Start a Symfony Project with Docker in 3 Easy Steps

Run kool create symfony my-project
Update .env
Run kool run setup

Yes, using kool + Docker to create and work on new Symfony projects is that easy!

Requirements

If you haven't done so already, you first need to install Docker and the kool CLI.

Also, make sure you're running the latest version of kool. Run the following command to compare your local version of kool with the latest release, and, if a newer version is available, automatically download and install it.

$ kool self-update

Please note that it helps to have a basic understanding of how Docker and Docker Compose work to use Kool with Docker.

1. Run `kool create symfony my-project`

Use the kool create PRESET FOLDER command to create your new Symfony project:

$ kool create symfony my-project

Under the hood, this command will run composer create-project --prefer-dist symfony/website-skeleton my-project using a customized kool Docker image: kooldev/php:7.4.

After installing Symfony, kool create automatically runs the kool preset symfony command, which helps you easily set up the initial tech stack for your project using an interactive wizard.

$ Preset symfony is initializing!

? Which app service do you want to use [Use arrows to move, type to filter]
> PHP 7.4
  PHP 8.0

? Which database service do you want to use [Use arrows to move, type to filter]
> MySQL 8.0
  MySQL 5.7
  MariaDB 10.5
  PostgreSQL 13.0
  none

? Which cache service do you want to use [Use arrows to move, type to filter]
> Redis 6.0
  Memcached 1.6
  none

? Which javascript package manager do you want to use [Use arrows to move, type to filter]
> npm
  yarn

$ Preset symfony initialized!

Now, move into your new Symfony project:

$ cd my-project

The kool preset command auto-generated the following configuration files and added them to your project, which you can modify and extend.

+docker-compose.yml
+kool.yml

Now's a good time to review the docker-compose.yml file and verify the services match the choices you made earlier using the wizard.

2. Update .env

You need to update some default values in Symfony's .env file to match the services in your docker-compose.yml file.

Database Services

MySQL 5.7 and 8.0

Set DB_VERSION to the same MySQL version you selected in the preset wizard.

-# DATABASE_URL="mysql://db_user:db_password@127.0.0.1:3306/db_name?serverVersion=5.7"
-DATABASE_URL="postgresql://db_user:db_password@127.0.0.1:5432/db_name?serverVersion=13&charset=utf8"
+DB_USERNAME=user
+DB_PASSWORD=pass
+DB_HOST=database
+DB_PORT=3306
+DB_DATABASE=database
+DB_VERSION=7.4
+DATABASE_URL="mysql://${DB_USERNAME}:${DB_PASSWORD}@${DB_HOST}:${DB_PORT}/${DB_DATABASE}?serverVersion=${DB_VERSION}"
+# DATABASE_URL="postgresql://db_user:db_password@127.0.0.1:5432/db_name?serverVersion=13&charset=utf8"

MariaDB 10.5

It's the same as Mysql, except for the serverVersion value. Please refer to Doctrine DBAL configuration docs to set the correct DB_VERSION value.

PostgreSQL 13.0

+DB_USERNAME=user
+DB_PASSWORD=pass
+DB_HOST=database
+DB_PORT=5432
+DB_DATABASE=database
+DB_VERSION=13
# DATABASE_URL="mysql://db_user:db_password@127.0.0.1:3306/db_name?serverVersion=5.7"
-DATABASE_URL="postgresql://db_user:db_password@127.0.0.1:5432/db_name?serverVersion=13&charset=utf8"
+DATABASE_URL="postgresql://${DB_USERNAME}:${DB_PASSWORD}@${DB_HOST}:${DB_PORT}/${DB_DATABASE}?serverVersion=${DB_VERSION}&charset=utf8"

Cache Services

You need to use cache as the host for your chosen cache service. Refer to the Symfony docs to complete the set up.

Redis

+REDIS_DSN=redis://cache:6379

Memcached

+MEMCACHED_DSN=memcached://cache:11211

3. Run `kool run setup`

Say hello to kool.yml, say goodbye to custom shell scripts!

As mentioned above, the kool preset command added a kool.yml file to your project. Think of kool.yml as a super easy-to-use task helper. Instead of writing custom shell scripts, add your own scripts to kool.yml (under the scripts key), and run them with kool run SCRIPT (e.g. kool run composer). You can add your own single line commands (see composer below), or add a list of commands that will be executed in sequence (see setup below).

To help get you started, kool.yml comes prebuilt with an initial set of scripts (based on the choices you made earlier using the preset wizard), including a script called setup, which helps you spin up a project for the first time.

scripts:
  console: kool exec app php ./bin/console
  phpunit: kool exec app php ./bin/phpunit
  composer: kool exec app composer
  mysql: kool exec -e MYSQL_PWD=$DB_PASSWORD database mysql -uroot
  npm: kool exec app npm
  npx: kool exec app npx

  setup:
    - kool start
    - kool run composer install

Go ahead and run kool run setup to start your Docker environment and finish setting up your project:

# CAUTION: this script will reset your `.env` file with `.env.example`
$ kool run setup

As you can see in kool.yml, the setup script will do the following in sequence: copy your updated .env.example file to .env; start your Docker environment; use Composer to install vendor dependencies; generate your APP_KEY (in .env); and then build your Node packages and assets.

Once kool run setup finishes, you should be able to access your new site at http://localhost and see the Symfony welcome page. Hooray!

Verify your Docker container is running using the kool status command.

Run kool logs app to see the logs from the running app container.

Use kool logs to see the logs from all running containers. Add the -f option after kool logs to follow the logs (i.e. kool logs -f app).

Run Commands in Docker Containers

Use kool exec to execute a command inside a running service container:

# kool exec [OPTIONS] SERVICE COMMAND [--] [ARG...]

$ kool exec app ls

Try kool run console list to execute the kool exec app php ./bin/console list command in your running app container and print out a list of Symfony's console commands.

Open Sessions in Docker Containers

Similar to SSH, if you want to open a Bash session in your app container, run kool exec app bash, where app is the name of the service container in docker-compose.yml. If you prefer, you can use sh instead of bash (kool exec app sh).

$ kool exec app bash
bash-5.1#

$ kool exec app sh
/app #

Connect to Docker Database Container

You can easily start a new SQL client session inside your running database container by executing kool run mysql (MySQL) or kool run psql (PostgreSQL) in your terminal. This runs the single-line mysql or psql script included in your kool.yml.

Access Private Repos and Packages in Docker Containers

If you need your app container to use your local SSH keys to pull private repositories and/or install private packages (which have been added as dependencies in your composer.json or package.json file), you can simply add $HOME/.ssh:/home/kool/.ssh:delegated under the volumes key of the app service in your docker-compose.yml file. This maps a .ssh folder in the container to the .ssh folder on your host machine.

volumes:
  - .:/app:delegated
+ - $HOME/.ssh:/home/kool/.ssh:delegated

Staying kool

When it's time to stop working on the project:

$ kool stop

And when you're ready to start work again:

$ kool start

Additional Presets

We have more presets to help you start projects with kool in a standardized way across different frameworks.

AdonisJs
Hugo
Laravel
NestJS
Next.js
Nuxt.js
PHP
WordPress

Missing a preset? Make a request, or contribute by opening a Pull Request. Go to https://github.com/kool-dev/kool/tree/master/presets and browse the code to learn more about how presets work.

Symfony - Presets