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Customizing Images

Every container is built from a plain, readable Dockerfile in that service's folder (php-fpm/Dockerfile, workspace/Dockerfile, and so on), and you own all of them. So you can change what goes inside any image. There are three levels, from "no file editing" to "edit the Dockerfile"; pick the lowest one that does the job.

Level 1: toggle a bundled feature from .env​

Most of what you'd want is already in the image, behind an off switch. Each container's defaults.env lists its build flags; flip one in your .env and rebuild. Nothing about the mechanism is hidden: that flag is passed into the Dockerfile as a build argument (PHP_FPM_INSTALL_GMP in your .env becomes the INSTALL_GMP arg in php-fpm/compose.yml), and the Dockerfile installs the feature when it's true.

PHP_FPM_INSTALL_GMP=true
./laradock rebuild php-fpm

Level 2: install a PHP extension​

PHP extensions are just Level-1 flags, one per extension, in php-fpm/defaults.env, workspace/defaults.env, and php-worker/defaults.env. Set the flag in your .env and rebuild that container. The PHP-FPM page has the full list and the per-extension notes (some need extra settings).

Level 3: add your own system package​

For something Laradock has no flag for, edit that service's Dockerfile directly. To add a system package to the Workspace, add an apt-get install line to workspace/Dockerfile:

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -yqq \
    your-package \
    && apt-get clean

Then rebuild the container so the change is baked in:

./laradock rebuild workspace
tip

A Dockerfile change only takes effect after a rebuild. If a change seems stuck (a cached layer), force a clean build with ./laradock rebuild --no-cache workspace (or docker compose build --no-cache workspace).

Keep your changes upstream-safe​

Editing files inside Laradock means your changes live in the Laradock repo, not your app. To keep them under version control while still pulling updates, track Laradock as your own fork, see Track your own changes.