{"id":436,"date":"2025-08-27T21:56:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T21:56:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1v0.net\/blog\/?p=436"},"modified":"2025-08-27T21:56:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T21:56:03","slug":"laravel-with-docker-sail-the-right-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1v0.net\/blog\/laravel-with-docker-sail-the-right-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Laravel with Docker & Sail: The Right Way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Laravel with Docker & Sail: The Right Way<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Laravel Sail<\/strong> is the official Docker development environment for Laravel. It gives you a ready-to-use Docker Compose setup with PHP, MySQL\/Postgres, Redis, Mailhog, and more. In this article, we\u2019ll walk step-by-step through setting up Sail, customizing services, adding extensions, debugging containers, and preparing for production. This is the \u201cright way\u201d to embrace Docker without losing Laravel\u2019s simplicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1 \u2014 Install Sail<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Laravel Sail ships with new projects, but you can add it to any Laravel 12 app. Require it via Composer, then publish the docker-compose.yml<\/code> file.<\/p>\n\n\n

# in your Laravel app root<\/span>\ncomposer require laravel\/sail --dev\nphp artisan sail:install\n\n# start Sail with Docker Compose<\/span>\n.\/vendor\/bin\/sail up -d<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Bash<\/span> (<\/span>bash<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
sail:install<\/code> lets you choose services (MySQL, Redis, Meilisearch, Mailhog, Selenium). The generated docker-compose.yml<\/code> defines containers. Running sail up -d<\/code> launches them in the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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2 \u2014 docker-compose.yml Overview<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The default file defines services like laravel.test<\/code>, mysql<\/code>, redis<\/code>, mailhog<\/code>. You can customize it (ports, volumes, versions).<\/p>\n\n\n
version:<\/span> '3'<\/span>\nservices:<\/span>\n  laravel.test:<\/span>\n    build:<\/span>\n      context:<\/span> .\/vendor\/laravel\/sail\/runtimes\/8.3<\/span>\n    ports:<\/span>\n      -<\/span> '${APP_PORT:-80}:80'<\/span>\n    volumes:<\/span>\n      -<\/span> '.:\/var\/www\/html'<\/span>\n    environment:<\/span>\n      WWWGROUP:<\/span> '${WWWGROUP}'<\/span>\n    depends_on:<\/span>\n      -<\/span> mysql<\/span>\n      -<\/span> redis<\/span>\n      -<\/span> mailhog<\/span>\n\n  mysql:<\/span>\n    image:<\/span> 'mysql:8.0'<\/span>\n    environment:<\/span>\n      MYSQL_DATABASE:<\/span> '${DB_DATABASE}'<\/span>\n      MYSQL_USER:<\/span> '${DB_USERNAME}'<\/span>\n      MYSQL_PASSWORD:<\/span> '${DB_PASSWORD}'<\/span>\n      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD:<\/span> '${DB_PASSWORD}'<\/span>\n    ports:<\/span>\n      -<\/span> '3306:3306'<\/span>\n\n  redis:<\/span>\n    image:<\/span> 'redis:alpine'<\/span>\n    ports:<\/span>\n      -<\/span> '6379:6379'<\/span>\n\n  mailhog:<\/span>\n    image:<\/span> 'mailhog\/mailhog:latest'<\/span>\n    ports:<\/span>\n      -<\/span> '8025:8025'<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> YAML<\/span> (<\/span>yaml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This setup runs Laravel in laravel.test<\/code> container, with MySQL, Redis, and Mailhog. Ports are mapped to your host for development: http:\/\/localhost<\/code> for app, 8025<\/code> for Mailhog UI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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3 \u2014 Customizing PHP & Extensions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You can add PHP extensions by editing the Sail runtime Dockerfile. Example: enabling imagick<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n
# vendor\/laravel\/sail\/runtimes\/8.3\/Dockerfile<\/span>\nFROM<\/span> laravelsail\/php83-composer\n\n# Install Imagick<\/span>\nRUN<\/span> apt-get update && apt-get install -y libmagickwand-dev --no-install-recommends \\\n    && pecl install imagick \\\n    && docker-php-ext-enable imagick<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Dockerfile<\/span> (<\/span>dockerfile<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Rebuild Sail after editing:<\/p>\n\n\n
.\/vendor\/bin\/sail build --no-cache<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Bash<\/span> (<\/span>bash<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This ensures your PHP container now has Imagick. You can repeat the same process for other system libs or extensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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4 \u2014 Running Artisan, Composer, and NPM<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Sail wraps Docker Compose commands. Instead of php artisan<\/code>, prefix with sail<\/code>. Same for Composer, NPM, PHPUnit.<\/p>\n\n\n
# Artisan<\/span>\n.\/vendor\/bin\/sail artisan migrate\n\n# Composer<\/span>\n.\/vendor\/bin\/sail composer require spatie\/laravel-permission\n\n# NPM<\/span>\n.\/vendor\/bin\/sail npm run dev\n\n# Testing<\/span>\n.\/vendor\/bin\/sail test<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Bash<\/span> (<\/span>bash<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This ensures all commands run inside the PHP container, not on your host machine, so versions are consistent across the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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5 \u2014 Debugging Containers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You can \u201cexec\u201d into running containers or check logs directly.<\/p>\n\n\n
# enter PHP container shell<\/span>\n.\/vendor\/bin\/sail shell\n\n# check logs for app container<\/span>\n.\/vendor\/bin\/sail logs -f laravel.test<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Bash<\/span> (<\/span>bash<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
sail shell<\/code> drops you into a bash session inside the PHP container, where you can run artisan tinker or inspect files. sail logs -f<\/code> streams container logs (good for debugging queues or errors).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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6 \u2014 Preparing Sail for Production<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Sail is intended for development, but its Docker Compose setup can inspire production images. For production:<\/p>\n\n\n\n