Why host a Docker Dev Stack on a VPS?
A local development environment works, but it remains tied to a single machine: switching workstations, onboarding a new collaborator or accessing it from another country all become points of friction. By centralizing your Docker stack on a VPS, you have a shared development server, always on, accessible via SSH or browser from anywhere. You also gain in reproducibility: each service is defined in a docker-compose.yml file, which eliminates the notorious « it works on my machine » problem.
What you can do with a Docker Dev Stack
- Run several services simultaneously (Nginx, MySQL, Redis, PHP-FPM, Node.js) in isolated containers without port or version conflicts
- Share an identical development environment among all members of a team thanks to the docker-compose.yml file versioned in Git
- Test database migrations or dependency updates in an ephemeral container without risking the main environment
- Host a lightweight CI/CD server (Gitea, Drone CI) directly on the same VPS to automate your internal deployments
- Access your development services via subdomains or Traefik/Nginx reverse proxies without opening unnecessary ports
- Back up and restore your entire stack in a few commands thanks to Docker volumes and VPS snapshots
Install a Docker Dev Stack on your ServOrbit VPS
Order a ServOrbit Cloud VPS
Go to the /vps-cloud page and choose a plan suited to your usage. For a standard development stack (a few containers, database, reverse proxy), a VPS with 2 vCPU and 4 GB of RAM is a good starting point. Finalize the order: your VPS is provisioned in under 60 seconds on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
Access the Marketplace in your client area
Log in to your ServOrbit client area, then open the « Marketplace » section from your VPS dashboard. The Marketplace lists all the applications available for 1-click installation, organized by category. Select the « Development » category to filter dev-oriented stacks.
Start the Docker Dev Stack installation
Click the « Docker Dev Stack » card, then the « Install » button. The automation deploys Docker Engine, Docker Compose and a preconfigured docker-compose.yml file with the essential services (Nginx, PHP-FPM, MySQL 8, Redis, Mailpit for email testing). The full installation usually takes between 2 and 4 minutes depending on the VPS size.
Retrieve your credentials and access the interface
Once the installation is complete, the client area displays the automatically generated connection details: VPS IP address, MySQL root password, and the access URL for Mailpit (by default on port 8025). Connect via SSH with ssh root@<IP_VPS> to check the container status via docker compose ps in the /opt/docker-dev-stack directory.
Configure your first project and customize the stack
Copy your source code into /opt/docker-dev-stack/app/ or edit the /opt/docker-dev-stack/docker-compose.yml file to add or remove services according to your needs. Restart the stack with docker compose up -d to apply the changes. To expose your services on a domain name, configure a DNS record pointing to your VPS IP and adapt the Nginx configuration included in the /opt/docker-dev-stack/nginx/ directory.
Pro tip: enable automatic snapshots on your ServOrbit VPS before making deep changes to the Docker configuration. A snapshot lets you revert to a stable state in one click if a container update or a Compose file change breaks your environment. Also remember to use a .env file to store your sensitive variables (passwords, API keys) and to exclude it from your Git repository via .gitignore — even on a development server, it is a good habit to anchor from the start.
The official documentation
For advanced configuration, tool-specific options and version changes, refer to the official Docker Compose documentation. This guide covers going live on a ServOrbit VPS; the vendor documentation remains the reference for fine-tuning.
