Docker Compose for PHP + MySQL + RabbitMQ
A plain PHP setup gives complete control over your application with no framework overhead — ideal for learning Docker with PHP, running legacy codebases, or building lightweight applications with minimal dependencies.
MySQL 8 is the world's most widely deployed open-source relational database. It integrates seamlessly with Symfony via Doctrine ORM and with Laravel via Eloquent, and benefits from extensive tooling and hosting support.
RabbitMQ is a reliable AMQP message broker for decoupling services and handling async workloads. Symfony Messenger and Laravel Queues both support RabbitMQ natively via the AMQP transport.
When should you use this stack?
PHP with MySQL and RabbitMQ is a solid default for local development when your production environment matches it. If you're evaluating alternatives, the related configurations below swap one piece at a time — same framework with a different database, or the same data layer under a different framework — so you can compare without starting from scratch.
docker compose up -d
http://localhost:8080
compose.yml
services:
nginx:
image: nginx:latest
ports:
- "${WEB_PORT-8080}:80"
volumes:
- .:/var/www/html
- ./docker/nginx/default.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf:ro
depends_on:
- php
php:
image: php:8.5-fpm
volumes:
- .:/var/www/html
mysql:
image: mysql:8
environment:
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD-root}
MYSQL_DATABASE: ${MYSQL_DATABASE-app}
MYSQL_USER: ${MYSQL_USER-app}
MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${MYSQL_PASSWORD-secret}
ports:
- "${MYSQL_PORT-3306}:3306"
volumes:
- mysql_data:/var/lib/mysql
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "mysqladmin", "ping", "-h", "localhost"]
interval: 10s
timeout: 5s
retries: 5
rabbitmq:
image: rabbitmq:3-management
environment:
RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_USER: ${RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_USER-app}
RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_PASS: ${RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_PASS-secret}
ports:
- "${RABBITMQ_PORT-5672}:5672"
- "${RABBITMQ_MANAGEMENT_PORT-15672}:15672"
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "rabbitmq-diagnostics", "check_port_connectivity"]
interval: 10s
timeout: 5s
retries: 5
volumes:
mysql_data:
docker/nginx/default.conf
Run mkdir -p docker/nginx first
server {
listen 80;
server_name localhost;
root /var/www/html;
index index.php index.html;
location / {
try_files $uri /index.php$is_args$args;
}
location ~ \.php$ {
fastcgi_pass php:9000;
fastcgi_index index.php;
include fastcgi_params;
fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
}
}
.env.example
Optional — Compose uses ${VAR-default} fallbacks
WEB_PORT=8080 MYSQL_PORT=3306 MYSQL_DATABASE=app MYSQL_USER=app MYSQL_PASSWORD=secret RABBITMQ_PORT=5672 RABBITMQ_MANAGEMENT_PORT=15672 RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_USER=app RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_PASS=secret