These days, just about everyone’s moving their web apps into containers. And honestly, it makes sense. Docker takes the headache out of deploying, scaling, locking down, and maintaining your apps, no matter where you’re running them. If you’ve got a PHP/MySQL site living on shared hosting or a dusty old server, switching to Docker can make it way more reliable and portable.
Here’s how you can move your PHP/MySQL website into Docker containers. Don’t worry, I’ll keep it practical and beginner-friendly.
Why move PHP/MySQL to Docker?
Let’s get this out of the way: why bother? Here’s what you get:
Everything runs the same, whether you’re on your laptop, a VPS, or the cloud
Deploying and rolling back changes gets way easier
You don’t have to worry about apps stepping on each other’s toes
Scaling up or fixing stuff is simpler
No more “it worked on my machine” problems
Docker’s great for WordPress, Laravel, CodeIgniter, or any custom PHP projects.
What you’ll need
Before you start, make sure you have:
Your PHP/MySQL website up and running
Access to your site’s files
A backup of your MySQL database (a .sql file)
Docker and Docker Compose installed
Basic terminal skills
Step 1: Get your site files ready
First, organize your PHP files. Make a project folder. Inside that, toss all your PHP files into a folder named app or public—whatever fits.
You’ll want your project to look like this:
project/
├── app/
├── docker-compose.yml
└── Dockerfile
Also, double-check that your database config uses environment variables, not hardcoded passwords.
Step 2: Write a Dockerfile for PHP
The Dockerfile tells Docker how to build your PHP container. Here’s a basic one:
FROM php:8.1-apache
RUN docker-php-ext-install mysqli pdo pdo_mysql
COPY app/ /var/www/html/
RUN chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html
This sets up Apache, PHP, and all the MySQL extensions most folks need.
Step 3: Set up Docker Compose
Docker Compose lets you spin up PHP and MySQL together, no sweat. Here’s a sample docker-compose.yml:
version: '3.8'
services:
web:
build: .
ports:
- "8080:80"
depends_on:
- db
db:
image: mysql:8.0
environment:
MYSQL_DATABASE: appdb
MYSQL_USER: appuser
MYSQL_PASSWORD: apppass
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: rootpass
Now you’ve got two containers: one for PHP/Apache, one for MySQL.
Step 4: Import your MySQL database
Start your containers:
docker-compose up -d
Then, import your database backup:
docker exec -i db_container_name mysql -u appuser -p appdb < backup.sql
Make sure your PHP config uses the right database credentials, and set the host to db.
Step 5: Test everything
Fire up your browser and hit:
http://localhost:8080
Check that your pages load, the database connects, and things like forms and logins work. If something’s off, look for file path or permission issues.
Step 6: Clean up and secure
If everything looks good, take it up a notch:
Switch to .env files for your config
Add volumes so your MySQL data sticks around
Use .dockerignore to keep your images lean
Turn off debug mode before going live
Step 7: Deploy to your server
Upload everything to your server with Docker. Then run:
docker-compose up -d
That’s it—your PHP/MySQL site now runs in containers, ready to scale or update as you need.
Wrapping up
Moving your PHP/MySQL site into Docker might feel intimidating at first, but once you’ve done it, life gets easier. Deployments are smoother, your app’s more reliable, and you’re set for whatever comes next. Docker takes away those classic “server environment” headaches and lets you move between servers without breaking a sweat.
For developers and hosts, containerization isn’t just a nice-to-have anymore—it’s the new normal.
