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Installing PrestaShop with Docker

PrestaShop is available through Docker for testing/experimenting and developing modules or themes.

Docker is an open-source platform that enables developers to package applications and their dependencies into lightweight, portable containers. It provides an efficient and consistent way to build, ship, and run software across different environments.

The easiest way to begin with PrestaShop on Docker is to run your stack with Docker Compose. It will ease container management, networks, and volume persistence.

timeline Setup environment: Install Docker Prepare PrestaShop installation : Create Docker Compose Manifest : Start Docker Compose stack Install PrestaShop : Automatically installed (or manually) Use PrestaShop : You are ready to go

Looking for a quicker way to test and develop on PrestaShop?

Install PrestaShop locally with Docker and PrestaShop Flashlight

Install Docker

Docker is available on each major operating system. You will need to install Docker.

When using Windows (10+), it can be a good solution to install WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), and then install Docker on the WSL distribution. You will benefit from all the advantages of a Linux OS when using Shell / CLI. Note: WSL2 should be a better option when running Docker.

Install docker compose

Docker Compose is a tool that simplifies the management of multi-container Docker applications by allowing developers to define and configure complex application stacks using a declarative YAML file, enabling easy orchestration, scaling, and networking of containers with a single command.

Docker Compose is included in versions of Docker Desktop (Windows, Mac). If you are using Docker on Linux, you must install docker compose.

Use Docker Compose to manage your stack

Docker Compose will help start and stop your PrestaShop stack, persist your database with a volume, persist your installation, and will allow you to mount local modules and/or themes in PrestaShop.

PrestaShop provides two options when it comes to running it with Docker:

Production ready images with minimal tooling.
Development and testing friendly images with tooling: PrestaShop Flashlight.

Create the docker-compose.yml manifest

version: '3'
services:
  mysql:
    container_name: some-mysql
    image: mysql:5.7
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: admin
      MYSQL_DATABASE: prestashop
    networks:
      - prestashop_network
  prestashop:
    container_name: prestashop
    image: prestashop/prestashop:latest # Latest stable version of the PrestaShop, to see all available images go to ...
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      - mysql
    ports:
      - 8080:80
    environment:
      DB_SERVER: some-mysql
      DB_NAME: prestashop
      DB_USER: root
      DB_PASSWD: admin
    networks:
      - prestashop_network
networks:
    prestashop_network:

When using an M1-chip Mac, you may need to add: platform: linux/x86_64 on each container declaration.

Automatically install PrestaShop with test data

This is the easiest and quickest way to start and test PrestaShop with Docker.

You can automatically install PrestaShop (and add test data) without having to use the installation assistant when creating your Docker Compose stack.

To achieve this, you need to set those environment variables in your PrestaShop container declaration in your docker-compose.yml file:

PS_INSTALL_AUTO: 1
PS_DOMAIN: localhost:8080

Then run docker compose up in your terminal, wait a few minutes, and you will be able to access a PrestaShop instance on http://localhost:8080 with the front office containing the demo products and http://localhost:8080/admin for the back office.

Complete docker-compose.yml manifest for reference:

version: '3'
services:
  mysql:
    container_name: some-mysql
    image: mysql:5.7
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: admin
      MYSQL_DATABASE: prestashop
    networks:
      - prestashop_network
  prestashop:
    container_name: prestashop
    image: prestashop/prestashop:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      - mysql
    ports:
      - 8080:80
    environment:
      DB_SERVER: some-mysql
      DB_NAME: prestashop
      DB_USER: root
      DB_PASSWD: admin
      PS_INSTALL_AUTO: 1
      PS_DOMAIN: localhost:8080
    networks:
      - prestashop_network
networks:
    prestashop_network:

Manually install PrestaShop with Installation Assistant, and begin testing

To manually install PrestaShop using the Installation Assistant, don’t set the environment variables PS_DEMO_MODE and PS_INSTALL_AUTO.

In the directory where the docker compose.yml file is located, do the following:

Start the stack: docker compose up

Access http://localhost:8080 on your browser to begin testing PrestaShop.

You will land on the installer of PrestaShop.

When asked for a MySQL server, type some-mysql, as declared in your yaml file.
When asked for MySQL user, use root, as declared in your yaml file.
When asked for MySQL password, use admin, as declared in your yaml file.

Stop the stack by closing your terminal, or hit ctrl + c.

To keep your instance running in background, run docker compose up -d

To stop it, run docker compose down

Installation assistant and admin URLs

It is a good practice to change install/ and admin/ directory names.

To achieve this, specify the two following environment variables in your PrestaShop container declaration:

PS_FOLDER_ADMIN: admin4577
PS_FOLDER_INSTALL: install4577

In this example, we set them to admin4577 and install4577. When installing PrestaShop with Docker for the first time, you need to access https://localhost:8080/install4577.

If you did not change the install/ or admin/ directory names, after installation, you need to manually delete the install directory in your container, and change the admin directory name. To do this, please run:

docker exec -i prestashop rm -rf install
docker exec -i prestashop mv admin admin_xxx

After running these scripts, your back office will be at https://localhost:8080/admin_xxx.

Bind a volume for MySQL persisting

If you don’t bind a volume to the MySQL container, the database content will not be persisted when stopping/restarting the stack.

To avoid this, add a volume to your MySQL container:

...
  mysql:
    container_name: some-mysql
    volumes:
      - dbdata:/var/lib/mysql
...
volumes:
  dbdata:

Bind a volume for instance persisting

If you don’t bind a volume to the PrestaShop container, data will not be persisted when stopping / restarting the stack. PrestaShop will try to install itself at every restart of the stack.

To avoid this, add a volume to your PrestaShop container:

...
  prestashop:
    container_name: prestashop
    ...
    volumes:
      - psdata:/var/www/html
...
volumes:
  psdata:

Bind a local module to your instance in your manifest

Let’s consider we have a test_module PrestaShop Module.

Create a modules/ directory, and drop in your test_module directory.

Create a bind mount in your docker-compose.yml:

...
  prestashop:
    container_name: prestashop
    ...
    volumes:
      - type: bind
        source: ./modules/test_module # local path to the module
        target: /var/www/html/modules/test_module # path to be mounted in the container
...

And that’s it: your module is available on the prestashop Docker container, and changes made in the local directory of the module are automatically synchronized on the prestashop Docker container.

Bind a local theme to your instance in your manifest

Let’s consider we have a mytheme PrestaShop Theme.

Create a themes/ directory, and drop your mytheme directory there.

Create a bind mount in your docker-compose.yml:

...
  prestashop:
    container_name: prestashop
    ...
    volumes:
      - type: bind
        source: ./themes/mytheme # local path to the module
        target: /var/www/html/themes/mytheme # path to be mounted in the container
...

And that’s it: your theme is available on the prestashop Docker container, and changes made in the local directory of the theme are automatically synchronized on the prestashop Docker container.

Complete docker-compose.yml for reference

version: '3'
services:
  mysql:
    container_name: some-mysql
    image: mysql:5.7
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: admin
      MYSQL_DATABASE: prestashop
    networks:
      - prestashop_network
    volumes:
      - dbdata:/var/lib/mysql
  prestashop:
    container_name: prestashop
    image: prestashop/prestashop:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      - mysql
    ports:
      - 8080:80
    environment:
      DB_SERVER: some-mysql
      DB_NAME: prestashop
      DB_USER: root
      DB_PASSWD: admin
      PS_FOLDER_ADMIN: admin4577
      PS_FOLDER_INSTALL: install4577
    networks:
      - prestashop_network
    volumes:
      - type: bind
        source: ./modules/testModule # local path to the module
        target: /var/www/html/modules/testModule # path to be mounted in the container
      - type: bind
        source: ./themes/myTheme # local path to the theme
        target:  /var/www/html/themes/myTheme # path to be mounted in the container
      - psdata:/var/www/html
networks:
  prestashop_network:
volumes:
  psdata:
  dbdata:

Add PHPMyAdmin to your stack

In the docker-compose.yml, add the following service declaration:

version: '3'
services:
...
    phpmyadmin:
      image: phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin
      container_name: phpmyadmin
      links:
        - some-mysql
      environment:
        PMA_HOST: some-mysql
        PMA_PORT: 3306
        PMA_ARBITRARY: 1
      restart: unless-stopped
      ports:
        - 8081:80

And access http://localhost:8081 to access phpMyAdmin.

Enter the container to execute commands and interact with all its files

Sometimes, you may need to enter the container to parse logs, execute commands, modify core files, or some of the environment configurations.

To access the container’s shell, simply execute the following command in your terminal:

docker exec -ti prestashop /bin/bash

You will land in the container, in the PrestaShop’s directory (/var/www/html).

From there, you can use commands like:

php bin/console prestashop:module enable xxx # enables the module xxx
tail -f var/logs/dev.log # tail in interactive mode the dev.log file
# you can use all other commands you may need

You can also execute commands directly in the container with docker exec -i:

docker exec -i prestashop php bin/console list # will execute list command from Symfony's console

Run PrestaShop on Docker without Docker Compose

PrestaShop runs on an *AMP stack (Apache - MySQL - PHP). Two containers are required to run PrestaShop:

a MySQL container (5.7 version)
a PrestaShop container (packaging PHP, PHP modules and extensions, PrestaShop codebase and dependencies)

The default images (prestashop/prestashop:latest, prestashop/prestashop:version or prestashop/prestashop:version-apache) uses php:phpversion-apache as a base, which means they embed a Webserver (Apache).

If you use prestashop/prestashop:version-fpm versions, you will need to run a dedicated Webserver to expose your instance.

Create a Docker network

Those two containers need to be able to communicate with each other.

$ docker network create prestashop-net

When using Docker Compose, the network lives and dies when starting/stopping the stack automatically.

Start a MySQL 5.7 container

Then, start a MySQL container:

with image mysql:5.7,
with network prestashop-net,
with container name some-mysql,
and root password ‘admin’.

$ docker run -ti --name some-mysql --network prestashop-net -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=admin -d mysql:5.7

Start the PrestaShop container

Then, start the PrestaShop container:

with name some-prestashop,
with network prestashop-net,
on exposed port 8080
with image prestashop/prestashop:latest

$ docker run -ti --name some-prestashop --network prestashop-net -p 8080:80 -d prestashop/prestashop:latest

Images, architectures and tags

All our images and tags are available on Docker Hub.

Use a specific PrestaShop version

You can use a specific PrestaShop version by changing the image tag:

Use latest image: prestashop/prestashop:latest
Use 1.7: prestashop/prestashop:latest
Use 1.7.8: prestashop/prestashop:1.7.8

Use a specific PHP version

You can also specify the version of PHP to use:

Use 8.0.4 image, with PHP 8.1: prestashop/prestashop:8.0.4-8.1
Use 8.0 image, with PHP 7.4: prestashop/prestashop:8.0-7.4

Use Apache or FPM

You can also specify to use Apache or FPM by appending -apache or -fpm to the image.

Use 8.0.4 image, with PHP 8.1, on Apache: prestashop/prestashop:8.0.4-8.1-apache
Use 8.0.4 image, with PHP 8.1, with PHP-FPM: prestashop/prestashop:8.0.4-8.1-fpm

If you use prestashop/prestashop:version-fpm versions, you will need to run a dedicated Webserver to expose your instance.

Environment variables reference

Several environment variables are available on the PrestaShop Docker image, to customize/setup your instance:

Environment variable	Description	Default value
PS_DEV_MODE	The constant PS_MODE_DEV will be set at true	`0`
PS_HOST_MODE	The constant PS_HOST_MODE will be set at true. Useful to simulate a PrestaShop Cloud environment.	`0`
PS_DEMO_MODE	The constant PS_DEMO_MODE will be set at true. Use it to create a demonstration shop.	`0`
DB_SERVER	If set, the external MySQL database will be used instead of the volatile internal one	`localhost`
DB_USER	Override default MySQL user	`root`
DB_PASSWD	Override default MySQL password	`admin`
DB_PREFIX	Override default tables prefix	`ps_`
DB_NAME	Override default database name	`prestashop`
PS_INSTALL_AUTO	The installation will be executed. Useful to initialize your image faster. In some configurations, you may need to set PS_DOMAIN or PS_HANDLE_DYNAMIC_DOMAIN as well. (Please note that PrestaShop can be installed automatically from PS 1.5)	`0`
PS_ERASE_DB	Drop the mysql database. All previous mysql data will be lost	`0`
PS_INSTALL_DB	Create the mysql database.	`0`
PS_DOMAIN	When installing automatically your shop, you can tell the shop how it will be reached. For advanced users only
PS_LANGUAGE	Change the default language installed with PrestaShop	`en`
PS_COUNTRY	Change the default country installed with PrestaShop	`GB`
PS_ALL_LANGUAGES	Install all the existing languages for the current version.	`0`
PS_FOLDER_ADMIN	Change the name of the admin folder	`admin`
PS_FOLDER_INSTALL	Change the name of the install folder	`install`
PS_ENABLE_SSL	Enable SSL at PrestaShop installation.	`0`
ADMIN_MAIL	Override default admin email	`[email protected]`
ADMIN_PASSWD	Override default admin password	`prestashop_demo`

If your IP / port (or domain) change between two executions of your container, you will need to modify this option:

Environment variable	Description	Default value
PS_HANDLE_DYNAMIC_DOMAIN	Add specific configuration to handle dynamic domain	`0`

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues using PrestaShop with Docker, feel free to read our troubleshooting tips on PrestaShop’s Docker Github repository or open an issue if the problem is not already addressed.

Allow your instance to be accessible through internet

Some native PrestaShop modules must be accessible online to work correctly (ps_accounts, ps_billing, ps_eventbus, ps_metrics, …).

To make your instance accessible through the Internet, you can use solutions such as ngrok, as shown here.