Step-by-Step Guide to Building and Running a PHP Project with Docker

When you only have a Linux system and do not want to install Nginx, PHP, MySQL, etc., you can package your project into a Docker image to run it inside a container.

1. Create the project – prepare your PHP files in a directory (e.g., project1).

2. Write the Dockerfile

FROM php:5.6-apache

RUN docker-php-ext-install mysqli

ADD project1 /var/www/html

After saving the Dockerfile, build the image with: docker build -t malina_php_project . When the build finishes you will see a success message indicating the image was created.

3. Run the container

docker run -it -d --name malina_php_project malina_php_project

Check that the container is running: docker ps You can view container logs (e.g., docker logs 18b429b2ceac) to see the assigned IP address.

Access the application in a browser via the container’s IP, for example http://x.x.0.2/phpinfo.php, and you should see the PHP info page.

4. Verify files inside the container docker exec -it 18b429b2ceac /bin/bash This opens a shell inside the container where you can inspect /var/www/html and confirm that the project files were copied (the ADD instruction copies the contents of project1 but not the directory itself).

5. Volume mounting (optional)

docker run -it -v /host/directory:/container/directory image_name:tag

docker run -it -d -v /home/malina/project/project1:/var/www/html malina_php_project:latest

Mounting a host directory allows you to edit files locally and have changes reflected instantly inside the container.