NPXM (nginx, PHP, Xdebug, MariaDB)

I created this Docker Compose setup for software developers who want to use the latest software similar to Fedora Linux.
I found lots of specialised Docker files, fixed version numbers, undocumented stuff and nothing really suitable for local PHP development.

Main goals:

• ✅ Simple environment with Nginx, PHP, Xdebug and MariaDB

• ✅ phpMyAdmin for easy database import and exports

• ✅ Accessible and documented configuration files

• ✅ Podman support

• ✅ Working Xdebug

• ✅ Colorful bash (PS1) , including some tweaks

  • ll = ls -lah
  • .. = cd ..
  • ~/fix-permissions.sh to set permissions to 1000:www-data

• ✅ Useful extensions and tools like zip, git, gd, vim, opcache

• ✅ Working $_SERVER['PATH_INFO'] for nginx (e.g.: https://localhost/foo.php/any/path)

I know that using latest is not the best practice in the Docker world because you want to ensure a working version. I want to make sure that I don't have to pull up versions every week and that my code is working with the latest software.

How it works

Put all your HTML content into the /app/web folder, edit the .env file (database name, passwords etc.) and run

docker compose up

The first time takes much longer because my php-fpm has to be build first.

Afterwards you can visit the website on http://localhost:8080. phpMyAdmin is available as http://localhost:4000

To enable Xdebug, install a browser plugin to trigger step debugging. I use Firefox and Xdebug Starter, IDE key has to match your IDE configuration, or just leave everything blank.

Configuration

Docker Environment (.env)

Use this file to set up your docker environment variables. At the moment it's only used for the database, such as database name, user, password, and root password.

nginx (config/nginx.conf)

If you need a web root folder without hidden files like /app/vendor, you can change root /app/web; to root /app;

TL;DR: Everything should be in the /app folder to make development easier.
PHP-fpm uses /var/www/html by default, nginx /usr/share/nginx/www and assumes PHP scripts are in /scripts, the local environment is something like /home/user/... Usually navigating in different Docker shells is chaotic and mapping IDE folders and Xdebug isn't easy. I simplified it.
Anyway, in the past there were "only" HTML and PHP files, today it can be anything. So I think /app and /app/web is okay and easy to search and replace - in case of need.

PHP (config/php-overrides.ini)

These are various settings (common PHP, Xdebug, OPcache). If you miss something, please send a request. If it's reasonable and universal, I will update it... and support is very welcome ❤️

php-fpm permissions script (config/fix-permissions.sh)

This script is mounted as /root/fix-permissions.sh and can be used to update the permissions and user/groups of the /app directory. Using sudo chown/chmod ... on the host system was a mess and the www-data user/group id might differ on the host. If you have any better solution, please let me know.

MariaDB import (config/initdb.d/)

You can put import files into this directory which is mapped to /docker-entrypoint-initdb.d. Shell scripts and (compressed) SQL files will be executed when you start the container the first time.

Docker php-fpm image (docker-images/php-fpm)

This docker image is based on the latest `php:fpm. It includes many PHP extensions, composer, git, ~/fix-permissions.sh, and some more.

After starting docker compose up you can use something like this to connect to it's bash

docker exec -it $(docker ps --filter name=-php-fpm --latest --quiet) bash

If you want less/more extensions, please update the php-fpm Dockerfile and test the commands in the container beforehand. To restart the php-fpm container you can use

docker restart $(docker ps --filter name=-php-fpm --latest --quiet)

To rebuild the image, use

docker compose up --build