Aris Georgoulis

Recently, I sought an easy method to deploy phpBB within a Docker container. After a quick search on the phpBB forums, I found many discussions related to Docker, but none of the solutions seemed to work. This presented a great opportunity to document my experience and share a step-by-step guide for successfully running phpBB with Docker.

Prerequisites

Before getting started, ensure you have the following:

1. Docker Desktop installed on your machine.
2. The latest phpBB package downloaded from phpBB

Setting Up phpBB with Docker

Follow these steps to deploy phpBB with Docker:

1. Create the Project Directory

Start by creating a directory for your local phpBB installation. For example, you can name it testphpbb. Inside this directory, you will create the necessary Docker configuration files.

2. Create the docker-compose.yaml File

Next, create a docker-compose.yaml file in the testphpbb directory. This file will define the PHP, Apache, and MySQL services required to run phpBB.

First, declare a custom network for the services and a volume to persist MySQL data. Here’s the basic structure of the docker-compose.yaml:

version: '3.7'

networks:
  phpbb_network:
    driver: bridge

volumes:
  mysql-data:
  
services:
  database:
    image: mysql
    restart: always
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: phpbb
      MYSQL_DATABASE: phpbb
    ports:
      - 3306:3306
    volumes:
      - mysql-data:/var/lib/mysql
    container_name: database
    networks:
      - phpbb_network

  php:
    build:
      context: docker/php
    container_name: php
    ports:
      - 80:80
    volumes:
      - ./phpbb/:/var/www/html/
    depends_on:
      database:
        condition: service_started
    networks:
      - phpbb_network

3. Define the MySQL Service

We use the official MySQL Docker image from Docker Hub for the database. In the database service:

• MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD defines the root password for MySQL.
• MYSQL_DATABASE creates a database named phpbb.
• The volumes directive ensures that MySQL data persists even after the container is stopped or removed.

4. Configure PHP and Apache

For the php service, the php:<version>-apache image is used. This image includes Apache HTTP Server and PHP, with mod_php enabled by default. However, we need to ensure that the php-mysql extension is installed for database connectivity.

To do this, we will create a custom Dockerfile.

5. Create a Custom Dockerfile

Inside the docker directory (create it if it doesn’t exist), add a Dockerfile with the following content:

FROM php:8.2-apache

RUN a2enmod rewrite
RUN docker-php-ext-install mysqli && docker-php-ext-enable mysqli && docker-php-ext-install pdo_mysql
RUN apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y

This will install the mysqli extension, allowing PHP to communicate with MySQL.

6. Download and Configure phpBB

Now, you’ll need to download and extract the latest phpBB package. Create a new directory called phpbb inside your project folder and place the extracted phpBB files there.

7. Bringing It All Together

Your directory structure should now look like this:

testphpbb/
├── docker/
│   └── Dockerfile
├── phpbb/
│   └── (phpBB files)
└── docker-compose.yaml

8. Start the Containers

Finally, you are ready to bring up the containers. From the testphpbb directory, run the following command:

docker compose up

Docker will pull the necessary images, build the PHP container with Apache, and start the MySQL database. After a few moments, your phpBB installation will be accessible at http://localhost.

By following these steps, you’ll have phpBB running in Docker, with PHP, Apache, and MySQL configured and ready for use. Enjoy managing your forum with ease!