Setting up Docker to run a Laravel application on Windows involves several steps. Below is a step-by-step guide to help you set up Docker and configure it to run your Laravel project:

  1. Install Docker Desktop: Download and install Docker Desktop for Windows from the official Docker website: Docker Desktop for Windows.
  2. Enable WSL 2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux): Docker Desktop requires WSL 2 to run on Windows. Follow the instructions provided by Docker to enable WSL 2: WSL 2 Installation Guide.
  3. Set Docker Desktop to Use WSL 2: After enabling WSL 2, open Docker Desktop and go to Settings -> General. Under the General tab, select the option to use the WSL 2 based engine.
  4. Clone Your Laravel Project: Clone your existing Laravel project or create a new one if you haven’t already. Navigate to the root directory of your Laravel project in your terminal or command prompt.
  5. Create Dockerfile: Create a Dockerfile in the root directory of your Laravel project. This file contains instructions for building the Docker image for your application. Here’s a basic example: 
    FROM php:7.4-fpm

WORKDIR /var/www/html

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
libzip-dev \
zip \
&& docker-php-ext-configure zip \
&& docker-php-ext-install zip pdo pdo_mysql

COPY . .

RUN composer install

CMD ["php", "artisan", "serve", "--host", "0.0.0.0"]
  6. Create Docker Compose Configuration (Optional): You can also use Docker Compose to define and run multi-container Docker applications. Create a docker-compose.yml file in your project directory to define your services. Here’s an example: 
    version: '3'
services:
  app:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
    volumes:
      - .:/var/www/html
  7. Build and Run Docker Containers: Open your terminal or command prompt, navigate to your project directory, and run the following command to build and start your Docker containers: 
    docker-compose up --build
  8. This command will build your Docker image using the Dockerfile and start the containers defined in the docker-compose.yml file.
  9. Access Your Laravel Application: Once the containers are running, you can access your Laravel application in your web browser at http://localhost:8000 (or another port if you specified a different one in your docker-compose.yml file). 
    docker-compose exec app php artisan
  10. Run Artisan Commands: You can run Laravel Artisan commands inside your Docker container. Open a new terminal window, navigate to your project directory, and run the following command to execute Artisan commands:
  11. By following these steps, you should be able to set up Docker to run your Laravel application on Windows using Docker Desktop and Docker Compose. Make sure to customize the Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml file according to your project’s requirements.