Build and Deploy Laravel Apps Like a Pro: CI/CD with Docker, Nginx & GitHub Actions

Deploying Laravel applications efficiently is critical to ensuring performance, scalability, and maintainability. In this guide, you’ll learn how to build a complete CI/CD pipeline using Docker, Nginx, and GitHub Actions to automate deployment and streamline your Laravel development lifecycle.

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 Why CI/CD Matters for Laravel Applications

Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD) allow developers to:

• Automatically build, test, and deploy code
  
  

• Reduce human error in deployment processes.
  
  

• Maintain consistent environments across development, staging, and production.
  
  

• Accelerate release cycles and improve developer productivity.
  
  

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 Project Structure Overview

Here's a sample directory structure for your Laravel project with Docker and Nginx:

laravel-app/

├── app/

├── bootstrap/

├── config/

├── database/

├── docker/

│   ├── nginx/

│   │   └── default.conf

│   └── php/

│       └── Dockerfile

├── .github/

│   └── workflows/

│       └── ci-cd.yml

├── .env

├── docker-compose.yml

└── artisan

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Step 1: Dockerize Your Laravel App

Dockerfile (PHP)

FROM php:8.2-fpm

WORKDIR /var/www

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \

    git curl zip unzip libzip-dev \

    && docker-php-ext-install pdo_mysql zip

COPY . .

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

    && composer install

docker-compose.yml

version: '3.8'

services:

  app:

    build:

      context: .

      dockerfile: docker/php/Dockerfile

    container_name: laravel-app

    volumes:

      - .:/var/www

    networks:

      - laravel

  nginx:

    image: nginx:latest

    ports:

      - 80:80

    volumes:

      - .:/var/www

      - ./docker/nginx/default.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf

    depends_on:

      - app

    networks:

      - laravel

networks:

  laravel:

    driver: bridge

Nginx Configuration (default.conf)

server {

    listen 80;

    index index.php index.html;

    root /var/www/public;

    location / {

        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;

    }

    location ~ \.php$ {

        fastcgi_pass app:9000;

        fastcgi_index index.php;

        include fastcgi_params;

        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $realpath_root$fastcgi_script_name;

        fastcgi_param DOCUMENT_ROOT $realpath_root;

    }

    location ~ /\.ht {

        deny all;

    }

}

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Step 2: Set Up GitHub Actions for CI/CD

.github/workflows/ci-cd.yml

name: Laravel CI/CD Pipeline

on:

  push:

    branches: [main]

jobs:

  build-and-deploy:

    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    services:

      mysql:

        image: mysql:5.7

        env:

          MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: password

          MYSQL_DATABASE: laravel

        ports:

          - 3306:3306

        options: >-

          --health-cmd="mysqladmin ping --silent"

          --health-interval=10s

          --health-timeout=5s

          --health-retries=3

    steps:

    - name: Checkout Repository

      uses: actions/checkout@v3

    - name: Set Up PHP

      uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2

      with:

        php-version: '8.2'

    - name: Install Dependencies

      run: |

        composer install

        cp .env.example .env

        php artisan key:generate

    - name: Run Tests

      run: php artisan test

    - name: Deploy to Server

      if: success()

      uses: appleboy/ssh-action@master

      with:

        host: ${{ secrets.HOST }}

        username: ${{ secrets.USER }}

        key: ${{ secrets.SSH_KEY }}

        script: |

          cd /var/www/laravel-app

          git pull origin main

          docker-compose down

          docker-compose up -d --build

Use GitHub Secrets (HOST, USER, SSH_KEY) to secure sensitive deployment credentials.

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Step 3: Testing and Validation

After each push:

• GitHub Actions installs dependencies and runs Laravel tests
  
  

• If successful, it automatically deploys your latest changes to the server using SSH and Docker Compose
  
  

You’ll instantly receive feedback in your GitHub PR or push logs, enabling quick rollbacks and version control.

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Best Practices

• Use .env files specific to your environments (.env.staging, .env.production)
  
  

• Use php artisan config:cache to speed up configuration loading
  
  

• Enable caching in Composer and GitHub Actions for faster build times
  
  

• Set up Nginx logs and error tracking
  
  

• Enable database migrations in the pipeline when necessary
  
  

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Conclusion

With Docker, Nginx, and GitHub Actions, you can confidently build and deploy Laravel apps in a repeatable, automated, and scalable manner. Whether running a side project or managing a production app, adopting CI/CD will dramatically improve your workflow and app stability.