Skip to main content

Run Sulu CMS on Docker

What is Sulu CMS?​

Sulu is an enterprise-grade, Symfony-based CMS aimed at editors and developers who need structured content, multi-site and multilingual setups. It is a full Symfony application, installed through Composer, backed by MySQL or PostgreSQL via Doctrine, and it commonly uses Elasticsearch for its content search. It needs a web server and a PHP runtime in front of all of that.

Why run Sulu in Docker?​

Docker packages each of those pieces (NGINX, PHP-FPM, a database, Elasticsearch) into isolated containers that run the same on every machine. Instead of installing PHP, a database and a search engine 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 project can run PHP 8.3 while another runs 8.1, 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 Sulu​

Sulu publishes its own sulu-docker setup with a docker-compose.yml for MySQL and Elasticsearch, so, like Symfony itself, it does not strictly need Laradock. It is still the best fit, and here is why:

  • You are never locked into one ecosystem. Laradock is framework-agnostic. The day you add a Laravel API, a WordPress site, or a plain PHP script beside your Sulu project, it runs in the same environment with the same commands. A Sulu-only setup cannot do that.
  • Far more flexibility. 100+ ready services and any PHP version from 5.6 to 8.5, versus the short curated list a project-specific compose file gives you.
  • 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 project. Our CLI is an optional nicety, never a requirement.

For Sulu specifically, Laradock wires a production-style NGINX + PHP-FPM stack, MySQL/PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch as an add-on, and a workspace container with Composer, Node, npm and git already installed.

Run Sulu CMS on Docker with Laradock​

1. Add Laradock to your project​

cd my-sulu-app
git clone https://github.com/laradock/laradock.git
cd laradock

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

2. Pick the services your project needs​

Every Sulu project needs a web server, PHP-FPM and a database; add Elasticsearch if you use Sulu's content search:

./laradock start nginx mysql workspace

Prefer PostgreSQL? Swap the name: ./laradock start nginx postgres workspace. Need search later? Add it any time: ./laradock start elasticsearch. 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.

3. Point Sulu at the containers​

In your app's .env, set DATABASE_URL to the service name as the hostname:

DATABASE_URL="mysql://default:secret@mysql:3306/default?serverVersion=8.4&charset=utf8mb4"

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 project​

Enter the shell where Composer, Node and the Symfony console live, and run the usual commands:

./laradock workspace

Then, inside that shell:

composer create-project sulu/skeleton .   # only if you have no Sulu project yet
composer require doctrine
php bin/adminconsole doctrine:database:create
php bin/adminconsole doctrine:migrations:migrate

Then open http://localhost. That is a full Sulu project running on Docker.

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=8.2
./laradock rebuild php-fpm workspace

Sulu requires PHP 7.2 or newer and tracks Symfony's supported versions, so an older Sulu project and a brand-new one can run side by side on different PHP versions, each isolated, none of it installed on your machine.

Add Elasticsearch (optional)​

Sulu's search runs on a Zend Lucene backend out of the box, so a fresh project needs nothing extra. If you switch its search to Elasticsearch for larger content sets, wire it up in three steps:

  1. Start the Elasticsearch container alongside the rest:
./laradock start elasticsearch
  1. Point Sulu's search at it in your app's .env, using the service name as the host:
MASSIVE_SEARCH_ADAPTER=elastic
ELASTICSEARCH_HOST=elasticsearch:9200
  1. From the workspace container, rebuild the search index:
php bin/adminconsole massive:search:index:rebuild

Without those steps the container just sits idle, which is why the required stack above leaves it out.

Take your site live​

When your Sulu project 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 Sulu with Laradock?​

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

Which services should I start for a typical Sulu project?​

nginx mysql workspace covers most projects. Swap mysql for postgres if you prefer, and add elasticsearch once you rely on Sulu's content search.

Can I run multiple Sulu projects 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 the Symfony CLI server. 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.