Install Shopware with Docker

By the end of this section, you will have an empty running Shopware instance and can immediately start developing.

INFO

For information about using Docker in production, see Docker for production. To contribute to the Shopware platform itself, visit the Contribution guide.

Prerequisites

• Install and run either Docker or OrbStack. OrbStack is a fast, Docker-compatible alternative for macOS (free for personal use).
• Ensure Docker has permission to bind to local ports (typically :80 or :8080) and that no conflicting services are already using these ports. (Mac/Linux example: lsof -iTCP:80 -sTCP:LISTEN; Windows example: -aon | findstr :80)
• Install make:

# Ubuntu
apt install make

# macOS
brew install make

This Docker setup includes the Shopware CLI, which helps build, refactor, validate, and manage Shopware projects and extensions. It works with all setups and is used in most Shopware upgrade, build, and CI workflows. The CLI is available in the container shell.

Pre-pull Docker image (optional)

If you haven’t yet downloaded the Shopware Docker image, pull it now:

docker pull ghcr.io/shopware/docker-dev:php8.3-node24-caddy

If this step is skipped, Docker automatically downloads the image during project creation. Pre-pulling can make the process cleaner and help avoid waiting for large image downloads.

Create a new Shopware project

Create an empty directory for your project and navigate to it:

mkdir my-project && cd my-project

Create a new Shopware project in your current directory:

docker run --rm -it -v $PWD:/var/www/html ghcr.io/shopware/docker-dev:php8.3-node24-caddy new-shopware-setup

To use a specific version of Shopware (optional), run:

docker run --rm -it -v $PWD:/var/www/html ghcr.io/shopware/docker-dev:php8.3-node24-caddy new-shopware-setup 6.6.10.0

This step creates your Shopware project using PHP and Composer inside the Docker image. It generates a ready-to-use setup including compose.yaml and a Makefile, so you don’t need to install PHP or Composer yourself locally.

INFO

The Docker setup installs development dependencies (require-dev) and shopware/dev-tools. This enables the Symfony profiler, demo data, linting tools, and test tooling.

Project creation takes a few minutes. When prompted in the terminal, you will see:

"Do you want to use Elasticsearch? (y/N)"

Shopware supports an Elasticsearch-compatible search engine to improve performance for extensive catalogs and advanced search features.

If you choose y, the Docker setup starts an Elasticsearch-compatible search service (OpenSearch) as part of your stack.

If you choose N, Shopware will use MariaDB for search, which is sufficient for local testing or small datasets.

Install Shopware

After creating your project, you must install Shopware inside your containers. Run the commands below to initialize the database, generate configuration files, and create the default admin user.

First, start the containers:

make up

This command starts Shopware and all required services (web server, database, search, Mailpit, etc.) in the background. Docker images already include all required PHP extensions and services, so the system-check step of the installer is always fulfilled.

You can check the container status anytime with the following command:

docker compose ps

“Healthy” means the service passed its internal health check and is ready to use. If the check doesn't pass, troubleshoot by consulting Docker documentation on health checks and inspect command.

Once the containers are running, install Shopware with the following command:

make setup

INFO

What happens during make setup:

• The Makefile runs the Shopware installer inside the web container
• Shopware is installed automatically (no browser wizard required)
• A MariaDB database is created
• An admin user is created, with username admin and password shopware
• Required services (database, search, mail, etc.) are preconfigured and run inside the Docker
• The Shopware project is configured to connect to the database via the Docker service name database
• Database credentials are defined in the compose.yaml
• If search was enabled during project creation, an Elasticsearch-compatible search service runs as part of the Docker stack

Verify that the installation completed successfully by opening http://localhost:8000.

Use the following commands to manage the development environment:

# Start the environment
make up

# Stop the environment
make down

# Fully reset the environment ( "-v" flag removes containers, networks, and volumes - all stored data will be lost)
docker compose down -v

You now have a running, empty Shopware instance. Before proceeding with development, review the project to understand its structure.