Docker Compose for Symfony + PostgreSQL + Elasticsearch
Symfony is a mature PHP framework built for performance and reliability. Its component architecture powers many major projects including Drupal and Shopware, making it a common choice for APIs, e-commerce platforms, and complex business applications.
PostgreSQL 15 is a powerful, ACID-compliant relational database with strong support for JSON, full-text search, and complex queries. Both Symfony (Doctrine) and Laravel (Eloquent) support PostgreSQL natively and it is increasingly preferred for new projects.
Elasticsearch provides distributed full-text search and real-time analytics. It requires at least 1 GB of dedicated memory — ensure your Docker host has sufficient RAM before starting the stack.
When should you use this stack?
Symfony with PostgreSQL and Elasticsearch 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
postgres:
image: postgres:15
environment:
POSTGRES_DB: ${POSTGRES_DB-app}
POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER-app}
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD-secret}
ports:
- "${POSTGRES_PORT-5432}:5432"
volumes:
- postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "pg_isready"]
interval: 10s
timeout: 5s
retries: 5
elasticsearch:
image: elasticsearch:8.11.0
environment:
discovery.type: single-node
xpack.security.enabled: "false"
ES_JAVA_OPTS: "-Xms512m -Xmx512m"
ports:
- "${ELASTICSEARCH_PORT-9200}:9200"
volumes:
- elasticsearch_data:/usr/share/elasticsearch/data
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "curl -s http://localhost:9200/_cluster/health | grep -q status"]
interval: 30s
timeout: 10s
retries: 5
volumes:
postgres_data:
elasticsearch_data:
docker/nginx/default.conf
Run mkdir -p docker/nginx first
server {
listen 80;
server_name localhost;
root /var/www/html/public;
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 POSTGRES_PORT=5432 POSTGRES_DB=app POSTGRES_USER=app POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secret ELASTICSEARCH_PORT=9200