Deployment Execution Blueprint

---
title: Production-Ready Docker Compose Boilerplate for Nginx, PHP-FPM, and MySQL
description: A clean, modular Docker Compose configuration to spin up a fully isolated PHP, Nginx, and MySQL development environment in seconds.
category: DevOps
slug: docker-compose-nginx-php-mysql-boilerplate
keywords: docker compose php nginx mysql, docker-compose lemp stack, dockerize php application, devops container boilerplate
---

### Overview & Problem Matrix
Setting up a local development environment stack (such as traditional LEMP or LAMP engines) directly on your base host operating system frequently leads to system configuration conflicts, port collisions, and mismatched version runtimes across deployment teams—resulting in the classic "it works on my machine" problem. 

Manually downloading, linking, and exposing isolated container instances via independent Docker CLI command parameters is highly inefficient and hard to track over long project lifecycles.

### Implementation Guide & Setup Steps
To orchestrate this multi-service container environment framework seamlessly, complete these deployment operations:

1. Arrange the Local Directory Workspace: Create a core project directory containing a dedicated web server root directory labeled `/src` to hold your entry script files, alongside an `nginx.conf` routing configuration layer:
   $ mkdir -p my-app/src

2. Initialize the Cluster Orchestration: Save the configuration architecture schema below as `docker-compose.yml` directly in the root of your newly created project directory:
   $ touch my-app/docker-compose.yml

3. Boot the Shared Network Background Daemons: Navigate into your folder and launch the environment stack. Docker will automatically pull images, configure virtual subnets, map shared storage paths, and spin up services:
   $ cd my-app
   $ docker compose up -d

4. Audit Container Connectivity Status: Verify your isolated runtime environment states to ensure all dependencies are operating cleanly:
   $ docker compose ps
   
   # Access your dynamic application layer directly via your web browser node:
   # URL: http://localhost:8080

version: '3.8'

services:
  # 1. Nginx Web Server Service Routing Engine
  webserver:
    image: nginx:alpine
    container_name: htd-webserver
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    volumes:
      - ./src:/var/www/html
      - ./nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
    networks:
      - htd-network
    depends_on:
      - php-fpm

  # 2. PHP-FPM Processor Service Runtime Engine
  # NOTE: If your source code connects to the database service via PDO, make sure to 
  # append native extensions (docker-php-ext-install pdo pdo_mysql) using a custom Dockerfile layer.
  php-fpm:
    image: php:8.2-fpm-alpine
    container_name: htd-php
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - ./src:/var/www/html
    networks:
      - htd-network

  # 3. MySQL Database Storage Instance
  database:
    image: mysql:8.0
    container_name: htd-database
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      MYSQL_DATABASE: app_db
      MYSQL_USER: db_user
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: secure_dev_password
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: secure_root_password
    ports:
      - "33060:3306"
    volumes:
      - dbdata:/var/lib/mysql
    networks:
      - htd-network

networks:
  htd-network:
    driver: bridge

volumes:
  dbdata:
    driver: local