Docker Multi PHP CLI

The genv/php-cli Docker images contain multiple PHP CLI versions that can be used for local testing, development and CI/CD pipelines. These images are intended to be minimal with a small footprint and are typically between ~55 MB and ~70 MB in size.

Images are frequently built on various Debian releases to provide all major releases and security updates after 5.6. Old, unsupported, PHP versions are still provided, allowing work to be performed on legacy codebases and old library versions. Tags are available for PHP versions 5.6, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 8.0, 8.1 and 8.2 with the Composer package manager being included in all releases.

Getting Started
Execute Files
Using Composer
Updating Images
Github Workflow Example
BitBucket Pipelines Example

View on Docker Hub Source available on GitHub

Example Usage

Getting Started

The quickest way to run the CLI is to print the version. To check with PHP 5.6;

docker run genv/php-cli:5.6 --version

This will return the CLI version and build date:

PHP 5.6.40-0+deb8u12 (cli) (built: Jun 28 2020 09:37:30)

A list of modules available can be displayed with;

docker run genv/php-cli:5.6 -m

Run code directly;

docker run genv/php-cli:5.6 -r 'print_r(new DateTime);'

Execute Files

To execute a file, you will need to use a docker volume. PHP will execute scripts in the container path /data/ by default.

Use the current working directory and execute a PHP script from a relative path:

# Create a PHP file in the current working directory
echo '<?php print_r(get_defined_constants());' > ./test.php

# Run the created file
docker run -v "$(pwd):/data/" genv/php-cli:5.6 test.php

Alternatively provide an absolute path to /data/test.php:

docker run -v "$(pwd):/data/" genv/php-cli:5.6 /data/test.php

Using Composer

Using Composer via Docker can allow you to install packages locked in upstream for a PHP version you don't have installed. This is useful if you need to run or test against older or newer versions.

docker run genv/php-cli:5.6 /usr/local/bin/composer --version

Alternatively you can set the Docker entrypoint to composer with:

docker run --entrypoint=composer genv/php-cli:5.6 --version

To install Composer packages in a project using 7.1, which reached its End of Life on the 1st of December 2019;

docker run genv/php-cli:7.1 /usr/local/bin/composer install

Init Composer with Docker in PHP 8.0 with interactive mode;

docker run -it --entrypoint=composer -v "$(pwd):/data/" genv/php-cli:8.0 init

Updating Images

Images are built periodically and manually triggered when releases are announced by the PHP development team. Pulling the tag should update the image:

# Get the current version
docker run genv/php-cli:8.0 -v

# Pull the latest image
docker image pull genv/php-cli:8.0

PHP 8.0.12 (cli) (built: Oct 22 2021 12:37:40) ( NTS )

Becomes;

PHP 8.0.13 (cli) (built: Nov 19 2021 06:41:58) ( NTS )

Github Workflow Example

The following workflow example will;

Run on merge requests to the main branch
Install Composer packages with PHP 8.0
Run PHPUnit against all test files in the repositories test directory

# .github/workflows/example.yml
name: Tests

on:
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - 'main'

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - uses: addnab/docker-run-action@v3
        with:
          image: genv/php-cli:8.0
          options: -v ${{ github.workspace }}:/data/
          run: |
            /usr/local/bin/composer install
            vendor/bin/phpunit test/

BitBucket Pipelines Example

The following pipeline will;

Run on commits to the main branch
Install Composer packages with PHP 7.2
Run PHPUnit against all test files in the repositories test directory

image: node:12.20

pipelines:
  branches:
    master:
      name: PHPUnit Tests
      image: genv/php-cli:7.2
      caches:
        - docker
      services:
        - docker
      script:
         - docker run -v "$BITBUCKET_CLONE_DIR:/data/" --entrypoint composer genv/php-cli:7.2 install
         - docker run -v "$BITBUCKET_CLONE_DIR:/data/" genv/php-cli:7.2 /data/test/

Docker: PHP CLI