Create your first project

[!IMPORTANT] Ensure you have read getting-started-directory-overview to understand what is going on under the hood.

[!NOTE] This section not only applies for one project, it applied for as many projects as you need. There is no limit in the number of projects.

Step 1: visit Intranet vhost page

Before starting, have a look at the vhost page at http://localhost/vhosts.php or http://127.0.0.1/vhosts.php

howto-find-docker-toolbox-ip-address

It should look like the screenshot below and will actually already provide the information needed to create a new project.

Step 2: create a project directory

In your Devilbox git directory, navigate to ./data/www and create a new directory.

[!NOTE] Choose the directory name wisely, as it will be part of the domain for that project. For this example we will use project-1 as our project name.

# navigate to your Devilbox git directory
host> cd path/to devilbox

# navigate to the data directory
host> cd data/www

# create a new project directory named: project-1
host> mkdir project-1

Visit the vhost page again and see what has changed: http://localhost/vhosts.php

Devilbox intranet: misssing htdocs directory — Devilbox intranet: misssing `htdocs` directory

So what has happened?

By having created a project directory, the web server container has created a new virtual host. However it has noticed, that the actual document root directory does not yet exist and therefore it cannot serve any files yet.

Step 3: create a docroot directory

[!NOTE] As desribed in getting-started-directory-overview-docroot the docroot directory name must be htdocs for now.

Navigate to your newly created project directory and create a directory named htdocs inside it.

# navigate to your Devilbox git directory
host> cd path/to devilbox

# navigate to your above created project directory
host> cd data/www/project-1

# create the docroot directory
host> mkdir htdocs

Vist the vhost page again and see what has changed: http://localhost/vhosts.php

So what has happened?

By having created the docroot directory, the web server is now able to serve your files. However it has noticed, that you have no way yet, to actually visit your project url, as no DNS record for it exists yet.

The intranet already gives you the exact string that you can simply copy into your /etc/hosts (or C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc for Windows) file on your host operating system to solve this issue.

Step 4: create a DNS entry

[!NOTE] This step can also be automated via the bundled DNS server to automatically provide catch-all DNS entries to your host computer, but is outside the scope of this getting started tutorial.

When using native Docker, the Devilbox intranet will provide you the exact string you need to paste into your /etc/hosts (or C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc for Windows).

# Open your /etc/hosts file with sudo or root privileges
# and add the following DNS entry
host> sudo vi /etc/hosts

127.0.0.1 project-1.loc

howto-add-project-hosts-entry-on-mac
howto-add-project-hosts-entry-on-win

Vist the vhost page again and see what has changed: http://localhost/vhosts.php

Devilbox intranet: vhost setup successfully

So what has happened?

By having created the DNS record, the Devilbox intranet is aware that everything is setup now and gives you a link to your new project.

Step 5: visit your project

On the intranet, click on your project link. This will open your project in a new Browser tab or visit http://project-1.loc

Devilbox project: misssing index.php or index.html — Devilbox project: misssing `index.php` or `index.html`

So what has happened?

Everything is setup now, however the webserver is trying to find a index.php file in your document root which does not yet exist.

So all is left for you to do is to add your HTML or PHP files.

Step 6: create a hello world file

Navigate to your docroot directory within your project and create a index.php file with some output.

# navigate to your Devilbox git directory
host> cd path/to devilbox

# navigate to your projects docroot directory
host> cd data/www/project-1/htdocs

# Create a hello world index.php file
host> echo "<?php echo 'hello world';" > index.php

Alternatively create an index.php file in data/www/project-1/htdocs with the following contents:

<?php echo 'hello world';

Visit your project url again and see what has changed: http://project-1.loc

Devilbox project: hello world on index.php — Devilbox project: hello world on `index.php`

Checklist

Project directory is created
Docroot directory is created
DNS entry is added to the host operating system
PHP files are added to your docroot directory

troubleshooting

Further examples

If you already want to know how to setup specific frameworks on the Devilbox, jump directly to their articles:

Well tested frameworks on the Devilbox

example-setup-cakephp
example-setup-codeigniter
example-setup-craftcms
example-setup-drupal
example-setup-expressionengine
example-setup-joomla
example-setup-laravel
example-setup-magento
example-setup-phalcon
example-setup-photon-cms
example-setup-presta-shop
example-setup-shopware
example-setup-symfony
example-setup-typo3
example-setup-wordpress
example-setup-yii
example-setup-zend

Generic information for all unlisted frameworks

example-setup-other-frameworks