Manual Setup (without the CLI)

Prefer to skip the CLI? Everything it does, you can do by hand with plain docker compose, same files, same result. This path is meant for advanced users who want full control over exactly which containers run and how they're configured. For the fast path, see Getting Started.

1 - Copy the shared settings template:

cp .env.example .env

Set APP_CODE_PATH_HOST to your project path (for example ../project-z/, or ../ to serve multiple projects). See How Laradock configuration works for the full model.

2 - Start the containers you need, for example NGINX (web server) and MySQL (database):

docker compose up -d nginx mysql

Web-server containers (nginx, apache2, ...) depend on php-fpm and start it automatically, so you don't list it explicitly. Pick any combination from the available services.

3 - Enter the workspace to run Artisan, Composer, PHPUnit, and friends:

docker compose exec --user=laradock workspace bash

--user=laradock makes files come out owned by you, not root. On Windows PowerShell you can also enter any running container with docker exec -it {workspace-container-id} bash. Change the user with WORKSPACE_PUID / WORKSPACE_PGID in your .env (defaults in workspace/defaults.env).

4 - Point your app at the database. In your PHP project's .env, set the host to the service name:

DB_HOST=mysql

Use Laradock's default DB credentials from mysql/defaults.env, or override them in your .env and rebuild. Installing Laravel? See How to Install Laravel in a Docker Container.

5 - Open http://localhost (or http://project-1.test/ etc. if you set up multiple projects).

Upgrading from an older Laradock?

Rebuild the containers you use to avoid errors, see how to rebuild a container.