Setting up PHP-FPM, Nginx, Mariadb on CentOs using docker

Question

I'm trying to move from from using VirtualBox as my development environment to docker.

With VirtualBox, I mainly install PHP-FPM, Nginx and Mariadb but in Docker, I can't replicate the same stack despite trying for some days.

Out of all the LEMP/LAMP stack docker guides, only this one chentex/docker-nginx-centos works for me:

Here is the code from the Dockerfile

FROM centos:centos7
LABEL maintainer="Vicente Zepeda <[email protected]>"

ENV nginxversion="1.12.2-1" \
    os="centos" \
    osversion="7" \
    elversion="7_4"

RUN yum install -y wget openssl sed &&\
    yum -y autoremove &&\
    yum clean all &&\
    wget http://nginx.org/packages/$os/$osversion/x86_64/RPMS/nginx-$nginxversion.el$elversion.ngx.x86_64.rpm &&\
    rpm -iv nginx-$nginxversion.el$elversion.ngx.x86_64.rpm &&\
    sed -i '1i\
    daemon off;\
    ' /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

CMD ["nginx"]

This works right out of the box, and I can see a default page on http://localhost

The only problem is that, it does not contain PHP-FPM and Mariadb.

I tried to alter the file and add PHP-FPM and Mariadb, but I found out on reddit that each container should have on service, as in one container for nginx, and another for php ... and I'm lost on how to make that

Stack Overflow is for programming questions, not questions about using or configuring Linux and its applications. Server Fault or Unix & Linux would be better places for questions like this. — Barmar
– Barmar, Commented Oct 4, 2018 at 15:41

Danoweb · Accepted Answer · 2018-09-27 16:53:25Z

10

Docker containers are designed to have a single service running within them, not be an entire virtual system (as you might see with virtual box and virtual machines).

This means ideally you want a single container for each:

Nginx
PHP
Mariadb

Additionally the Centos docker image is designed as a base for others to inherit from, or to perform an OS specific task (for example cURL calls, or a shell) which is not really what you are needing.

I would recommend for your case, using docker-compose which will allow you to easily setup intermediate containers, and manage them all as one project.

I would recommend a docker-compose.yml file setup as such:

version: '3'
services:
  web:
    image: nginx:latest
    ports:
      - "80:80"
    volumes:
      - ./src:/(nginx config root folder)
      - ./config/site.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/site.conf
    links:
      - php
      - mariadb

  php:
      image: php:7-fpm
  mariadb:
      image: mariadb
      restart: always
      environment:
        MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: example

You would then have a /config/ folder in your project folder, which you'll need a site.conf file for the nginx settings.

You will also need a /src/ folder in your project folder, which would contain all the php/web code for your project.

The volume mounts in the docker-compose.yml file will load those into the container for you. Volume mounts work by mapping host folder path:container folder path when something changes in one, it is updated in the other, almost as if copy/pasting. Keep in mind you may need to update file permissions.

For the Mariadb you could add another volume to map the data files in the container to your host folder. Additionally you can open the mysql port so you could interrogate the database with a tool like mysql workbench by adding a ports section for port 3306 as shown in the web section. The value for mysql_root_password will set the root user password.

You can start this up with the command docker-compose up from your project directory.

When you need to manually restart nginx (or other services) you would stop, and start the containers . you can do that with the commands:

docker-compose up - Starts containers
docker-compose down - Stops containers

If you wish to send the running container to the background (so it wont take up a terminal window) you would use: docker-compose up -d

Let me know if you have any questions or if something is unclear I'd be happy to update my answer!

edited Sep 27, 2018 at 16:53

answered Sep 27, 2018 at 16:23

Danoweb

4333 silver badges9 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

11 Comments

samayo Over a year ago

Thanks for the answer. I'll actually put a bounty 200 on this as I have not been able to work on my projects for 2 weeks to have the perfect set up. I have heard of docker compose, but didn't know it was the solution for me. Can you expand your answer a bit? like how to share folder b/n docker and windows, and how to access bash so I can restart/stop php, nginx mariadb or do a database dump? or build the image? I don't know how docker compose does it, but once I get my setup to work on local, I need to upload my project also on prod. You can wait for the bounty to expand your answer, if u want

Danoweb Over a year ago

I'm not concerned about the bounty timing, as much as I am in providing useful, helpful answers. I'll update my answer to expand on how volumes work to share files back and forth, I'll elaborate on docker compose commands for start/stop and some helpful database tricks/tips!

samayo Over a year ago

Thanks bro, I can't wait to try it

samayo Over a year ago

Hey, I posted an error before but I found a fix for it. Is there anyway to access logs? like nginx, php or mariadb error/access logs? I can't get into the the virtual machine without exiting docker, and I would appreciate it if you could add a way on how to replicate my setup on production server. Do I just upload the docker-compose file and run the same command or do I need to create an image and upload the image into my VPS?

Danoweb Over a year ago

This documentation is the goto for best practices (and deploying to Production): docs.docker.com/develop/dev-best-practices if you run the container and send it to the background docker-compose up -d you can get a shell in the container as long as it is running with: docker exec -it (container_name) /bin/bash you can also use the command: docker logs to see the logs being written by that container.

|

Serhii Shliakhov · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-06 13:50:03Z

You can use my docker-compose file (mariadb, php-fpm, nginx)

https://github.com/matchish/skeleton

Just run

docker-compose up -d

and you will see "Hello world" on http://localhost You can edit environment variables in .env file

Also, I recommend https://laradock.io/

You can run terminal in any service

docker-compose exec db bash
docker-compose exec php-fpm bash
docker-compose exec nginx bash

Also, you can add database init file. Read manual in this file https://github.com/matchish/skeleton/blob/master/mariadb/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/createdb.sql.example

To restart services stop container then start it again

docker-compose stop nginx 
docker-compose up -d nginx

if you need edit nginx conf you should rebuild image

docker-compose build nginx 
docker-compose up -d

If you need phpmyadmin you can add it to compose file

phpmyadmin:
  image: phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin
  environment:
    PMA_HOST: db
    PMA_PORT: 3306
  ports:
    - '8181:80'

Now you can access it on http://localhost:8181

The easiest way to use compose in production is just copying project directory to a production server and run docker-compose up -d. You can exclude logs directory. It is good practice to have multiple compose files (https://docs.docker.com/compose/production/)

Don't forget to preserve file permissions when deploy to production

Garrett W. · Accepted Answer · 2022-12-12 04:11:44Z

3

Docker-compose is fine but not the easiest to use. You should really look into Lando as it makes dev environments an absolute cinch to set up. It's basically a usability layer over Docker and it sure is slick.

~~Before I go any farther, I do need to mention that Lando doesn't really work with Windows 10 Home because the Windows version of Docker uses Hyper-V, which only comes with Win10 Pro.~~ (Actually, with the advent of WSL and especially WSL2, this can all be done on versions of Windows without Hyper-V.) Mac and Linux work fine, though.

Lando has "recipes" which are starting points that reduce the amount of configuration you have to write. If you're developing a Drupal or WordPress site, there are recipes for that. Or if you're writing something from scratch, there are also LAMP and LEMP recipes.

All you have to do after installing Lando is create a config file for your app and launch it. There is a lando init command that generates a config by asking you a few questions, but I prefer to just write the .lando.yml config file by hand as it's not hard.

So if you want a LEMP setup, your config would look something like this:

name: put-your-site-name-here
recipe: lemp
config:
  php: '7.1'        # optional; defaults to the latest version
  webroot: web      # optional; defaults to the same directory as this file
  database: mariadb # technically optional but you did say you wanted this
  xdebug: true      # optional
  conf:             # optional; specify your own configs for nginx and/or php as follows
    server: my-config-path/nginx.conf
    php: my-config-path/php.ini

and that's it! Dump that in a .lando.yml file, run lando start, and you'll have a running app in no time.

~~Currently the latest beta is the most stable release,~~ but it's nothing to worry about. I use it at work every day. Browse releases on GitHub.

edited Dec 12, 2022 at 4:11

answered Oct 2, 2018 at 1:58

Garrett W.

3833 silver badges11 bronze badges

2 Comments

samayo Over a year ago

Thanks for the answer, I was hoping this one to fix my problem and lando looks great, but it is a 3rd party application is, you don't know how long it will be there, and to use yet another library over something you can simply invest a bit more time to learn docker, aside from all that, I also use Windows 10, so this solution isn't for me.

Garrett W. Over a year ago

A 3rd-party app is nothing to be afraid of if it helps you accomplish your goals. Also, if you're already using Docker on Windows 10, it might work. It just depends on how Docker is installed. Using pure Docker isn't just about the time it takes to learn it -- it's also about the time it takes to use it. That's where Lando speeds things up.

Community · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-20 09:12:55Z

There are a few answers here suggesting two very accurate things:

Each service should have its own Docker container (as you have discovered)
Popular methods include custom docker-compose files, or adding yet another layer into your stack with provisioning tools like Vagrant, Laravel, Lando, LaraDock, and beyond...

But more to the point is that if you're experiencing this much difficulty and frustration trying to setup multiple Docker containers for each service for such a simple LEMP stack server (which is complex regardless of your approach), perhaps consider ditching the entire container approach.

Assuming by your profile you are setting up WordPress servers, there are options like Roots Trellis that support PHP Composer, or EasyEngine v4 has Docker already integrated as well.

An even lighter option is my team's SlickStack which has zero containers and only requires basic knowledge of Bash commands to deploy a LEMP stack server.

You mention wariness of relying on too many third party apps, so these would remove those.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Setting up PHP-FPM, Nginx, Mariadb on CentOs using docker

4 Answers 4

11 Comments

Comments

2 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

4 Answers 4

11 Comments

Comments

2 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related