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Run Bagisto on Docker

What is Bagisto?​

Bagisto is an open-source e-commerce platform built on Laravel, giving you a full store with catalog, cart, checkout, multi-channel and multi-currency support, plus the usual Laravel toolchain (Artisan, Eloquent, queues, scheduler) underneath. As a Laravel app it needs only a web server, PHP-FPM, and a MySQL or MariaDB database to boot. Redis (cache, sessions and queues) and Elasticsearch (fast catalog search) are performance add-ons you turn on when a store grows, not requirements to get running.

Why run Bagisto in Docker?​

Docker packages each of those pieces (NGINX, PHP-FPM, MySQL, Redis) into isolated containers that run the same on every machine. Instead of installing PHP and MySQL onto your laptop, where versions collide between projects and "works on my machine" starts, you run disposable containers that mirror production and vanish cleanly when you delete them. One store can run PHP 8.3 while another Laravel project runs a different version, on the same computer, with nothing installed globally.

The catch: wiring those containers together yourself (base images, PHP extensions, networking, permissions) is a week of fiddly Docker work. That is exactly what Laradock removes.

Why Laradock is the best fit for Bagisto​

Bagisto has no official Docker tool of its own; being Laravel-based it can use Laravel's own tooling, but nothing Bagisto-specific is shipped by the project. Here is why Laradock is the best fit:

  • You are never locked into one ecosystem. Laradock is framework-agnostic. The day you add a plain Laravel API, a WordPress blog, or a PHP script beside your Bagisto store, it runs in the same environment with the same commands.
  • Far more flexibility. 100+ ready services and any PHP version from 5.6 to 8.5, so a legacy Bagisto install and a current one each get exactly the runtime they need.
  • Nothing is hidden and you own everything. No generated files, no magic, no wrapper binary between you and Docker. Every Dockerfile and compose file is right there for you to read and edit.
  • Nothing new to learn. What you use is plain docker compose, knowledge that transfers straight to production and to every other Laravel project. Our CLI is an optional nicety, never a requirement.

Concretely, for Bagisto it gives you a production-style NGINX + PHP-FPM stack, MySQL/MariaDB ready to connect, Redis and Elasticsearch each one command away for when your store needs caching, queues or fast search, plus a workspace container with Composer, Node, npm, git and Artisan already installed.

Run Bagisto on Docker with Laradock​

1. Add Laradock to your project​

cd my-bagisto-store
git clone https://github.com/laradock/laradock.git
cd laradock

(No Bagisto app yet? Clone Laradock first, then create one from the workspace container in the next steps.)

2. Pick the services your store needs​

Bagisto needs exactly two things to boot: a web server and a database. The web server pulls in PHP-FPM automatically, so this is the whole required stack:

./laradock start nginx mysql workspace

Prefer MariaDB over MySQL? Swap the name: ./laradock start nginx mariadb workspace (or docker compose up -d nginx mariadb workspace). The full catalog is here.

Prefer to be asked? The optional CLI walks you through the choices: ./laradock setup, then ./laradock start. It prints every real command it runs.

Do I need Redis or Elasticsearch to start? No. A fresh Bagisto store runs perfectly on nginx mysql workspace using file cache and Laravel's default queue. Redis and Elasticsearch are optional speed-ups you wire in later. See Add Redis and Add Elasticsearch below when your store actually needs them.

3. Point Bagisto at the containers​

In your app's .env, use the service names as hostnames, same as any Laravel app:

APP_URL=http://localhost

DB_HOST=mysql
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=default
DB_USERNAME=default
DB_PASSWORD=secret

The default database, user and password live in mysql/defaults.env; override any of them by adding the line to Laradock's .env (it always wins).

4. Install and run your store​

Enter the workspace container, where Artisan, Composer, Node and npm live:

./laradock workspace

Then, inside the container, scaffold the project and run Bagisto's own installer:

composer create-project bagisto/bagisto .
php artisan bagisto:install
php artisan storage:link

bagisto:install reads your .env, runs the migrations and seeders, and walks you through creating the admin account interactively. storage:link exposes uploaded product images. Then open http://localhost for the storefront. That is a full Bagisto store running on Docker.

First admin login​

The back office lives at http://localhost/admin. If you accepted the defaults during bagisto:install, sign in with:

Email:    [email protected]
Password: admin123

Change that password immediately from Settings > Users once you are in. If you skipped the interactive prompts, you can (re)seed an admin with php artisan bagisto:install again on a fresh database.

Add Redis for cache, sessions and queues (optional)​

Redis is not required, but on a real store it holds the cache, sessions and queue in memory and takes that load off MySQL. Wiring it up is two steps.

  1. Start the Redis container alongside the rest:
./laradock start redis
  1. Point Bagisto at it in your app's .env, then clear the config cache:
REDIS_HOST=redis
REDIS_PORT=6379

CACHE_STORE=redis
SESSION_DRIVER=redis
QUEUE_CONNECTION=redis
php artisan config:clear

Until you set those drivers, the redis container just sits idle, which is why the required stack above leaves it out.

Run background queues and the product indexer (worker)​

Bagisto dispatches its price, inventory and search indexing as queued jobs. As soon as QUEUE_CONNECTION is anything other than sync (for example redis or database), those jobs will not run until a worker is processing the queue, and new or imported products will not appear until they do.

The quickest way is to run a worker in a second workspace shell:

php artisan queue:work --queue=default

For a worker that stays up on its own (and restarts with your stack), start Laradock's dedicated php-worker container instead, which runs the queue via Supervisor:

./laradock start php-worker

Adjust the commands it runs in php-worker/supervisord.d/. Prefer Horizon for a dashboard and metrics? Start laravel-horizon the same way and run php artisan horizon against your Redis connection.

Schedule the indexers with cron​

Bagisto registers scheduled commands (the price indexer, catalog rules and more run daily) via Laravel's scheduler. In Docker the simplest, crontab-free way to run them is the scheduler's own long-running process, in a workspace shell:

php artisan schedule:work

Leave that running and Laravel fires each due command on time. To rebuild every index by hand at any point:

php artisan indexer:index --mode=full

Add Elasticsearch for catalog search (optional)​

By default Bagisto searches the catalog through MySQL, which is fine for a small store. For fast full-text search across a large catalog, point it at Elasticsearch.

  1. Start the Elasticsearch container:
./laradock start elasticsearch
  1. Point Bagisto at it in your app's .env (leave user and pass empty for local dev):
ELASTICSEARCH_HOST=http://elasticsearch:9200
ELASTICSEARCH_USER=
ELASTICSEARCH_PASS=
  1. In the admin panel, open Configure and switch the store's search engine to Elasticsearch, then index your existing catalog from the workspace:
php artisan config:clear
php artisan indexer:index --mode=full

Make sure a queue worker is running, because Elasticsearch indexing is dispatched as queued jobs. Without it, products will not make it into the index.

Catch outgoing mail (optional)​

Bagisto sends order confirmations, account emails and admin notifications. In development you do not want those hitting real inboxes, so route them to a mail catcher that shows every message in a web UI.

  1. Start MailHog:
./laradock start mailhog
  1. Point Bagisto's mailer at it in your app's .env:
MAIL_MAILER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=mailhog
MAIL_PORT=1025
MAIL_USERNAME=null
MAIL_PASSWORD=null
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=null

Every email your store sends now lands in the MailHog inbox at http://localhost:8025 instead of a real recipient.

Build and customize themes (asset pipeline)​

Bagisto ships its storefront and admin assets already compiled, so a plain install needs no build step. When you start customizing themes, the workspace container already has Node and npm, so compile assets with Bagisto's Vite pipeline from inside it:

npm install
npm run dev      # watch and rebuild while you work
npm run build    # one optimized production build

Nothing is installed on your host; the toolchain lives in the container.

Multiple stores, locales and currencies​

Bagisto supports multiple channels (independent storefronts), locales and currencies out of the box, all from one install and one database, managed under Settings > Channels, Settings > Locales and Settings > Currencies in the admin. Because each channel is served by the same containers, you do not start anything extra: point additional domains at the same NGINX service and set each channel's base URL in the admin. For truly separate stores with their own database and PHP version, run a second Laradock with its own COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME and DATA_PATH_HOST (see the FAQ below).

Import an existing Bagisto database​

Moving a store from another machine or from production? Skip bagisto:install and load your dump instead. Copy the SQL file into the Laradock folder so the container can see it, then from the workspace:

mysql -h mysql -u default -psecret default < backup.sql

Put your app files in place (or composer install in the project), match the .env above, then rebuild the caches and indexes:

php artisan config:clear
php artisan storage:link
php artisan indexer:index --mode=full

Your existing catalog, orders and customers come up on Docker exactly as they were.

Change the PHP version anytime​

This is where a native install hurts and Laradock shines. Set the version in Laradock's .env and rebuild:

PHP_VERSION=8.3
./laradock rebuild php-fpm workspace

Current Bagisto releases run on PHP 8.3 or 8.4 (8.5 is not supported yet), so keep PHP_VERSION at 8.3 or 8.4 for a current install. The same tool can still run an older Laravel app on a lower PHP version in a separate Laradock instance, each isolated, none of it installed on your machine.

Take your store live​

When your store is ready, the same Laradock stack becomes your deployment. You build one hardened image of your app and ship it to the host of your choice:

./laradock ship

Then pick a target and follow its short guide, a single server, a managed platform, or Kubernetes: Deploy to Production lists every provider (Fly.io, Render, Railway, DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Kamal, Kubernetes) with a ready config file for each. There is no per-provider magic to learn; a Docker image runs the same everywhere.

Frequently Asked Questions​

Do I need to install PHP or Composer to run Bagisto with Laradock?​

No. Everything lives inside the containers. Composer, Node, npm, git and Artisan are all in the workspace container; you never install PHP on your host.

Which services should I start for a typical Bagisto store?​

nginx mysql workspace is all Bagisto requires to boot: web server, database, and a shell. Swap mysql for mariadb if you prefer. Add redis when you want cache, sessions and queues in memory, php-worker to process queued indexing jobs, and elasticsearch for fast catalog search, each wired in its own section above.

Can I run multiple Bagisto stores on different PHP versions?​

Yes. Give each its own Laradock with a unique COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME and DATA_PATH_HOST, set a different PHP_VERSION in each, and they run independently on the same machine.

Does this work the same on macOS, Windows and Linux?​

Yes. Laradock runs anywhere Docker runs. On macOS/Windows, file-sync speed depends on Docker Desktop (VirtioFS helps a lot for vendor/-heavy apps); it is a Docker Desktop trait, not specific to Laradock.

Is this the same Docker setup I would use in production?​

The containers are production-style (real NGINX + PHP-FPM), so it is far closer to production than a native install. See Prepare Laradock for Production for the hardening steps.

Comparing environments? See the full Laradock vs Others breakdown. Ready to start? Getting Started takes about five minutes.