🚀 PHP Phalcon Nginx Debian Stack

PHP + Phalcon + Nginx Container for Cloud Deployment

A Docker image featuring PHP 8.4 with PHP-FPM, the high-performance Phalcon framework, and Nginx web server running on Debian Bookworm. Originally designed for AWS App Runner deployments, this container provides a complete web application stack for modern PHP development with the Phalcon framework.

✨ Key Features

• PHP 8.4 with PHP-FPM for optimal performance
• Phalcon 5.9.3 framework pre-installed and configured
• Nginx web server with optimized configuration
• Debian Bookworm base for stability and security
• AWS App Runner ready - optimized for seamless cloud deployment
• Composer package manager included
• JSON API ready with sample Phalcon Micro application
• Container-friendly logging to stdout/stderr
• Multi-stage build for a smaller final image size

🏷️ Version Tagging System

This image uses an automated versioning system that creates detailed tags based on the exact versions of all included components:

Format: php{VERSION}-phc{VERSION}-ng{VERSION}-deb{VERSION}

Example: php8.4.13-phc5.9.3-ng1.22.1-deb12.12

• php8.4.13 - PHP-FPM version 8.4.13
• phc5.9.3 - Phalcon framework version 5.9.3
• ng1.22.1 - Nginx server version 1.22.1
• deb12.12 - Debian base system version 12.12

This versioning ensures complete transparency about what's included in each image and allows you to pin to specific component versions for deployments.

🚀 Quick Start

docker run -d -p 8080:8080 szabacsik/php-fpm-phalcon-nginx-bookworm:latest

Access your application at http://localhost:8080. The image includes:

• / - JSON API status endpoint (Phalcon Micro application)
• /info.php - PHP configuration information page

🐳 Docker Hub Image

This project serves as the source code for a pre-built Docker image that's publicly available on Docker Hub:

🔗 szabacsik/php-fpm-phalcon-nginx-bookworm

Key Benefits

• ✅ Public & Free - Anyone can pull and use the image
• ✅ Pre-built - No need to build from source
• ✅ Regularly Updated - Image is updated occasionally with the latest components
• ✅ Multiple Tags - Both latest and version-specific tags available

Using the Pre-built Image

Basic Usage:

# Pull and run the latest version
docker pull szabacsik/php-fpm-phalcon-nginx-bookworm:latest
docker run -d -p 8080:8080 szabacsik/php-fpm-phalcon-nginx-bookworm:latest

Using Specific Version:

# Use a specific version tag for production stability
docker pull szabacsik/php-fpm-phalcon-nginx-bookworm:php8.4.13-phc5.9.3-ng1.22.1-deb12.12
docker run -d -p 8080:8080 szabacsik/php-fpm-phalcon-nginx-bookworm:php8.4.13-phc5.9.3-ng1.22.1-deb12.12

Customization Examples

1. Custom Application Deployment:

# Use the pre-built image as base
FROM szabacsik/php-fpm-phalcon-nginx-bookworm:latest

# Copy your application files
COPY ./my-app/ /var/www/html/

# Add custom configuration if needed
COPY ./my-nginx.conf /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
COPY ./my-php.ini /usr/local/etc/php/php.ini

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

EXPOSE 8080
CMD ["/entrypoint.sh"]

2. Development with Volume Mounting:

# Mount your local code for development
docker run -d -p 8080:8080 \
  -v $(pwd)/my-app:/var/www/html \
  szabacsik/php-fpm-phalcon-nginx-bookworm:latest

3. Docker Compose Integration:

version: '3.8'
services:
  web:
    image: szabacsik/php-fpm-phalcon-nginx-bookworm:latest
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    volumes:
      - ./app:/var/www/html
    environment:
      - PHP_MEMORY_LIMIT=256M

🛠️ Development & Management

This project is currently managed through Makefile commands. Future plans include CI/CD automation.

Available Makefile Commands

Command	Description
make help	Show all available commands
make build	Build the Docker image
make start	Start a container from the image
make stop	Stop and remove the container
make logs	View container logs
make shell	Open bash shell in a new container
make versions	Display versions of PHP, Phalcon, Nginx, and Debian as JSON
make version-tag	Output combined version tag
make tag-latest	Generate version tag and apply it to the built image
make docker-login	Log into Docker Hub
make push-latest	Push the latest tag to Docker Hub
make push-version	Tag and push versioned image to Docker Hub
make push-all	Push both latest and versioned tags to Docker Hub

Development Workflow

# Build the image
make build

# Start the container
make start

# View logs
make logs

# Open shell for debugging
make shell

# Stop the container
make stop

🎯 Use Cases

Primary: AWS App Runner

This image is specifically crafted for AWS App Runner, Amazon's fully managed service for containerized web applications. Simply point App Runner to your Docker Hub repository and deploy your PHP/Phalcon applications with zero infrastructure management.

Additional Use Cases

• Local Phalcon framework development
• High-performance PHP web applications
• REST API development and deployment
• Microservices architecture
• CI/CD pipeline integration
• Traditional web server environments

⚙️ Configuration

• Port: Nginx listens on port 8080 (App Runner compatible)
• PHP-FPM: Configured for container environments
• Logging: Error logging to stderr for container-friendly debugging
• Security: File uploads disabled by default
• Sample App: Phalcon Micro application with JSON API endpoints

📄 License & Usage

This project is open source and free to use. Anyone can:

• ✅ Fork this repository
• ✅ Use it for any purpose (personal, commercial, educational)
• ✅ Modify and distribute

Feel free to fork, modify, and use this project for any purpose you need!

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Built with ❤️ for the PHP and Phalcon community