LAMP Stack Boilerplate

This repository contains a ready-to-use Docker-based LAMP stack for PHP web development. It is designed to be lightweight, clean, and framework-agnostic, making it suitable for Laravel, Symfony, WordPress, or plain PHP projects.

Note: This boilerplate was created to provide a personal, consistent development environment for PHP projects across multiple machines.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following installed on your machine:

• Docker (Engine and CLI)
• Docker Compose (v2 or newer)
• Git (to clone the repository)

Features

• PHP 8.3 with Apache
• MySQL 8 database
• (Optional) phpMyAdmin for database management
• Composer for dependency management
• Optional: Laravel Installer and Symfony CLI
• Central projects/ directory for all web apps

Getting Started

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/amiano4/lamp-stack-boilerplate.git
cd lamp-stack-boilerplate

2. Setup environment variables

A .env.template file is included in the repository. Copy it to .env and edit as needed:

cp .env.template .env

3. Start the environment

docker-compose up -d

4. Access services

• Main web server: http://localhost:8080
• (Optional) phpMyAdmin: http://localhost:8081 — phpMyAdmin is disabled by default. To enable it, uncomment the phpmyadmin service in docker-compose.yml. (Refer to .env for the correct credentials)

5. Start working on your project

Begin development inside the projects/ directory. For example:

projects/my-app/index.php
projects/another-app/public/index.php

You may adjust the DocumentRoot in the Apache virtual host config for framework-specific needs (e.g. Laravel public/, Symfony public/).

Environment Variables

You can edit the .env file to customize MySQL root password and database names.

Laravel & Symfony Support (Optional)

To use CLI tools from within the context of your project directory, first access the container and navigate to your project root:

docker exec -it <PHP_CONTAINER_NAME> bash && cd /var/www/html/projects

Then you can run PHP, Composer, Laravel, or Symfony commands as needed.

You can work on framework-based or agnostic projects directly from the container using CLI tools. For example:

# Run PHP commands
php -v

# Use Composer to install dependencies
composer install

# Create a new Laravel project (if Laravel Installer is enabled)
laravel new my-laravel-app

# Run Symfony CLI commands (if installed)
symfony check:requirements

# To exit the CLI
exit

To enable Laravel or Symfony CLI tools, uncomment the corresponding lines in the Dockerfile.

Volumes

Database and other persistent files are stored in the volumes/ directory (ignored by Git). A .gitkeep file is included to retain the folder structure.

License

MIT — free to use, modify, and distribute.