Create Docker + Nginx + PHP environment

I wanted to display not only static content but also dynamic content on Nginx containerized with Docker, so I added PHP in the Docker+Nginx environment. Here is a summary of how I did it.

Build a Docker + Nginx environment

First, we will create a Docker+Nginx environment. For more information on how to run Nginx with Docker, please see the following article.

See Also

Containerize and run Nginx with Docker When developing native apps such as iOS and Android apps, and implementing a process that communicates with a web server via HTTP/HTTPS, there are many times…

You will also need to edit the Nginx configuration file; see the following article for instructions on how to copy, edit, and use the Nginx configuration file from the container.

See Also

Nginx POST settings Accessing Nginx via POST results in an HTTP STATUS 405 error by default, which is a problem when accessing Nginx containerized in Docker from an app under de…

This article assumes that you have completed the work in the above two articles, that you have a Docker+Nginx environment, and that you are ready to edit the configuration files.

Add PHP container with Docker Compose

Add a PHP container in addition to Nginx with Docker Compose. Edit docker-compose.yml as follows to add the php configuration.

version: "3"
services:
    nginx:
        build: .
        ports:
            - 8080:8080
        volumes:
            - ./content_home:/usr/share/nginx/html

    php:
        image: php:8-fpm
        volumes:
            - ./content_home:/usr/share/nginx/html

The following section of php: was added.

Also, I changed the port number of nginx: for the convenience of the environment in which I tested the operation, although this is not necessary either way.

Nginx configuration

Modify the Nginx configuration by editing the default.conf file as follows.

server {
    listen       8080;
    listen  [::]:8080;
    server_name  localhost;

    #access_log  /var/log/nginx/host.access.log  main;

	root   /usr/share/nginx/html;
	index  index.html index.htm index.php;

    location / {
    	try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php$is_args$args;
    }
    
    #error_page  404              /404.html;

    # redirect server error pages to the static page /50x.html
    #
    error_page   500 502 503 504  /50x.html;
    location = /50x.html {
        root   /usr/share/nginx/html;
    }

    # proxy the PHP scripts to Apache listening on 127.0.0.1:80
    #
    #location ~ \.php$ {
    #    proxy_pass   http://127.0.0.1;
    #}

    # pass the PHP scripts to FastCGI server listening on 127.0.0.1:9000
    #
    location ~ \.php$ {
        root           /usr/share/nginx/html;
        fastcgi_pass   php:9000;
        fastcgi_index  index.php;
        fastcgi_param  SCRIPT_FILENAME  $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include        fastcgi_params;
    }

    # deny access to .htaccess files, if Apache's document root
    # concurs with nginx's one
    #
    #location ~ /\.ht {
    #    deny  all;
    #}
}

Changes were made in the following locations.

• Move the root definition location. (Move out of scope of location /)
• Move the location of the index definition. (Same as root)
• Add index.php to index.
• Change definition of location /.
  • Added try_files definition.
• Add definition of location ~ .php?.
  • Uncomment settings that were commented out by default.
  • Change root to /usr/share/nginx/html;.
  • Change fastcgi_pass to php:9000.
  • Change fastcgi_param to SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;.

Running Test

To test if it works, create an index.php file in content_home and enter the following.

<?php
	echo phpinfo();
?>

Next, run the following in a terminal.

docker-compose up -d --build

Open http://localhost:8080/index.php in your browser. If successful, you will see the output of phpinfo() as follows.