Skip to content

Local Development Environments#

Note

You do not need to install Lagoon locally to use it locally! Lagoon is the system that deploys your local dev environment to your production environment, it's not the environment itself.

Local dev environments can be used to shorten the development cycle for applications by not requiring full deployments anytime a code change needs testing. Lagoon deploys standard Docker images, which can be run locally with just Docker and Docker Compose.

Docker lacks features that provide for a nice local development experience, so advanced local dev products have been created to provide, among other things:

  • Reverse proxy for memorable URLs and HTTPS support.
  • DNS service to resolve local URLs.
  • SSH agent to use SSH keys within containers.
  • Mail service to intercept and display emails locally.

Some local dev products, listed below, have enhanced support for Lagoon.

Drupal#

Pygmy Stack#

The Pygmy Stack is an open source, minimal cli tool on top of Docker that runs Lagoon Docker images and provides the previouly mentioned local dev features. Recommended for those that prefer mimicking production environments over features.

Lagoon integration:

  • Runs same Docker images locally as are running in Lagoon.
  • Automatic settings from Lagoon config files.

Read more about pygmy usage or installation.

Lando#

Lando is an open source, advanced cli tool for local dev environments and DevOps. It's customizable via plugins and config. Recommended for those that want to mimick production environments with extra features, and don't mind the complexity that comes with that.

Lagoon integration:

  • Runs some of the same Docker images locally as are running in Lagoon.
  • Automatic settings from Lagoon config files.
  • lando push/pull can sync with a Lagoon environment.
  • Lagoon cli and lagoon-sync included.

Read more about the Lando Lagoon plugin.

DDEV#

DDEV is an open source, advanced cli and tui for Docker-based PHP development environments. It has a large feature set and an extensive set of add-ons. Recommended for those that prefer ease of use and a large community over production similarity.

Lagoon integration:

  • ddev push/pull can sync with a Lagoon environment.
  • Lagoon cli and lagoon-sync included.

Read more about the DDEV and Lagoon integration.

Other#

Other local dev systems like Docksal or Docker4Drupal don't have explicit Lagoon support, but may still work using standard ssh and/or rsync.

Laravel#

Sail#

Laravel Sail is a light-weight command-line interface for interacting with Laravel's default Docker development environment. Sail provides a great starting point for building a Laravel application using PHP, MySQL, and Redis without requiring prior Docker experience.

Lagoon integration:

  • sailonlagoon simplifies the process of Lagoonizing Laravel Sail projects.