lxc-lamp

lxc-lamp.sh - is an easy script to install container for Linux. Includes the Nginx web server, MySQL, PHP, and adminer.

I am a web developer, I have been using this container for several years and find it convenient.

Five components (frequently used for web development in php world):

ubuntu 20.04
php 7.4
mariadb 10.3.25 (mysql)
nginx 1.18.0
adminer 4.8.0

All this packed in one light container for your future webapp.

You press one button and everything unfolds at its best, take it and enjoy it.
I wholeheartedly hope you get a similar experience. :o)

Tested on: Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04

One script and only 200 lines of code with comments!
Feel free to edit and adapt it for your project.

Getting started

Insltall lxc: $ sudo apt install lxc
Figure out what your application will be called. For this example: myapp
Then open terminal:

$ git clone https://github.com/agorlov/lxc-lamp.git myapp
$ cd myapp
$ sudo bash ./lxc-lamp.sh myapp

(here myapp is name of lxc container)
..wait for few minutes..

Open your template app in browser: http://10.0.3.31/ (where 10.03.31 is your internal container addess)
Start editing index.php
Put some static files to myapp/public dir (myapp/public -> /www/public)

Useful facts and commands

Your project working directory mapped to inside container:
example: /home/alexandr/myapp -> /www
So, work with your files directly in the app folder.
List lxc containers and its ip-addresses: sudo lxc-ls -f
Start container: sudo lxc-start myapp
Go to the container: sudo lxc-attach myapp
Stop container: sudo lxc-stop myapp
Remove container: sudo lxc-destroy myapp
All container files stored in /var/lib/lxc/myapp/rootfs as regular files! To delete a container, you can actually delete a directory /var/lib/lxc/myapp/
Static files and document root in myapp/public ex.: myapp/public/example.css
Starting point of your app is myapp/index.php
DB access: http://10.0.3.112/adminer (user and password: myapp)
Lxc-container configuration file: /var/lib/lxc/myapp/config

Getting started on existing project

In this example, your project in directory: myProject

$ cd myProject
$ wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/agorlov/lxc-lamp/main/lxc-lamp.sh
$ sudo bash ./lxc-lamp.sh myProject

Known issues

Message like:

Starting myapp...
lxc-start: myapp1: lxccontainer.c: wait_on_daemonized_start: 851 Received container state "ABORTING" instead of "RUNNING"
...

workaround is to edit: /etc/lxc/default.conf and add string: lxc.apparmor.profile = unconfined, then start again sudo bash ./lxc-lamp.sh myapp

More info on issue: lxc/lxc#1895

Why lxc?

It's architecture is most suitable for multi-component services. Historically, this is what php web applications are.
No need to learn much, learn three facts and you are already working \o/

Docker is good for one process - one container. LXC is good for multiple system components - one service.