Dockerizing a PHP project

Setting up a Dev environment with docker for kumbiaPHP.

This guide outlines the steps to containerize a KumbiaPHP application using Docker, specifically with PHP 8.2, and how to enable the mysqli extension required for MySQL database operations.

Requirements

Docker installed on your machine
KumbiaPHP project ready for dockerization

Step 1: Create a Dockerfile

Create a Dockerfile in the root of your KumbiaPHP project. This file defines the Docker image configuration.

# Use an official PHP runtime as a parent image
FROM php:7.4-apache

# Set working directory inside the container
WORKDIR /var/www/html
	
# Install extensions
# You might need additional PHP extensions based on your project
RUN docker-php-ext-install pdo_mysql

# Enable Apache mod_rewrite for KumbiaPHP friendly URLs
RUN a2enmod rewrite

# Copy your KumbiaPHP project into the container
COPY . .

# Expose port 80 to access the Apache server
EXPOSE 80

# Start Apache server in the foreground
CMD ["apache2-foreground"]

Step 2: Add a .dockerignore File

To improve build performance and reduce image size, create a .dockerignore file to exclude files not needed in the container.

.git
vendor

Step 3: Build the Docker Image

With the Dockerfile configured, build the Docker image using the following command:

docker build -t kumbiaphp-app .

Step 4: Run Your Docker Container

Start a container from your image, mapping port 8080 on your host to port 80 on the container.

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

Step 5: Enable Live Code Updates (Optional)

For development, you might want live updates in your container as you modify the project files. Use Docker volumes to achieve this:


docker run -d -p 8080:80 -v $(pwd):/var/www/html kumbiaphp-app

Troubleshooting: Fixing Common Errors

Permission Denied Error

If encountering a permission error when accessing the site, ensure Apache has access to the project files:

# Add these lines to your Dockerfile before CMD
RUN chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html
RUN chmod -R 755 /var/www/html

PHP mysqli Extension Error

If your application requires the mysqli extension, ensure it's installed by including the RUN docker-php-ext-install mysqli command in your Dockerfile.

Creating a Custom Apache Configuration File

Create the Apache Configuration File: In your project directory, create a file named myapp.conf. This file will contain your custom Apache virtual host configuration.

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html

    <Directory /var/www/html>
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

This configuration enables .htaccess override capabilities and ensures that all requests are allowed, which is necessary for KumbiaPHP's routing to function correctly; make sure you use this config in you Dockerfile.