Setting Up a Basic PHP Development Environment on Fedora 44

1. Update the system

Start by updating all system packages:

sudo dnf update -y

After the update finishes, reboot the system if Fedora installs a new kernel or important system libraries:

sudo reboot

2. Install basic development tools

Install common utilities such as Git, Vim, cURL, ZSH, and basic build tools:

sudo dnf install -y vim curl git zsh gcc gcc-c++ make pkgconf-pkg-config

Check the installed versions:

git --version
vim --version
zsh --version

3. Install and configure Oh My ZSH

Install Oh My ZSH to improve the terminal experience:

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

During the installation, the script may ask whether you want to set ZSH as your default shell. Choose: Y. You may also be asked for your password to confirm the shell change.

If you need to change the shell manually later, run:

chsh -s "$(which zsh)"

Then log out and log back in.

4. Install PHP build dependencies

Because PHP installed through mise is usually compiled locally, you need development libraries and build dependencies. Install the required packages:

sudo dnf install -y \
  autoconf \
  bison \
  clang \
  gd-devel \
  libcurl-devel \
  libpq-devel \
  libxml2-devel \
  libzip-devel \
  oniguruma-devel \
  openssl-devel \
  readline-devel \
  re2c \
  sqlite-devel \
  libsodium-devel \
  libicu-devel \
  bzip2-devel \
  libjpeg-turbo-devel \
  libpng-devel \
  libwebp-devel \
  freetype-devel

These packages provide support for common PHP extensions such as: curl, gd, intl, mbstring, openssl, pdo_pgsql, pdo_sqlite, readline, sodium, zip.

5. Install mise

mise is a version manager for development tools and languages. It can replace tools like ASDF, NVM, pyenv, rbenv, and similar version managers. Enable the mise COPR repository and install it:

sudo dnf copr enable jdxcode/mise -y
sudo dnf install -y mise

Verify the installation:

mise --version

6. Activate mise in ZSH

Add mise activation to your ZSH configuration:

echo 'eval "$(mise activate zsh)"' >> "${ZDOTDIR-$HOME}/.zshrc"

Reload your shell:

exec zsh

Then run:

mise doctor

This command helps verify whether mise is correctly configured.

7. Install PHP 8.5 with mise

Install PHP 8.5 globally:

mise use --global php@8.5

This command installs the latest available PHP 8.5 patch release and sets it as the global default version.

Check the installed PHP version:

php -v

You should see something similar to: PHP 8.5.x

Check PHP modules:

php -m

Check PHP configuration:

php --ini

8. Configure PHP per project

For project-specific PHP versions, go to your project folder:

mkdir ~/Projects/my-php-app
cd ~/Projects/my-php-app

Set PHP 8.5 only for this project:

mise use php@8.5

This creates or updates a mise.toml file in the project directory. Example:

[tools]
php = "8.5"

Now, whenever you enter this project folder, mise will use PHP 8.5. Verify it:

php -v
mise current

9. Install Composer

Composer is the standard dependency manager for PHP. Install Composer using the official installer:

php -r "copy('https://getcomposer.org/installer', 'composer-setup.php');"
php composer-setup.php
php -r "unlink('composer-setup.php');"

Move Composer to a global executable path:

sudo mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer

Verify the installation:

composer --version

10. Install Docker Engine

First, remove conflicting Docker packages if they exist:

sudo dnf remove -y \
  docker \
  docker-client \
  docker-client-latest \
  docker-common \
  docker-latest \
  docker-latest-logrotate \
  docker-logrotate \
  docker-selinux \
  docker-engine-selinux \
  docker-engine

Add the official Docker repository:

sudo dnf config-manager addrepo --from-repofile https://download.docker.com/linux/fedora/docker-ce.repo

Install Docker Engine, Docker CLI, containerd, Buildx, and Docker Compose plugin:

sudo dnf install -y \
  docker-ce \
  docker-ce-cli \
  containerd.io \
  docker-buildx-plugin \
  docker-compose-plugin

Enable and start Docker:

sudo systemctl enable --now docker

Verify Docker:

sudo docker run hello-world

11. Run Docker without sudo

Add your user to the Docker group:

sudo usermod -aG docker "$USER"

Apply the group change:

newgrp docker

Test Docker without sudo:

docker run hello-world

If this does not work immediately, log out and log back in.

12. Verify Docker Compose

Docker Compose is installed as a Docker CLI plugin. Check the version:

docker compose version

Example usage:

docker compose up -d

13. Create a basic PHP test project

Create a simple PHP file:

mkdir -p ~/Projects/php-test
cd ~/Projects/php-test
mise use php@8.5

Create index.php:

cat > index.php << 'PHP'
<?php
echo "PHP version: " . PHP_VERSION . PHP_EOL;
PHP

Run it:

php index.php

Start PHP's built-in development server:

php -S localhost:8000

Open in the browser: http://localhost:8000

14. Optional: create a Docker Compose file for local development

Inside your project folder, create a compose.yaml file:

cat > compose.yaml << 'YAML'
services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:17
    container_name: php_dev_postgres
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: app
      POSTGRES_USER: app
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: secret
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
  redis:
    image: redis:8
    container_name: php_dev_redis
    ports:
      - "6379:6379"
volumes:
  postgres_data:
YAML

Start the services:

docker compose up -d

Check running containers:

docker compose ps

Stop the services:

docker compose down

15. Useful commands

• Check the active PHP version: php -v
• List mise-managed tools: mise ls
• Show the current active tool versions: mise current
• Install tools defined in a project: mise install
• Update system packages: sudo dnf update -y
• Update mise-managed tools: mise upgrade
• Check Docker status: systemctl status docker

Final setup summary

After completing this setup, Fedora 44 will have:

• Updated system packages
• Git, Vim, cURL, and ZSH
• Oh My ZSH
• mise for runtime version management
• PHP 8.5 installed through mise
• Composer
• Docker Engine
• Docker Compose plugin
• A basic structure for local PHP development

This setup is suitable for PHP projects using frameworks such as Laravel, Symfony, Slim, or custom PHP applications.