Use DDEV for local development

DDEV is an open-source tool for local development environments. It allows you to use Docker in your workflows while maintaining a GitOps workflow. You get fully containerized environments to run everything locally without having to install tools (including the Platform.sh CLI, PHP, and Composer) on your machine.

This guide assumes you have a project already running with Platform.sh and you have the code on your computer.

If you’re starting from scratch, first create a project from a PHP template.

Before you begin

Make sure your computer meets the system requirements for DDEV.

For the integration to run smoothly, you also need the following tools:

• jq
• base64
• perl

If you don’t have these already installed, use your normal package manager.

1. Install DDEV

To install DDEV, follow the DDEV documentation for your operating system.

This installs the self-contained ddev command-line interface (CLI). For more information on ddev, run ddev help.

2. Add DDEV configuration to your project

Get basic configuration set up for your project by running the following command:

ddev config

If you started with a Drupal template, your repository already had DDEV configuration files. Otherwise, you have to answer a couple of questions about what your repository is so the correct files are added.

3. Add an API token

To connect DDEV with your Platform.sh account, use a Platform.sh API token.

First create an API token in the Console.

Then add the token to your DDEV configuration. You can do so globally (easiest for most people):

ddev config global --web-environment-add=PLATFORMSH
_CLI_TOKEN=API_TOKEN

You can also add the token only to the project:

ddev config --web-environment-add=PLATFORMSH
_CLI_TOKEN=API_TOKEN

4. Connect DDEV to your project

The best way to connect your local DDEV to your Platform.sh project is through the Platform.sh DDEV add-on. To add it, run the following command:

ddev get ddev/ddev-platformsh

Answer the interactive prompts with your project ID and the name of the environment to pull data from.

With the add-on, you can now run ddev platform <command> from your computer without needing to install the Platform.sh CLI.

5. Optional: Get your project data

To get your environment data (files, database), run the following command:

ddev pull platform

To skip pulling files, add --skip-files to the command. To skip pulling a database, add --skip-db to the command.

6. Run your project

Now your project is ready to run:

ddev start

This runs all your hooks and builds your project like on Platform.sh.

The command returns the project URL http://PROJECT_NAME.ddev.site/ as well as a specific port on http://127.0.0.1. To see your project running, open one of these URLs.

What’s next

You’ve got a project running on a local web server. Now you can add customizations. For more ideas and options, see the DDEV documentation.

Add environment variables

If your project requires environment variables for its hooks or runtime, add them to the project’s DDEV environment:

web_environment:
    - VARIABLE_NAME: VALUE

To apply your changes, run the following command:

ddev restart