Quickly Deploy an Apache/PHP/MySQL Development Environment in Docker 🌱

Installing Docker

1. Log into the Linux host and run the following commands in a terminal window
   # install prerequisites
   sudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common gnupg-agent -y
   # add docker gpg key
   curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/$(awk -F'=' '/^ID=/{ print $NF }' /etc/os-release)/gpg | sudo apt-key add -
   # add docker software repository
   sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture)] https://download.docker.com/linux/$(awk -F'=' '/^ID=/{ print $NF }' /etc/os-release) $(lsb_release -cs) stable"
   # install docker
   sudo apt install docker-ce docker-compose containerd.io -y
   # enable and start docker service
   sudo systemctl enable docker && sudo systemctl start docker
   # add the current user to the docker group
   sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
   # reauthenticate for the new group membership to take effect
   su - $USER

Setting Up the Development Environment

1. Continue with the following commands in a terminal window
   # create working directories
   mkdir ~/docker/apache2/www/html -p && mkdir ~/docker/apache2/{conf,php,ext} -p && mkdir ~/docker/mariadb -p
   # extract apache conf container
   docker run --rm php:apache tar -cC /etc/apache2 . | tar -xC ~/docker/apache2/conf
   # extract php config from container
   docker run --rm php:apache tar -cC /usr/local/etc/php . | tar -xC ~/docker/apache2/php
   # extract php extensions from container
   docker run --rm php:apache tar -cC /usr/local/lib/php/extensions . | tar -xC ~/docker/apache2/ext
   # copy the production php.ini
   cp ~/docker/apache2/php/php.ini-development ~/docker/apache2/php/php.ini
   # enable mysqli php extension
   sed -i "s/;extension=mysqli/extension=mysqli/" ~/docker/apache2/php/php.ini
   # set owner of working directories
   sudo chown "$USER":"$USER" ~/docker -R
   # run the mariadb docker container
   docker run -d --name mariadb -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD='r00tp@$$' -v ~/docker/mariadb:/var/lib/mysql -p 3306:3306 --restart unless-stopped mariadb:latest
   # run the php:apache container
   docker run -d --name www -v ~/docker/apache2/www:/var/www -v ~/docker/apache2/conf:/etc/apache2 -v ~/docker/apache2/php:/usr/local/etc/php -v ~/docker/apache2/ext:/usr/local/lib/php/extensions -p 8080:80 --restart unless-stopped php:apache
   # install the mysqli extension
   docker exec -it www docker-php-ext-install mysqli
   # restart the apache2 container
   docker restart www
   # create simple phpinfo page
   echo -e "<?php\n\tphpinfo();\n?>" > ~/docker/apache2/www/html/phpinfo.php
2. Open a web browser and navigate to http://DNSorIP/phpinfo.php

Adding phpMyAdmin (optional)

1. Continue with the following commands in a terminal window
   # download phpmyadmin
   wget -O /tmp/phpmyadmin.tar.gz https://www.phpmyadmin.net/downloads/phpMyAdmin-latest-english.tar.gz
   # create phpmyadmin directory
   mkdir ~/docker/apache2/www/html/phpmyadmin -p
   # extract downloaded phpmyadmin archive
   tar xf /tmp/phpmyadmin.tar.gz --strip-components=1 -C ~/docker/apache2/www/html/phpmyadmin
   # copy sample config file
   cp ~/docker/apache2/www/html/phpmyadmin/config.sample.inc.php ~/docker/apache2/www/html/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php
   # generate a random string
   # copy the output string to the clipboard
   openssl rand -base64 16
   # edit phpmyadmin config
   nano ~/docker/apache2/www/html/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php
2. Paste the generated string in the blowfish_secret value
3. Update the Server host from localhost to the Docker host's DNS or IP
4. Press CTRL+O, Enter, CTRL+X to write the changes
5. In a new tab, navigate to http://DNSorIP/phpmyadmin
6. Login with the username root and the password r00tp@$$