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Modern PHP development with FrankenPHP and Docker

A hands-on guide to deploying PHP applications with FrankenPHP and Docker, from simple containers to standalone binaries.

·by Steve McDougall

I'll be honest — when I first heard about FrankenPHP, I thought it was just another trendy name in the PHP ecosystem. Boy, was I wrong.

After spending years working with traditional PHP setups, fighting with Apache configurations, and wrestling with performance bottlenecks, discovering FrankenPHP felt like finding a hidden shortcut that no one had told me about.

FrankenPHP isn't just another application server. It's a complete paradigm shift that brings PHP into the modern era of web development. Built on top of the battle-tested Caddy web server, it offers something that traditional PHP setups can only dream of: native HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 support, automatic HTTPS, real-time capabilities, and, the ability to compile your entire PHP application into a standalone binary.

Let me walk you through everything I've learned about containerizing PHP applications with FrankenPHP, and why this approach might just change how you think about PHP deployment forever.

Why FrankenPHP changes everything

Before we dive into the technical details, let's talk about why this matters. Traditional PHP deployment has always been a bit of a headache.

To get a simple application running, you need a web server (Apache or Nginx), PHP-FPM, proper configuration files, SSL certificates, and a whole orchestra of moving parts. I've spent countless hours debugging configuration issues that stemmed from the complexity of this setup.

FrankenPHP eliminates most of this complexity by providing a single binary that handles everything. But it goes further by supporting modern web standards out of the box, offering performance features that traditional setups struggle with, and providing deployment options that range from containers to standalone executables.

Setting up your development environment

Before we begin, you need Docker installed on your machine. If you haven't already, grab it from Docker's website. You also want a basic understanding of PHP and Docker concepts, though I'll explain everything as we go.

Creating Your First FrankenPHP Application

I always like to start simple, so let's create a basic PHP application to work with:

mkdir my-frankenphp-app && cd my-frankenphp-app

Now, create a simple index.php file:

<?php
// index.php
?>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <title>FrankenPHP Demo</title>
  <style>
    body { font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin: 40px; }
    .container { max-width: 800px; margin: 0 auto; }
    .feature { background: #f4f4f4; padding: 20px; margin: 10px 0; border-radius: 5px; }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <div class="container">
    <h1>Hello from FrankenPHP!</h1>
    <div class="feature">
      <h3>Server Information</h3>
      <p><strong>PHP Version:</strong> <?= PHP_VERSION ?></p>
      <p><strong>Server Software:</strong> <?= $_SERVER['SERVER_SOFTWARE'] ?? 'Unknown' ?></p>
      <p><strong>Request Time:</strong> <?= date('Y-m-d H:i:s') ?></p>
    </div>

    <div class="feature">
      <h3>HTTP Protocol</h3>
      <p><strong>Protocol:</strong> <?= $_SERVER['SERVER_PROTOCOL'] ?? 'Unknown' ?></p>
      <p><strong>HTTPS:</strong> <?= isset($_SERVER['HTTPS']) ? 'Yes' : 'No' ?></p>
    </div>
  </div>
</body>
</html>

This gives us a more interesting starting point that actually shows off some of FrankenPHP's capabilities.

Containerizing with FrankenPHP

Now comes the exciting part. Create a Dockerfile in your project root:

FROM dunglas/frankenphp:latest

# Copy our application to the container
COPY . /app

# Set the working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Expose port 80
EXPOSE 80

# Start FrankenPHP
CMD ["frankenphp", "php-server", "--root=/app", "--listen=:80"]

What I love about this setup is its simplicity. Compare this to a traditional LAMP stack Dockerfile, and you immediately see the difference.

No need to configure Apache virtual hosts, no PHP-FPM configuration files, no complex nginx setups — just copy your files and go.

Build and run your container:

docker build -t my-frankenphp-app .
docker run -p 8080:80 my-frankenphp-app

Navigate to http://localhost:8080, and you should see your application running. But here's what's happening under the hood that makes this special: FrankenPHP is already serving your application with HTTP/2 support, automatic compression, and optimized performance characteristics that you'd typically need to configure manually.

Adding real-world dependencies

Most applications need dependencies, so let's make our setup more realistic. If your project uses Composer (and it probably should), update your Dockerfile:

FROM dunglas/frankenphp:latest

# Install Composer
RUN curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer

# Copy composer files first for better Docker layer caching
COPY composer.json composer.lock* /app/

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Install dependencies
RUN composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader --no-interaction

# Copy the rest of the application
COPY . /app

# Expose port
EXPOSE 80

# Start the server
CMD ["frankenphp", "php-server", "--root=/app", "--listen=:80"]

This approach leverages Docker's layer caching. By copying composer.json first and running composer install before copying the rest of your application, you ensure that dependency installation only happens when your dependencies actually change, not every time you modify your source code.

Unlocking advanced features

Here's where FrankenPHP really shines. Let's explore some features that would be complex or impossible with traditional PHP setups.

HTTPS and HTTP/2/3 support

One of my favorite aspects of FrankenPHP is how it handles HTTPS. In traditional setups, configuring SSL certificates is often a multi-step process involving certificate generation, web server configuration, and renewal automation. FrankenPHP can handle this automatically, or you can provide your own certificates.

For development with self-signed certificates:

FROM dunglas/frankenphp:latest

COPY . /app
WORKDIR /app

# Copy your certificates (you'd generate these first)
COPY certs/cert.pem certs/key.pem /certs/

EXPOSE 443

CMD ["frankenphp", "php-server", "--root=/app", "--listen=:443", "--tls-cert=/certs/cert.pem", "--tls-key=/certs/key.pem"]

Run with:

docker run -p 8443:443 my-frankenphp-app

For automatic HTTPS in production (this is genuinely magical):

frankenphp php-server --domain yourdomain.com

That's it. FrankenPHP automatically obtains and renews Let's Encrypt certificates. I remember the first time I saw this work — it felt like cheating.

Worker mode: Persistent application state

This is where things get really interesting. Traditional PHP follows a request-response cycle where everything gets torn down after each request. FrankenPHP's worker mode keeps your application in memory between requests, which can dramatically improve performance for frameworks like Symfony and Laravel.

Create a worker script (worker.php):

<?php
// worker.php

require_once 'vendor/autoload.php';

use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;

// This code runs once when the worker starts
$app = new MyApplication();
$cache = new SomeExpensiveCache();

// Handle requests in a loop
while ($request = \FrankenPHP\workerRequest()) {
    try {
        // This runs for each request, but $app and $cache persist
        $response = $app->handle($request);
        \FrankenPHP\workerResponse($response);
    } catch (\Throwable $e) {
        \FrankenPHP\workerResponse(new Response('Error: ' . $e->getMessage(), 500));
    }
}

Update your Dockerfile:

CMD ["frankenphp", "php-server", "--root=/app", "--worker=/app/worker.php", "--listen=:80"]

The performance implications here are significant. In my testing, applications using worker mode often see 2-3x performance improvements because expensive initialization code only runs once.

Async PHP with Fibers

FrankenPHP also supports PHP Fibers for asynchronous programming. While PHP isn't traditionally known for async capabilities, FrankenPHP makes it possible:

<?php
// async-example.php

function asyncOperation($id) {
  return \FrankenPHP\async(function() use ($id) {
    // Simulate some async work
    sleep(2);
    return "Result for operation $id";
  });
}

// Start multiple async operations
$operations = [];
for ($i = 1; $i <= 5; $i++) {
  $operations[] = asyncOperation($i);
}

// Wait for all to complete
foreach ($operations as $operation) {
  echo $operation() . "\n";
}

This opens up possibilities for PHP applications that were previously difficult or impossible to achieve.

The standalone binary: Deployment revolution

Now we get to what I consider FrankenPHP's most revolutionary feature: the ability to compile your entire PHP application, including the PHP runtime and all dependencies, into a single static binary.

Think about the implications — no more "but it works on my machine" problems, no runtime dependencies, no complex deployment scripts.

Preparing your application

Before building a binary, you need to prepare your application for production:

# Create a clean copy of your app
mkdir build-app
cp -r . build-app/
cd build-app

# Set production environment
echo "APP_ENV=prod" > .env.local
echo "APP_DEBUG=false" >> .env.local

# Install production dependencies
composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader --ignore-platform-reqs

# Remove unnecessary files
rm -rf tests/ .git/ node_modules/ *.md

# For Symfony apps, warm up the cache
php bin/console cache:warmup --env=prod

Building the Binary

Create a static-build.Dockerfile:

FROM dunglas/frankenphp:static-builder

# Copy your prepared application
COPY . /go/src/app/dist/app

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /go/src/app/

# Build the static binary with your app embedded
RUN EMBED=dist/app/ ./build-static.sh

Build and extract:

docker build -t my-static-app -f static-build.Dockerfile .
docker create --name temp-container my-static-app
docker cp temp-container:/go/src/app/dist/frankenphp-linux-x86_64 ./my-app
docker rm temp-container

Running your standalone application

Now you have a single binary that contains everything:

# Make it executable
chmod +x my-app

# Start your web server
./my-app php-server

# Or with automatic HTTPS
./my-app php-server --domain localhost

# Run CLI commands
./my-app php-cli bin/console list

The first time I deployed an application this way, I was amazed. A single 50MB file replaced what was previously a complex deployment involving multiple services, configuration files, and dependency management.

Real-world performance considerations

In my experience, FrankenPHP applications typically show:

  • 50-70% reduction in memory usage compared to traditional PHP-FPM setups
  • 2-3x improvement in throughput when using worker mode
  • Significantly faster cold starts due to the optimized runtime
  • Better resource utilization in containerized environments

However, worker mode does require careful consideration of memory leaks and proper cleanup between requests. Not all PHP applications are written with persistent state in mind.

Production deployment strategies

For production deployments, I typically use this Docker Compose setup:

version: '3.8'

services:
  app:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    environment:
      - FRANKENPHP_CONFIG=
        {
          "apps": {
            "http": {
              "servers": {
                "srv0": {
                  "listen": [":80", ":443"],
                  "routes": [{
                    "handle": [{
                      "handler": "php_server",
                      "root": "/app"
                    }]
                  }]
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
    volumes:
      - ./certs:/certs
    restart: unless-stopped

For Kubernetes deployments, the single binary approach is particularly compelling because it eliminates the need for init containers or complex volume mounting for dependencies.

Looking forward

FrankenPHP represents a fundamental shift in how we think about PHP deployment and performance. It brings PHP into the modern era of web development while maintaining the simplicity and accessibility that made PHP popular in the first place.

Whether you choose the containerized approach for flexibility or the standalone binary for simplicity, FrankenPHP offers deployment options that traditional PHP setups simply can't match. The combination of modern web standards, performance optimizations, and deployment flexibility makes it a compelling choice for both new projects and modernizing existing applications.

As someone who's spent years working with traditional PHP deployments, I can confidently say that FrankenPHP isn't just an incremental improvement — it's a reimagining of what PHP development can be.

Give it a try, and I think you'll find, like I did, that there's no going back to the old way of doing things.

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