How to Launch and Configure a Laravel Application with Docker Compose?

💡 What You Will Learn in This Guide

In this guide, you will learn how to set up a complete LEMP (Linux, Nginx, MySQL, PHP) development environment for a Laravel application using Docker Compose. Thanks to this method, you can run your Laravel project with a few commands without installing PHP, MySQL or Nginx on your system.

🧠 Technical Summary

Subject: Setting up a Laravel environment with Docker Compose.
Purpose: To get PHP, Nginx and MySQL services up and running with a single command.
Solution: Creating a full-fledged LEMP environment with Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml configurations.

🏗️ Step 1: Preparing Project Directory and Docker Settings

Create a directory for your project and go into it:

mkdir ~/genixnode-laravel
cd ~/genixnode-laravel

This directory is the base folder of your Laravel application.

Find out your user ID (UID):

echo $UID

This value (usually 1000) prevents file permission errors by matching the same user ID within the container.

⚙️ Step 2: Creating the docker-compose.yml File

nano docker-compose.yml

Add the following content:

version: "3.7"
services:
  app:
    build:
      args:
        user: genixnode-dev
        uid: 1000
      context: ./
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    image: genixnode-app
    restart: unless-stopped
    working_dir: /var/www/
    volumes:
      - ./:/var/www
    networks:
      - genixnode-network

networks:
  genixnode-network:
    driver: bridge

This file defines a custom container containing PHP-FPM and Composer.

🧩 Step 3: Creating Dockerfile

nano Dockerfile

Set the content as follows:

FROM php:8.2-fpm

ARG user
ARG uid

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    git curl libpng-dev libonig-dev libxml2-dev zip unzip

RUN apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* \
    && docker-php-ext-install pdo_mysql mbstring exif pcntl bcmath gd

COPY --from=composer:latest /usr/bin/composer /usr/bin/composer

RUN useradd -G www-data,root -u $uid -d /home/$user $user && \
    mkdir -p /home/$user/.composer && \
    chown -R $user:$user /home/$user

WORKDIR /var/www
USER $user

This file installs PHP extensions and Composer, preventing permission issues.

🚀 Step 4: Launching the Environment and Installing Laravel

Run the environment:

docker-compose up -d

This command runs the PHP container in the background.

Create new Laravel application:

docker-compose exec app composer create-project laravel/laravel --prefer-dist application

Move Laravel files to root directory:

cp -rT application .
rm -rfv application

This step moves the .env file to the root directory.

🌐 Step 5: Adding Nginx and MySQL Services

Create Nginx configuration folder

mkdir -p docker-compose/nginx

Create the configuration file

nano docker-compose/nginx/genixnode-laravel.conf

Content:

server {
    listen 80;
    index index.php index.html;
    root /var/www/public;

    location ~ \.php$ {
        try_files $uri =404;
        fastcgi_split_path_info ^(.+\.php)(/.+)$;
        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;
    }
}

This file redirects PHP requests to the app service.

Update docker-compose.yml

  nginx:
    image: nginx:alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - 8000:80
    volumes:
      - ./:/var/www
      - ./docker-compose/nginx:/etc/nginx/conf.d/
    networks:
      - genixnode-network

  db:
    image: mysql:8
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      MYSQL_DATABASE: $&#123;DB_DATABASE&#125;
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: $&#123;DB_PASSWORD&#125;
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: $&#123;DB_PASSWORD&#125;
      MYSQL_USER: $&#123;DB_USERNAME&#125;
    networks:
      - genixnode-network

This structure allows Laravel to work integrated with Nginx and MySQL services.

⚡ Step 6: Update the Laravel .env File

nano .env

APP_URL=http://localhost:8000

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=db
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=genixnode-db
DB_USERNAME=genixnode-user
DB_PASSWORD=dev-password

The value DB_HOST=db allows Laravel to connect to the MySQL service.

🔁 Step 7: Restarting and Testing the Environment

docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d

From the browser, go to:

http://localhost:8000

If you see Laravel's welcome screen, the installation is completed.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Why is the $UID variable important?

Prevents file permission errors by synchronizing the in-container user with the local user.

2. What does volumes do?

It synchronizes your local codes with the container, changes are reflected immediately.

3. What does ports:8000:80 mean?

The localhost:8000 request from the browser is forwarded to port 80 of the container.

4. What does docker-compose up --build do?

Rebuilds the image from scratch. Used when PHP or Dockerfile changes.

5. Will MySQL data be lost?

If you have not added a volume, the data will be deleted when the container is deleted. If you add volume, it is preserved.

🏁 Result

You have now learned how to set up a full-fledged Docker Compose based LEMP environment for Laravel. This structure accelerates your development process, eliminates environment differences and provides a more secure infrastructure.

You can create your own Laravel environment on the GenixNode platform and try it now! 🌩️

💡 What You Will Learn in This Guide​

🧠 Technical Summary​

🏗️ Step 1: Preparing Project Directory and Docker Settings​

⚙️ Step 2: Creating the docker-compose.yml File​

🧩 Step 3: Creating Dockerfile​

🚀 Step 4: Launching the Environment and Installing Laravel​

🌐 Step 5: Adding Nginx and MySQL Services​

Create Nginx configuration folder​

Create the configuration file​

Update docker-compose.yml​

⚡ Step 6: Update the Laravel .env File​

🔁 Step 7: Restarting and Testing the Environment​

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)​

🏁 Result​