Docker Setup

Overview

The Restaurant Management System includes a production-ready Dockerfile that packages the Laravel application with Apache web server. This guide covers building, running, and deploying the application using Docker.

Dockerfile Overview

The application uses a multi-stage build process with the following components:

Base Image: PHP 8.2 with Apache
PHP Extensions: PDO MySQL, PostgreSQL, GD, Zip, and more
Frontend: Node.js 18.x for asset compilation
Web Server: Apache with mod_rewrite enabled
Port: 8080 (Railway compatible)

Quick Start

Build Docker Image

Build the Docker image from the project root:

docker build -t restaurant-management .

This process:

Installs system dependencies
Installs Composer and npm packages
Compiles frontend assets with Vite
Configures Apache

Run Container

Run the container with environment variables:

docker run -d \
  --name restaurant-app \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -e APP_KEY="base64:your-app-key" \
  -e DB_HOST="your-database-host" \
  -e DB_DATABASE="restaurante" \
  -e DB_USERNAME="your-username" \
  -e DB_PASSWORD="your-password" \
  restaurant-management

Access Application

Open your browser to:

http://localhost:8080

Dockerfile Breakdown

Base Image and System Dependencies

# Use PHP 8.2 with Apache
FROM php:8.2-apache

# Install system dependencies
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    git \
    curl \
    unzip \
    libpng-dev \
    libonig-dev \
    libxml2-dev \
    libzip-dev \
    libsodium-dev \
    libpq-dev \
    default-mysql-client \
    default-libmysqlclient-dev \
    libfreetype6-dev \
    libjpeg62-turbo-dev

The Dockerfile includes both MySQL and PostgreSQL client libraries for database flexibility.

PHP Extensions

# Configure and install PHP extensions
RUN docker-php-ext-configure gd --with-freetype --with-jpeg \
    && docker-php-ext-install pdo_mysql pdo_pgsql mbstring exif pcntl bcmath gd zip sodium

Installed Extensions:

pdo_mysql - MySQL database support
pdo_pgsql - PostgreSQL database support
mbstring - Multibyte string handling
exif - Image metadata reading
pcntl - Process control
bcmath - Arbitrary precision mathematics
gd - Image processing (with JPEG and FreeType)
zip - ZIP archive handling
sodium - Modern cryptography

Composer Installation

# Install Composer
COPY --from=composer:latest /usr/bin/composer /usr/bin/composer

Copies Composer from the official Composer image.

Node.js for Frontend Assets

# Install Node.js 18.x
RUN curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_18.x | bash - \
    && apt-get update && apt-get install -y nodejs

Required for building Vite assets and Livewire components.

Apache Configuration

# Configure Apache
RUN a2enmod rewrite \
    && sed -i 's|/var/www/html|/var/www/html/public|g' /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf

This:

Enables mod_rewrite for Laravel routing
Sets document root to public/ directory

Application Setup

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /var/www/html

# Copy application files
COPY . .

# Set permissions
RUN chown -R www-data:www-data storage bootstrap/cache

# Install dependencies
RUN composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
RUN npm install

# Build frontend assets
RUN npm run build

# Expose port 8080
EXPOSE 8080

# Start Apache
CMD ["apache2-foreground"]

The Dockerfile includes composer install --no-dev which excludes development dependencies. This is optimal for production but not for development.

Docker Compose Setup

Full Stack with MySQL

Create a docker-compose.yml file:

docker-compose.yml

version: '3.8'

services:
  app:
    build: .
    container_name: restaurant-app
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    environment:
      - APP_NAME=Restaurant Management
      - APP_ENV=production
      - APP_KEY=${APP_KEY}
      - APP_DEBUG=false
      - APP_URL=http://localhost:8080
      - DB_CONNECTION=mysql
      - DB_HOST=db
      - DB_PORT=3306
      - DB_DATABASE=restaurante
      - DB_USERNAME=restaurant_user
      - DB_PASSWORD=secret
    depends_on:
      - db
    networks:
      - restaurant-network

  db:
    image: mysql:8.0
    container_name: restaurant-db
    environment:
      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=rootpassword
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=restaurante
      - MYSQL_USER=restaurant_user
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=secret
    volumes:
      - mysql-data:/var/lib/mysql
    networks:
      - restaurant-network
    ports:
      - "3306:3306"

volumes:
  mysql-data:
    driver: local

networks:
  restaurant-network:
    driver: bridge

Run with Docker Compose

Start Services

docker-compose up -d

Run Migrations

docker-compose exec app php artisan migrate --force

Create Admin User

docker-compose exec app php artisan tinker

In Tinker:

$user = new App\Models\User();
$user->name = 'Admin';
$user->email = '[email protected]';
$user->usertype = 'admin';
$user->password = bcrypt('password');
$user->save();

Access Application

Navigate to http://localhost:8080

Development Docker Setup

For development with hot reload and debugging:

Dockerfile.dev

FROM php:8.2-apache

# Install dependencies (same as production)
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    git curl unzip libpng-dev libonig-dev libxml2-dev libzip-dev \
    libsodium-dev libpq-dev default-mysql-client \
    default-libmysqlclient-dev libfreetype6-dev libjpeg62-turbo-dev \
    && docker-php-ext-configure gd --with-freetype --with-jpeg \
    && docker-php-ext-install pdo_mysql pdo_pgsql mbstring exif pcntl bcmath gd zip sodium

# Install Xdebug for development
RUN pecl install xdebug && docker-php-ext-enable xdebug

# Install Composer
COPY --from=composer:latest /usr/bin/composer /usr/bin/composer

# Install Node.js
RUN curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_18.x | bash - \
    && apt-get update && apt-get install -y nodejs

# Configure Apache
RUN a2enmod rewrite \
    && sed -i 's|/var/www/html|/var/www/html/public|g' /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf

WORKDIR /var/www/html

# Install dependencies with dev packages
COPY composer.json composer.lock ./
RUN composer install

COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
RUN npm install

COPY . .

RUN chown -R www-data:www-data storage bootstrap/cache

EXPOSE 8080

CMD ["apache2-foreground"]

docker-compose.dev.yml

version: '3.8'

services:
  app:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile.dev
    volumes:
      - .:/var/www/html
      - /var/www/html/vendor
      - /var/www/html/node_modules
    environment:
      - APP_ENV=local
      - APP_DEBUG=true
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
      - "5173:5173"  # Vite dev server

Environment Variables

Required Variables

APP_KEY=base64:your-generated-key
DB_HOST=db-hostname
DB_DATABASE=restaurante
DB_USERNAME=db-user
DB_PASSWORD=db-password

Optional Variables

APP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=false
APP_URL=http://localhost:8080
LOG_CHANNEL=stack
SESSION_DRIVER=database
CACHE_DRIVER=file
QUEUE_CONNECTION=sync

Pass environment variables using -e flag or --env-file:

docker run --env-file .env.production restaurant-management

Volume Mounting

Persist Storage

docker run -d \
  -v $(pwd)/storage:/var/www/html/storage \
  -v $(pwd)/.env:/var/www/html/.env \
  restaurant-management

Development with Live Reload

docker run -d \
  -v $(pwd):/var/www/html \
  -v /var/www/html/vendor \
  -v /var/www/html/node_modules \
  restaurant-management

Railway Deployment

The Dockerfile is optimized for Railway:

Connect Repository

Connect your GitHub repository to Railway

Add Environment Variables

In Railway dashboard, add:

APP_KEY=your-app-key
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=${{MYSQL_HOST}}
DB_PORT=${{MYSQL_PORT}}
DB_DATABASE=${{MYSQL_DATABASE}}
DB_USERNAME=${{MYSQL_USER}}
DB_PASSWORD=${{MYSQL_PASSWORD}}

Deploy

Railway automatically detects the Dockerfile and deploys

Run Migrations

In Railway CLI or dashboard:

railway run php artisan migrate --force

Port 8080 is exposed specifically for Railway’s routing requirements.

Docker Commands Reference

Building

docker build -t restaurant-management .

Running

docker run -d -p 8080:8080 restaurant-management

Management

docker logs restaurant-app

# Follow logs
docker logs -f restaurant-app

Optimization Tips

Multi-stage Build

For smaller images, use multi-stage builds:

# Build stage
FROM php:8.2-apache as builder

WORKDIR /var/www/html
COPY . .

RUN composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
RUN npm install && npm run build

# Production stage
FROM php:8.2-apache

WORKDIR /var/www/html
COPY --from=builder /var/www/html .

RUN a2enmod rewrite
EXPOSE 8080
CMD ["apache2-foreground"]

.dockerignore

Create .dockerignore to reduce build context:

.dockerignore

node_modules
vendor
.git
.env
storage/logs/*
storage/framework/cache/*
storage/framework/sessions/*
storage/framework/views/*
.phpunit.cache
tests

Troubleshooting

Permission Issues

# Fix storage permissions
docker exec restaurant-app chown -R www-data:www-data storage bootstrap/cache
docker exec restaurant-app chmod -R 775 storage bootstrap/cache

Database Connection Failed

# Check if database container is running
docker-compose ps

# Test database connection
docker-compose exec app php artisan tinker
>>> DB::connection()->getPdo();

Apache Not Starting

# Check logs
docker logs restaurant-app

# Verify Apache configuration
docker exec restaurant-app apache2ctl -t

Build Failures

Common causes:

Network issues downloading packages
Insufficient disk space
Invalid composer.json or package.json

Solution: Build with --no-cache and check logs

Get Started

Core Features

User Roles

Guides

Overview

Dockerfile Overview

Quick Start

Dockerfile Breakdown

Base Image and System Dependencies

PHP Extensions

Composer Installation

Node.js for Frontend Assets

Apache Configuration

Application Setup

Docker Compose Setup

Full Stack with MySQL

Run with Docker Compose

Development Docker Setup

Environment Variables

Required Variables

Optional Variables

Volume Mounting

Persist Storage

Development with Live Reload

Railway Deployment

Docker Commands Reference

Building

Running

Management

Optimization Tips

Multi-stage Build

.dockerignore

Troubleshooting

Permission Issues

Database Connection Failed

Apache Not Starting

Build Failures

Next Steps

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Features

User Roles

Guides

​Overview

​Dockerfile Overview

​Quick Start

​Dockerfile Breakdown

​Base Image and System Dependencies

​PHP Extensions

​Composer Installation

​Node.js for Frontend Assets

​Apache Configuration

​Application Setup

​Docker Compose Setup

​Full Stack with MySQL

​Run with Docker Compose

​Development Docker Setup

​Environment Variables

​Required Variables

​Optional Variables

​Volume Mounting

​Persist Storage

​Development with Live Reload

​Railway Deployment

​Docker Commands Reference

​Building

​Running

​Management

​Optimization Tips

​Multi-stage Build

​.dockerignore

​Troubleshooting

​Permission Issues

​Database Connection Failed

​Apache Not Starting

​Build Failures

​Next Steps

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Dockerfile Overview

Quick Start

Dockerfile Breakdown

Base Image and System Dependencies

PHP Extensions

Composer Installation

Node.js for Frontend Assets

Apache Configuration

Application Setup

Docker Compose Setup

Full Stack with MySQL

Run with Docker Compose

Development Docker Setup

Environment Variables

Required Variables

Optional Variables

Volume Mounting

Persist Storage

Development with Live Reload

Railway Deployment

Docker Commands Reference

Building

Running

Management

Optimization Tips

Multi-stage Build

.dockerignore

Troubleshooting

Permission Issues

Database Connection Failed

Apache Not Starting

Build Failures

Next Steps