Create Docker + Nginx + PHP environment

Seeking to display static and dynamic content on an Nginx container, I integrated PHP into a Docker+Nginx environment. Here’s an overview of the process.

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.

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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.

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

Add PHP container with Docker Compose

To 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.

Additionally, I adjusted the port number for nginx: to suit my testing environment, though this modification isn’t mandatory.

Nginx configuration

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

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;
    #}
}

The following locations underwent modifications.

• 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 the 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 validate its functionality, create an index.php file in content_home and input the following code.

<?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.