This repository contains a script that can be used to easily install a PHP extension inside the official PHP Docker images.

The script will install all the required APT/APK packages; at the end of the script execution, the no-more needed packages will be removed so that the image will be much smaller.

Supported docker images are:

• Debian-based docker images: since jessie (Debian 8) (minimum PHP version: 5.5)
• Alpine-based docker images: since Alpine 3.9 (minimum PHP version: 7.1)

See also the notes in the Special requirements section.

You have many ways to use this script within your Dockerfiles.

Here's a list of sample Dockerfiles that install the GD and xdebug PHP extensions:

FROM php:7.2-cli

ADD --chmod=0755 https://github.com/mlocati/docker-php-extension-installer/releases/latest/download/install-php-extensions /usr/local/bin/

RUN install-php-extensions gd xdebug

FROM php:7.2-cli

RUN curl -sSLf \
        -o /usr/local/bin/install-php-extensions \
        https://github.com/mlocati/docker-php-extension-installer/releases/latest/download/install-php-extensions && \
    chmod +x /usr/local/bin/install-php-extensions && \
    install-php-extensions gd xdebug

FROM php:8.2-cli

RUN ( curl -sSLf https://github.com/mlocati/docker-php-extension-installer/releases/latest/download/install-php-extensions -o - || echo 'return 1' ) | sh -s \
      gd xdebug

• using GitHub Container Registry

  FROM php:8.4-cli
  
  COPY --from=ghcr.io/mlocati/php-extension-installer /usr/bin/install-php-extensions /usr/local/bin/
  
  RUN install-php-extensions gd xdebug

• using Docker Hub

  FROM php:8.4-cli
  
  COPY --from=mlocati/php-extension-installer /usr/bin/install-php-extensions /usr/local/bin/
  
  RUN install-php-extensions gd xdebug

Warning: by using this method you may use an outdated version of the Docker image. You may want to run docker pull ghcr.io/mlocati/php-extension-installer or docker pull mlocati/php-extension-installer in order to use an up-to-date version.

• using GitHub Container Registry

  RUN  --mount=type=bind,from=ghcr.io/mlocati/php-extension-installer:latest,source=/usr/bin/install-php-extensions,target=/usr/local/bin/install-php-extensions \
      install-php-extensions gd xdebug

• using Docker Hub

  RUN  --mount=type=bind,from=mlocati/php-extension-installer:latest,source=/usr/bin/install-php-extensions,target=/usr/local/bin/install-php-extensions \
      install-php-extensions gd xdebug

Warning: by using this method you may use an outdated version of the Docker image image. You may want to run docker pull ghcr.io/mlocati/php-extension-installer or docker pull mlocati/php-extension-installer in order to use an up-to-date version.

Simply append -<version> to the module name. For example:

install-php-extensions xdebug-2.9.7

The script also supports resolving compatible versions by prefixing the version with a caret (^). For example:

# Install the most recent xdebug 2.x version (for example 2.9.8)
install-php-extensions xdebug-^2
# Install the most recent xdebug 2.8.x version (for example 2.8.1)
install-php-extensions xdebug-^2.8

Please remark that with the syntax above you'll get the very latest compatible version, which may be unstable. In order to install the most recent stable version, you can append @stable:

# Install the most recent STABLE xdebug 3.x version (for example 3.2.2)
install-php-extensions xdebug-^3@stable

(valid suffixes are: @snapshot, @devel, @alpha, @beta, and @stable)

Pre-release versions extensions available on PECL can be setup by suffixing the extension's name with its state i.e. alpha, beta, rc, preview, devel or snapshot. For example:

install-php-extensions xdebug-beta

TIP: When the latest version available on PECL is not stable, and you want to keep the last stable version, force it by suffixing the extension's name with the stable state. For example:

install-php-extensions mongodb-stable

You can also install PHP extensions from source code (provided that it comes with a package.xml or a package2.xml file).

Accepted formats are:

• A short version for repositories hosted on GitHub.
  For example, for the php-memcached-dev/php-memcached GitHub repository, you can simply write:

  # Install from a specific commit (full commit SHA-1)
  install-php-extensions php-memcached-dev/php-memcached@8f106564e6bb005ca6100b12ccc89000daafa9d8
  # Install from a specific commit (short commit SHA-1)
  install-php-extensions php-memcached-dev/php-memcached@8f106564e6bb
  # Install from tag v3.2.0RC2
  install-php-extensions php-memcached-dev/php-memcached@v3.2.0RC2
  install-php-extensions php-memcached-dev/php-memcached@refs/tags/v3.2.0RC2
  # Install from branch master
  install-php-extensions php-memcached-dev/php-memcached@master
  install-php-extensions php-memcached-dev/php-memcached@refs/heads/master

• An URL providing an archive containing the source code.
  Examples:

  # tgz archive for commit 8f106564e6bb005ca6100b12ccc89000daafa9d8
  install-php-extensions https://codeload.github.com/php-memcached-dev/php-memcached/tar.gz/8f106564e6bb005ca6100b12ccc89000daafa9d8
  # tgz archive for tag v3.1.5
  install-php-extensions https://codeload.github.com/php-memcached-dev/php-memcached/tar.gz/refs/tags/v3.1.5
  # tgz archive for branch master
  install-php-extensions https://codeload.github.com/php-memcached-dev/php-memcached/tar.gz/refs/heads/master

• The absolute path of a local directory.
  Examples:

  # Download the source code
  curl -o /tmp/source.tgz https://codeload.github.com/php-memcached-dev/php-memcached/tar.gz/refs/tags/v3.1.5
  tar xzf /tmp/source.tgz -C /tmp
  install-php-extensions /tmp/php-memcached-3.1.5
  

There are some extensions that are bundled in the PHP source code (for example, gd and zip).

Some of these extensions are also available on PECL and/or a source code repository.

By default, install-php-extensions installs the bundled version.

If instead you want to use a remote version:

• for using PECL: just append the stability to the package name. For example:

  install-php-extensions zip-stable
  

• for installing from source code: use the syntax specified above. For example:

  install-php-extensions php/pecl-database-oci8@7aa1061
  

install-php-extensions supports installing remote versions instead of bundled ones for these extensions:

• pdo_oci
• oci8
• zip

You can also install composer, and you also can specify a major version of it, or a full version.

Examples:

# Install the latest version
install-php-extensions @composer
# Install the latest 1.x version
install-php-extensions @composer-1
# Install a specific version
install-php-extensions @composer-2.0.2

The root CA certificate of Let's Encrypt changes (more details here).
That breaks old linux distributions, namely:

• Debian Jessie (8)
• Debian Stretch (9)
• Alpine Linux 3.7
• Alpine Linux 3.8

This script can fix this issue: simply pass @fix_letsencrypt as an argument:

install-php-extensions @fix_letsencrypt

Number of supported extensions: 162

PS: the pre-installed PHP extensions are excluded from this list. You can list them with the following command (change php:8.5-cli to reflect the PHP version you are interested in):

$ docker run --rm php:8.5-cli php -m
[PHP Modules]
Core
ctype
curl
date
dom
fileinfo
filter
hash
iconv
json
lexbor
libxml
mbstring
mysqlnd
openssl
pcre
PDO
pdo_sqlite
Phar
posix
random
readline
Reflection
session
SimpleXML
sodium
SPL
sqlite3
standard
tokenizer
uri
xml
xmlreader
xmlwriter
Zend OPcache
zlib

[Zend Modules]
Zend OPcache

You can configure the behavior of the script, as well as fine-tune some extensions in order fit your needs, by using environment variables.

Here's an example:

IPE_LZF_BETTERCOMPRESSION=1 install-php-extensions lzf

Here's the list of all the supported environment variables:

Some extensions have special requirements:

You can run this command:

cat /etc/os-release

For example:

• for Debian 11 (Bullseye) you'll see:

  PRETTY_NAME="Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye)"

• for Alpine Linux 3.14 you'll see:

  PRETTY_NAME="Alpine Linux v3.14"

When submitting a pull request, a GitHub Action is executed to check if affected PHP extensions actually work (see below).

Furthermore, we also check that new versions of extensions in the PECL repository will still work. This is done on a scheduled basis with another GitHub Action.
In case of failure, a message is sent to a Telegram Channel.
Feel free to subscribe to it to receive failure notifications.

See the CONTIBUTING.md file.

See the MAINTAINERS.md file.

You can offer me a monthly coffee or a one-time coffee 😉