{"id":401,"date":"2025-08-27T21:00:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T21:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1v0.net\/blog\/?p=401"},"modified":"2025-08-27T21:00:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T21:00:24","slug":"laravel-and-docker-setting-up-a-scalable-dev-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1v0.net\/blog\/laravel-and-docker-setting-up-a-scalable-dev-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Laravel and Docker: Setting Up a Scalable Dev Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Laravel and Docker: Setting Up a Scalable Dev Environment<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Docker has become the standard for creating consistent, portable development environments. Instead of “it works on my machine,” Docker ensures your Laravel app runs the same way everywhere\u2014on your laptop, staging server, or production cluster. In this guide, we\u2019ll containerize Laravel, configure services like MySQL and Redis, and run the app in a scalable setup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1 – Install Docker & Docker Compose<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First, ensure you have Docker Engine and Docker Compose installed. Docker Compose lets you run multiple containers (Laravel app, MySQL, Redis, Nginx) together.<\/p>\n\n\n

# Check Docker<\/span>\ndocker -v\n# Check Compose<\/span>\ndocker compose version<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Bash<\/span> (<\/span>bash<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
If these commands print version numbers, you\u2019re good to go. Otherwise, download from Docker Desktop<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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2 – Create a Dockerfile for Laravel<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Dockerfile defines how the Laravel container is built.<\/p>\n\n\n
# Dockerfile<\/span>\nFROM<\/span> php:8.3<\/span>-fpm\n\n# Install system dependencies<\/span>\nRUN<\/span> apt-get update && apt-get install -y \\\n    git curl libpng-dev libonig-dev libxml2-dev zip unzip \\\n    && docker-php-ext-install pdo_mysql mbstring exif pcntl bcmath gd<\/span>\n\n# Install Composer<\/span>\nCOPY<\/span> --from=composer:2.7 \/usr\/bin\/composer \/usr\/bin\/composer<\/span>\n\nWORKDIR<\/span> \/var\/www<\/span>\n\nCOPY<\/span> . .<\/span>\n\nRUN<\/span> composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader<\/span>\n\nCMD<\/span> [\"php-fpm\"<\/span>]<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Dockerfile<\/span> (<\/span>dockerfile<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This builds a PHP-FPM container with Composer and required extensions. The app code is copied inside \/var\/www<\/code>, ready to run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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3 – Define docker-compose.yml<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Docker Compose orchestrates multiple containers: Laravel (PHP-FPM), MySQL, Redis, and Nginx as a reverse proxy.<\/p>\n\n\n
# docker-compose.yml<\/span>\nversion:<\/span> '3.8'<\/span>\n\nservices:<\/span>\n  app:<\/span>\n    build:<\/span>\n      context:<\/span> .<\/span>\n      dockerfile:<\/span> Dockerfile<\/span>\n    volumes:<\/span>\n      -<\/span> .:\/var\/www<\/span>\n    networks:<\/span>\n      -<\/span> laravel<\/span>\n    depends_on:<\/span>\n      -<\/span> db<\/span>\n      -<\/span> redis<\/span>\n\n  db:<\/span>\n    image:<\/span> mysql:8.0<\/span>\n    environment:<\/span>\n      MYSQL_DATABASE:<\/span> laravel<\/span>\n      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD:<\/span> root<\/span>\n    volumes:<\/span>\n      -<\/span> dbdata:\/var\/lib\/mysql<\/span>\n    networks:<\/span>\n      -<\/span> laravel<\/span>\n\n  redis:<\/span>\n    image:<\/span> redis:alpine<\/span>\n    networks:<\/span>\n      -<\/span> laravel<\/span>\n\n  nginx:<\/span>\n    image:<\/span> nginx:alpine<\/span>\n    volumes:<\/span>\n      -<\/span> .:\/var\/www<\/span>\n      -<\/span> .\/nginx.conf:\/etc\/nginx\/conf.d\/default.conf<\/span>\n    ports:<\/span>\n      -<\/span> \"8000:80\"<\/span>\n    networks:<\/span>\n      -<\/span> laravel<\/span>\n    depends_on:<\/span>\n      -<\/span> app<\/span>\n\nvolumes:<\/span>\n  dbdata:<\/span>\n\nnetworks:<\/span>\n  laravel:<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> YAML<\/span> (<\/span>yaml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This defines four services: app<\/code> (Laravel), db<\/code> (MySQL), redis<\/code>, and nginx<\/code>. The app depends on Redis and DB to start correctly. Nginx proxies requests to the app container.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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4 – Configure Nginx<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Add an Nginx config to route traffic into the Laravel container.<\/p>\n\n\n
# nginx.conf<\/span>\nserver<\/span> {\n    listen<\/span> 80<\/span>;\n    index<\/span> index.php index.html;\n    root<\/span> \/var\/www\/public;\n\n    location<\/span> \/ {\n        try_files<\/span> $uri<\/span> $uri<\/span>\/ \/index.php?$query_string<\/span>;\n    }\n\n    location<\/span> ~ \\.php$<\/span> {\n        fastcgi_pass<\/span> app:9000<\/span>;\n        include<\/span> fastcgi_params;\n        fastcgi_param<\/span> SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root<\/span>$fastcgi_script_name<\/span>;\n        fastcgi_index<\/span> index.php;\n    }\n}<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Nginx<\/span> (<\/span>nginx<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This config sends PHP requests to the app<\/code> container (running PHP-FPM) and serves static assets directly. It mirrors production best practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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5 – Run Containers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Start your Laravel environment with:<\/p>\n\n\n
docker compose up -d --build<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Bash<\/span> (<\/span>bash<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This builds containers and runs them in the background. Visit http:\/\/localhost:8000<\/code> to access your Laravel app inside Docker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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6 – Scaling with Docker<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
One of Docker\u2019s strengths is scaling services horizontally. You can run multiple Laravel containers behind Nginx:<\/p>\n\n\n
docker compose up --scale app=3 -d<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Bash<\/span> (<\/span>bash<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This runs three Laravel app containers in parallel, balancing requests through Nginx. Perfect for high-concurrency setups, especially when combined with Octane<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Wrapping Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ve containerized Laravel with Docker, set up MySQL, Redis, and Nginx, and even scaled app containers horizontally. This setup ensures every developer runs the same environment and makes production deployment smoother. For even more scalability, integrate Docker with AWS ECS, Kubernetes, or DigitalOcean Droplets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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What\u2019s Next<\/h2>\n\n\n\n