Alpine based Docker image for nginx-unit with PHP module

Ready-to-use images:

ghcr.io/n0rthernl1ghts/unit-php

Supported PHP versions:

• PHP7.4
• PHP8.1
• PHP8.2

Check the package for available tags.

Currently under active maintenance, so to be considered as unstable.

On container startup, unit is launched and then config.json is sent to the service.


Bundled config is suitable for running simple Laravel application in /app. Keep in mind persistent directories, if any.

docker run -it \
  -v "/path/to/your/laravel_app:/app" \
  ghcr.io/n0rthernl1ghts/unit-php

And here's how to run with your own config:

docker run -it \
  -v "/path/to/your/unit_config.json:/etc/unit/config.json" \
  -v "/path/to/your/web_app:/app" \
  ghcr.io/n0rthernl1ghts/unit-php

You can also override path to unit configuration file with UNIT_CONFIGURATION_FILE environment variable:

docker run -it \
  -e "UNIT_CONFIGURATION_FILE=/app/config/unit.json" \
  -v "/path/to/your/web_app:/app" \
  ghcr.io/n0rthernl1ghts/unit-php

Example multistage Dockerfile:

# First stage: Build root filesystem (copy files)
FROM scratch AS rootfs

COPY ["./app", "/app"]
COPY ["./unit.json", "/etc/unit/config.json"]



# Main stage
FROM ghcr.io/n0rthernl1ghts/unit-php

# Copy prepared root filesystem (single layer)
COPY --from=rootfs ["/", "/"]

# Install PHP extensions with pecl: apcu and redis
# Install PHP extension: opcache, pdo and pdo_mysql
RUN set -eux \
    && apk add --update --no-cache alpine-sdk \
    && pear channel-update pear.php.net \
    && pecl channel-update pecl.php.net \
    && pecl install apcu redis \
    && docker-php-ext-enable apcu redis \
    && docker-php-ext-install -j "$(nproc)" opcache pdo pdo_mysql \
    && apk del alpine-sdk \
    && rm /tmp/* -rf

This image comes bundled with just-containers/s6-overlay from build ghcr.io/n0rthernl1ghts/s6-rootfs. To control supervisor behavior, you can use it's environment variables.

Do NOT attempt starting with docker built-in supervisor (Tini [--init]). S6 must run as PID 1.

• Comes with PHP ZTS (Zend Thread Safety) enabled. The reason behind is that official PHP image, doesn't support PHP embed on Alpine based images. See: docker-library/php#1355. It does, however on ZTS Alpine images.