` file is configured to use MySQL. Update the following fields:
dotenv
DB_CONNECTION=mysql DB_HOST=db DB_PORT=3306 DB_DATABASE=laravel DB_USERNAME=laravel_user DB_PASSWORD=secret
Step 6: Build and Run Docker Containers
Navigate to your project directory in the terminal and run the following command to build and run your Docker containers:
docker-compose up --build
Step 7: Access Laravel Application
Once the Docker containers are up and running, you can access your Laravel application by visiting `http://localhost:8000` in your web browser.
Conclusion:
In short, with Docker, developing in Laravel using Apache and MySQL will have the advantage of consistency, scalability, and portability. In the end, it will only take a few steps for you to quickly set up your environment within Docker for working collaboratively and efficiently in developing. You will be able to get your Laravel projects off to a flying start and go beyond the bounds of productivity and scalability with the help of Docker.
Happy Coding!
