inception – A Docker Infrastructure Project

Inception – Docker Infrastructure Project A system administration and DevOps project to build a secure, multi-service Docker environment using Docker Compose inside a virtual machine. This project aims to deepen your understanding of system administration, containerization, and Docker networking. You will virtualize several services using Docker, configure them securely, and run them in isolated containers — all within a Debian-based virtual machine.

The architecture includes:

• NGINX with HTTPS
• WordPress with PHP-FPM
• MariaDB as the database engine
• Docker volumes and networks for persistent and isolated infrastructure

Tech Stack

• Docker & Docker Compose
• Debian 11 "Bullseye" (penultimate stable)
• NGINX with TLSv1.2+ only
• PHP-FPM for WordPress
• MariaDB (no NGINX inside DB container)
• Self-signed SSL via OpenSSL
• Volumes for data persistence
• Auto-restarting containers

Project Requirements Checklist

• Custom Dockerfiles for each service (no image pulling except Alpine/Debian)
• Use of Debian 11 as base image
• Docker Compose setup via Makefile
• TLSv1.2+ support via NGINX on port 443 only
• WordPress + PHP-FPM container
• MariaDB container with init config
• 2 named volumes (DB & WordPress files)
• Secure credentials using environment variables
• Restart policies for all containers
• No tail -f, infinite loops, or bash loops in entrypoints
• .env file for config separation
• No use of latest Docker tags

Security Best Practices

• No credentials hardcoded in Dockerfiles
• Use .env + Docker secrets (optionally) to secure passwords
• TLS enforced by NGINX (self-signed certs via OpenSSL)
• Admin username restrictions for WordPress

Directory Structure

.
├── Makefile
├── docker-compose.yml
├── .env
├── srcs/
│   ├── nginx/
│   │   ├── Dockerfile
│   │   └── default.conf
│   ├── wordpress/
│   │   ├── Dockerfile
│   │   └── wp-config.php
│   ├── mariadb/
│   │   ├── Dockerfile
│   │   └── custom-init.sql
└── data/
    ├── db/        # Volume for MariaDB data
    └── wp/        # Volume for WordPress files

Setup Instructions

All steps must be done inside a Debian VM (e.g., VirtualBox).

1. Clone the repository

git clone .................
cd inception

2. Configure the .env file Set all necessary environment variables

  DOMAIN=yourlogin.42.fr
  WP_ADMIN_USER=myadmin
  WP_ADMIN_PASS=securepassword
  WP_DB_NAME=wordpress
  WP_DB_USER=wp_user
  WP_DB_PASS=wp_password
  MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=rootpass

3. Build and Run the Infrastructure

make

This will:

• Build custom Docker images
• Start all services via docker-compose
• Mount data volumes to /home/yourlogin/data/

Project Status

Submission and peer evaluation is done. Secured 101%