Table of Contents

Setting up a server to run php code

Download Docker

Follow instructions on this page Docker Installation

You also want to install the httpd package by running this command in a terminal 

docker pull httpd

Set up Directory

Create the files and folders shown below 

|-public-html/
| |-index.php
| |- ...
|-docker-compose.yml
|-DockerFile
|-php.ini

public-html/ is self explanatory. It's all the files the user will be able to access. That being .php files, .html files, stylesheets and javascript code, ect.

docker-compose.yml and DockerFile will hold the code to initialize the server. They're like a bash script.

php.ini is the config file for your php server. this let's you change parameters and enable extensions like sql.

Edit files

Edit the DockerFile and run this command: 

FROM php:8.2-apache

# Enable mod_rewrite (needed for .htaccess)
RUN a2enmod rewrite

# Allow .htaccess files by updating Apache config
RUN sed -i '/<Directory \/var\/www\/>/,/<\/Directory>/ s/AllowOverride None/AllowOverride All/' /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

# Copy your website files
COPY ./public-html/ /var/www/html/
# Copy custom php.ini
COPY php.ini /usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/custom.ini

# Optional: ensure permissions are correct
RUN chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html

Some of this code sets up the .htaccess file that is included in the public-html/ folder

You also want to edit the docker-compose.yml file and paste in this code: 

version: "3.9"

services:
  web:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    volumes:
      - ./public-html:/var/www/html
      - ./php.ini:/usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/custom.ini

You do not need to edit the php.ini. It is included for if and when you need to use it. You can also edit the 2 docker files to let you run a sql server alongside your web server.

Build and Activate Server

open up a terminal located in your directory and run these commands: 

docker compose build
docker compose up -d

Save these commands for later. You'll need to run them everytime you edit the DockerFile, docker-compose.yml, or php.ini file. You can also use these commands to activate the server.