{"id":49078,"date":"2025-04-11T13:37:04","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T13:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/?p=49078"},"modified":"2025-07-12T05:38:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T05:38:39","slug":"production-ready-setup-apache-laravel-docker-dynamic-reverse-proxy-for-multiple-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/production-ready-setup-apache-laravel-docker-dynamic-reverse-proxy-for-multiple-users\/","title":{"rendered":"Production-Ready Setup: Apache + Laravel + Docker + Dynamic Reverse Proxy for Multiple Users"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This updated guide explains how to implement a scalable, production-ready setup<\/strong> where each user gets a Docker container and unique subdomain like user123.wizbrand.com<\/code>, without creating new Apache VirtualHosts for each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\u2705 1. Apache Configuration (Dynamic Reverse Proxy)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Apache Modules (Enable Once)<\/h3>\n\n\n
sudo a2enmod proxy\nsudo a2enmod proxy_http\nsudo a2enmod rewrite\nsudo systemctl restart apache2\n<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n
Apache Wildcard VirtualHost (Single File)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Edit \/opt\/lampp\/etc\/extra\/httpd-vhosts.conf<\/code> or \/etc\/apache2\/sites-available\/000-default.conf<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n
<VirtualHost *:80<\/span>>\n    ServerName wizbrand.com\n    ServerAlias *.wizbrand.com\n\n    ProxyPreserveHost On\n    RewriteEngine On\n\n    # Extract user ID from subdomain (e.g., user123)<\/span>\n    RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^user([0<\/span>-9<\/span>]+)\\.wizbrand\\.com$ [NC]\n    RewriteRule ^\/(.*)$ http:\/\/127.0.0.1:9%1\/$1 [P,L]<\/span>\n\n    ProxyPassReverse \/ http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/<\/span>\n<\/VirtualHost>\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Restart Apache:<\/p>\n\n\n
sudo systemctl restart apache2\n<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\u2705 2. Laravel Controller to Spawn Container and Return URL<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Create ContainerController.php<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n
namespace<\/span> App<\/span>\\Http<\/span>\\Controllers<\/span>;\n\nuse<\/span> Illuminate<\/span>\\Http<\/span>\\Request<\/span>;\nuse<\/span> Illuminate<\/span>\\Support<\/span>\\Facades<\/span>\\Auth<\/span>;\n\nclass<\/span> ContainerController<\/span> extends<\/span> Controller<\/span>\n<\/span>{\n    public<\/span> function<\/span> createUserContainer<\/span>(Request $request)<\/span>\n    <\/span>{\n        $user = Auth::user();\n        $containerName = 'user-'<\/span> . $user->id;\n        $port = 9000<\/span> + $user->id;\n\n        \/\/ Start Docker container mapped to unique port<\/span>\n        shell_exec(\"docker run -d -p {$port}:80 --name {$containerName} my-image\"<\/span>);\n\n        \/\/ Return container's unique URL<\/span>\n        return<\/span> response()->json([\n            'url'<\/span> => \"http:\/\/user{$user->id}.wizbrand.com\"<\/span>\n        ]);\n    }\n}\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Add Laravel Route (routes\/web.php<\/code>)<\/h3>\n\n\n
Route::get('\/create-container'<\/span>, [ContainerController::class, 'createUserContainer'<\/span>])->middleware('auth'<\/span>);\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\u2705 3. Domain Setup (Production)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In your domain provider’s DNS (e.g., GoDaddy, Cloudflare), add:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Type<\/th>Name<\/th>Value<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
A<\/td>*<\/code><\/td>your_server_ip<\/code><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
This wildcard allows user123.wizbrand.com<\/code> \u2192 your server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\u2705 4. Local Testing Setup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Add to \/etc\/hosts<\/code> (on dev machine)<\/h3>\n\n\n
127.0<\/span>.0<\/span>.1<\/span> user123<\/span>.wizbrand<\/span>.com<\/span>\n127.0<\/span>.0<\/span>.1<\/span> user456<\/span>.wizbrand<\/span>.com<\/span>\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> CSS<\/span> (<\/span>css<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Or use:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • nip.io<\/code>: user123.127.0.0.1.nip.io<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • sslip.io<\/code>: user123.127.0.0.1.sslip.io<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n
    \u2705 5. Docker Image Assumptions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • Exposes port 80<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Named my-image<\/code> or configured dynamically<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      Example container:<\/p>\n\n\n
      docker<\/span> run<\/span> -d<\/span> -p<\/span> 9123:80<\/span> --name<\/span> user-123<\/span> my-image<\/span>\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> CSS<\/span> (<\/span>css<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
      \n\n\n\n
      \u2705 6. Test Script (Optional Bash)<\/h2>\n\n\n
      #!\/bin\/bash<\/span>\nUSER_ID=$1<\/span>\nPORT=$((9000<\/span> + USER_ID))\nCONTAINER=\"user-${USER_ID}\"<\/span>\n\n# Launch container<\/span>\nsudo docker run -d -p ${PORT}:80<\/span> --name ${CONTAINER} my-image\n\n# Access URL<\/span>\necho<\/span> \"Container for user ${USER_ID} available at: http:\/\/user${USER_ID}.wizbrand.com\"<\/span>\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
      Usage:<\/p>\n\n\n
      .\/create-container.sh 123\n<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n
      \n\n\n\n
      \ud83e\udde0 Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      Component<\/th>Role<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
      Apache (Wildcard)<\/td>Dynamic proxy via subdomain-to-port<\/td><\/tr>
      Laravel<\/td>Container creator & subdomain router<\/td><\/tr>
      Docker<\/td>User-specific environments<\/td><\/tr>
      DNS (Wildcard)<\/td>Resolves all subdomains to one IP<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
      This approach is clean, scalable, reload-free, and requires just one Apache config<\/strong> regardless of user count. Let me know if you’d like to add Let’s Encrypt SSL automation, container auto-cleanup, or database tracking next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
      This updated guide explains how to implement a scalable, production-ready setup where each user gets a Docker container and unique subdomain like user123.wizbrand.com, without creating new Apache VirtualHosts for each…. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[4862],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-docker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49078"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49079,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49078\/revisions\/49079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}