Containerization of PHP and Nginx [Updated 2025]

#docker #php #nginx #containers

Containerizing PHP and Nginx involves creating Docker containers for each service and configuring them to work together. Below are the steps involved in creating a basic Docker configuration for PHP and Nginx. This example is based on a simple PHP application.

1- Create the project structure :
Start by creating the project with the following structure:

//projet
├── index.php
├── nginx
│   └── nginx.conf
├── Dockerfile
├── Dockerfile-nginx
└── docker-compose.yml

2- Create a PHP application :
Create a simple PHP application. For example, in the root "./index.php" :

<?php
echo "Hello!";

3- Configure Nginx :
Create an Nginx configuration file in nginx/nginx.conf :

server {
    listen 80;
    index index.php;
    server_name localhost;
    error_log  /var/log/nginx/error.log;
    access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log;
    error_page 404 /index.php;
    root /var/www;
    client_max_body_size 20m;
    location ~ \.php$ {
        try_files $uri =404;
        fastcgi_pass app:9000;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
    }
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
        gzip_static on;
    }
}

4- Write the Dockerfile :

FROM php:8.2.27-fpm

WORKDIR /var/www

5-Create a Dockerfile-nginx file for Nginx in the root of the project:

FROM nginx:stable-alpine

WORKDIR /var/www

6- Create a .dockerignore file in the root of the :

docker-compose
Dockerfile*

7- Write the Docker Compose file :

Create a docker-compose.yml file in the project root:

version: "3"

services:
  app:
    container_name: app-container
    build:
      context: ./
      dockerfile: ./Dockerfile
    working_dir: /var/www/
    restart: always
    volumes:
      - ./:/var/www
    networks:
      - app-network


  nginx:
    container_name: nginx-container
    build:
      context: ./
      dockerfile: ./Dockerfile-nginx
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "8000:80"
    volumes:
      - ./nginx:/etc/nginx/conf.d
      - ./:/var/www
    depends_on:
      - app
    networks:
      - app-network

networks:
  app-network:
    driver: bridge

We've created an app-network, because we're containerizing PHP and Nginx separately with the same network, since the containers have a network isolated from our local system.

8- Build and run containers :

docker-compose up --build

Access the application:
Open your browser and go to http://localhost:8000. You should see the message "Hello!".

Top comments (6)

Dzmitry Kazbiarovich • Jan 9 '24

Why PHP 8.0.2 ?

It's not supported

Hamza Sehouli • Jan 9 • Edited

I tested out this the code multiple times and it works seamlessly, just follow the instructions and steps meticulously.

Docker image PHP 8.0.2 standalone doesn't work with Nginx web server, because it does not include the FastCGI Process Manager (FPM), which is essential for handling HTTP requests in a web server setup in Nginx or Apache configured with FastCGI.