Deploy Laravel with Docker: Step By Step Guide

 Internet / User
                           │
                           ▼
                 ┌───────────────────┐
                 │ Nginx (Port 80) │
                 └─────────┬─────────┘
        Static Files │ FastCGI Request
        (CSS/JS/Img) ▼ (Port 9000)
                 ┌───────────────────┐
                 │ PHP-FPM (Laravel)│
                 └────┬─────────┬────┘
                      │ │
    SQL Queries (3306)│ │ Cache / Queue (6379)
                      ▼ ▼
             ┌──────────┐ ┌───────────┐
             │ MySQL DB │ │ Redis Pods │
             └──────────┘ └───────────┘

my-laravel-docker/
├── app/
├── bootstrap/
├── config/
├── database/
├── docker/
│ ├── nginx/
│ │ └── default.conf
│ └── php/
│ ├── Dockerfiles
│ └── local.ini
├── public/
├── resources/
├── routes/
├── storage/
├── .env
├── .env.example
├── .dockerignore
├── composer.json
├── docker-compose.yml
└── package.json

.git
.github
node_modules
vendors
storage/logs/*
storage/framework/cache/data/*
storage/framework/sessions/*
storage/framework/views/*
.env
.env.backup
.phpunit.result.cache
npm-debug.log
yarn-error.log

# Uses the official stable PHP 8.3 FPM base image
FROM php:8.3-fpm

# Define arguments for user host UID/GID flexibility
ARG USER_ID=1000
ARG GROUP_ID=1000# Set the working directory inside the container
WORKDIR /var/www

# Install OS level system dependencies
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
    build-essential\
    libpng-dev\
    libjpeg62-turbo-dev\
    libfreetype6-dev\
    locales\
    zip\
    jpegoptim optipng pngquant gifsicle \
    vim\
    unzip\
    git\
    curl\
    libzip-dev\
    libonig-dev\
    libxml2-dev\
    && apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# Install and configure core PHP extensions for Laravel
RUN docker-php-ext-configure gd --with-freetype --with-jpeg \
    && docker-php-ext-install -j$(nproc) gd \
    && docker-php-ext-install pdo_mysql mbstring zip exif pcntl bcmath opcache

# Download the latest version of the Composer binary directly from the official Composer image
COPY --from=composer:latest /usr/bin/composer /usr/bin/composer

# Setup non-root user so that Laravel storage & cache permissions do not conflict with the host
RUN groupadd -g ${GROUP_ID} appuser && \
    useradd -u ${USER_ID} -ms /bin/bash -g appuser appuser

# Move working directory ownership to appuser
RUN chown -R appuser:appuser /var/www

# Use a non-root user to run the process
USER appuser

# Expose default FastCGI port
EXPOSE 9000

CMD ["php-fpm"]

upload_max_filesize = 40M
post_max_size = 40M
memory_limit = 512M
max_execution_time = 300
date.timezone = Asia/Jakarta

; Opcache configuration for high performance
opcache.enable = 1
opcache.enable_cli = 1
opcache.memory_consumption = 128
opcache.interned_strings_buffer = 8
opcache.max_accelerated_files = 10000
opcache.revalidate_freq = 2
opcache.fast_shutdown = 1

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name localhost;
    root /var/www/public;

    index index.php index.html index.htm;
    charset utf-8;

    # Logging access and errors
    error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log;access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log;

    # Default security header settings
    add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN";
    add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff";

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
        gzip_static on;
    }

    location = /favicon.ico { access_log off; log_not_found off; }
    location = /robots.txt { access_log off; log_not_found off; }

    error_page 404 /index.php;

    # Forward PHP script execution to the service app on port 9000
    location ~ \.php$ {
        try_files $uri =404;
        fastcgi_split_path_info ^(.+\.php)(/.+)$;
        fastcgi_pass app:9000;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        fastcgi_param PATH_INFO $fastcgi_path_info;
        fastcgi_hide_header X-Powered-By;
    }

    # Block direct access to hidden files such as .env and .git
    location ~ /\.(?!well-known).* {
        deny all;
    }
}

services:
  # Service 1: PHP-FPM Application Container
  app:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: docker/php/Dockerfile
      args:USER_ID: 1000
        GROUP_ID: 1000
    image: laravel-app:latest
    container_name: laravel_app
    restart: unless-stopped
    working_dir: /var/www
    volumes:
      - ./:/var/www
      - ./docker/php/local.ini:/usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/local.ini:ro
    networks:
      - laravel_network
    depends_on:
      - db
      - redis

  # Service 2: Nginx Web Server
  webserver:
    image: nginx:alpine
    container_name: laravel_webserver
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "80:80"
    volumes:
      - ./:/var/www
      - ./docker/nginx/default.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf:ro
    networks:
      - laravel_network
    depends_on:
      - app

  # Service 3: MySQL Database
  db:
    image: mysql:8.0
    container_name: laravel_db
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      MYSQL_DATABASE: ${DB_DATABASE:-laravel}
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD:-secret}
      MYSQL_USER: ${DB_USERNAME:-laravel_user}MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD:-secret}
    ports:
      - "3306:3306"
    volumes:
      - dbdata:/var/lib/mysql
    networks:
      - laravel_network

  # Service 4: Redis Cache & Queue Manager
  redis:
    image: redis:alpine
    container_name: laravel_redis
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "6379:6379"
    volumes:
      - redisdata:/data
    networks:
      - laravel_network

# Definition of Persistent Storage
volumes:
  dbdata:
    driver: local
  redisdata:
    driver: local

# Internal Network Definition
networks:
  laravel_network:
    driver: bridge

APP_NAME="Laravel Docker App"
APP_ENV=local
APP_KEY=
APP_DEBUG=true
APP_TIMEZONE=Asia/Jakarta
APP_URL=http://localhost

LOG_CHANNEL=stack
LOG_DEPRECATIONS_CHANNEL=null
LOG_LEVEL=debug

# Database Configuration (Host redirects to service name: db)
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=db
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=laravel
DB_USERNAME=laravel_user
DB_PASSWORD=secret

# Configure Cache & Queue Driver to Redis
BROADCAST_CONNECTION=log
FILESYSTEM_DISK=local
QUEUE_CONNECTION=redis
CACHE_STORE=redis
CACHE_PREFIX=

# Redis configuration (Host redirects to service name: redis)
REDIS_CLIENT=phpredis
REDIS_HOST=redis
REDIS_PASSWORD=null
REDIS_PORT=6379

# 1. Build image and start the container in the background (detached mode)
docker compose up -d --build

# 2. Check the status to see whether all containers are Up / Healthy
docker compose ps

# 3. Install the entire PHP Composer library in the container
docker compose exec app composer install

# 4. Generate Application Encryption Key
docker compose exec app php artisan key:generate

# 5. Run the database migration
docker compose exec app php artisan migrate

# 6.Set permissions for the Laravel writable folder
docker compose exec app chmod -R 775 storage bootstrap/cache

# 7. Create a storage symlink to the public folder
docker compose exec app php artisan storage:link