PHP + Apache locally

cloud-apache-container (image: cac) is the same Apache + PHP image we use for hosted PHP sites. It’s based on AlmaLinux 9, ships with PHP 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, and 8.5 side-by-side (default 8.3), and uses Apache with mod_ssl.

Image tags

Pre-built tags are pushed on every change:

• cac:latest — the default (PHP 8.3).
• cac:php74, cac:php80, cac:php81, cac:php82, cac:php83, cac:php84, cac:php85 — pin to a specific PHP version.

Pull from repo.anhonesthost.net/cloud-hosting-platform/cac:<tag>.

Quick start with local-dev.sh

The repo ships a local-dev.sh script that handles the Docker incantation, creates the volume + log directories, generates helper scripts, and installs a fresh WordPress in the web root.

1. Clone the repo and cd in:

   git clone https://repo.anhonesthost.net/cloud-hosting-platform/cloud-apache-container.git
   cd cloud-apache-container

2. Start a local instance:

   ./local-dev.sh -n local-dev

3. The script will:

   • Create a user directory and log folders (apache/, system/).
   • Create a Docker volume for MySQL.
   • Start the container with the right env vars.
   • Generate helper scripts in your root path (instance_start, instance_stop, instance_logs, instance_db_info).
   • Install WordPress in your web root.
   • Print the MySQL credentials it generated.

4. Open http://localhost/ in a browser — WordPress’s setup screen should be there.

Flags

Flag	Purpose	Default
-n	Container name (required)	—
-p	HTTP port	80
-s	HTTPS port	443
-r	Root path for files and DB	current directory
-a	PHP version (74, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85)	83
-v	Verbose mode	off
-h	Show help	—

Example — run a PHP 8.5 instance on port 8080:

./local-dev.sh -n my-php85-site -a 85 -p 8080 -s 8443

Manual Docker usage

If you’d rather skip the script and run it yourself:

mkdir -p local-development/domain.tld
cd local-development/domain.tld
mkdir user
mkdir -p user/logs/{apache,system}

docker run -d -it \
  -p 80:80 -p 443:443 \
  -e PHPVER=84 -e environment=DEV \
  --mount type=bind,source="$(pwd)"/user,target=/home/myuser \
  -v"$name-mysql":/var/lib/mysql \
  -e uid=30001 -e user=myuser -e domain=localhost \
  --name local-dev \
  repo.anhonesthost.net/cloud-hosting-platform/cac:latest

Get a shell inside the container

docker exec -it local-dev /bin/bash

Useful for running wp-cli, tailing logs from inside, or checking PHP modules.

Where things live

Inside the container	On your laptop (via bind mount)
/home/myuser/public_html/ — Apache docroot	local-development/domain.tld/user/public_html/
/home/myuser/logs/apache/ — Apache logs	local-development/domain.tld/user/logs/apache/
/var/lib/mysql/ — MySQL data	Named Docker volume (<name>-mysql)
/home/myuser/mysql_creds	Same path on the bind mount

WordPress

local-dev.sh installs WordPress automatically. If you started manually:

docker exec -it local-dev bash
cat /home/myuser/mysql_creds  # see the credentials
cd /home/myuser/public_html
wp core download
wp config create --dbname=... --dbuser=... --dbpass=... --dbhost=localhost
wp core install --url=http://localhost --title="Local Dev" --admin_user=admin [email protected]

Stop / start / clean up

The helper scripts the local-dev script writes are the easy path:

./instance_stop      # stop the container
./instance_start     # start it again
./instance_logs      # tail Apache logs
./instance_db_info   # show MySQL credentials

To wipe everything:

docker rm -f local-dev
docker volume rm local-dev-mysql
rm -rf local-development/

Tip

Want to test the exact PHP version of your hosted WHP site locally? Match the -a flag to your site’s PHP version on the Sites page.

Source

cloud-apache-container on Gitea — Dockerfile, entrypoint, build configs, and the local-dev.sh script.

Related

• Node + Nginx locally
• Create a site — the hosted side.

Still stuck?

Still stuck? Open a support ticket and our team will help.