Self-Hosting PrestaShop with Docker Compose

What PrestaShop Is

PrestaShop is an open-source e-commerce platform that competes directly with Shopify and WooCommerce. It provides a complete online store — product catalog, shopping cart, checkout, order management, customer accounts, and invoicing — all built in. No monthly SaaS fees, no transaction cuts, no feature gates.

PrestaShop 9.x is the current major version, running on PHP 8.2+ with a modernized admin interface. Over 300,000 stores run on PrestaShop worldwide, with a module marketplace of 5,000+ extensions for payment gateways, shipping, marketing, and analytics.

Prerequisites

• Linux server (Ubuntu 22.04+ or Debian 12+)
• Docker and Docker Compose installed (guide)
• 2 GB RAM minimum (4 GB recommended for production)
• 10 GB disk space (plus product images and media)
• A domain name for your store

Docker Compose Configuration

mkdir -p ~/prestashop && cd ~/prestashop

Create a .env file:

# Database
DB_PASSWORD=change-this-strong-password
DB_NAME=prestashop

# Admin account — CHANGE THESE
ADMIN_EMAIL=[email protected]
ADMIN_PASSWORD=YourStrongAdminPassword123!

# Store domain (without protocol)
PS_DOMAIN=shop.example.com

Create docker-compose.yml:

services:
  prestashop:
    image: prestashop/prestashop:9.0.3-apache
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      mysql:
        condition: service_healthy
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    environment:
      DB_SERVER: mysql
      DB_NAME: ${DB_NAME:-prestashop}
      DB_USER: prestashop
      DB_PASSWD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
      PS_INSTALL_AUTO: "1"
      PS_DOMAIN: ${PS_DOMAIN:-localhost:8080}
      PS_LANGUAGE: en
      PS_COUNTRY: US
      PS_ENABLE_SSL: "0"
      PS_DEV_MODE: "0"
      ADMIN_MAIL: ${ADMIN_EMAIL}
      ADMIN_PASSWD: ${ADMIN_PASSWORD}
      PS_FOLDER_ADMIN: admin-secure
    volumes:
      - ps-data:/var/www/html
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:80"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 5
      start_period: 120s

  mysql:
    image: mysql:8.0
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: --default-authentication-plugin=mysql_native_password
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
      MYSQL_DATABASE: ${DB_NAME:-prestashop}
      MYSQL_USER: prestashop
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - mysql-data:/var/lib/mysql
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "mysqladmin", "ping", "-h", "localhost", "-u", "root", "-p${DB_PASSWORD}"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

volumes:
  ps-data:
  mysql-data:

Start the stack:

docker compose up -d

First startup takes 2-3 minutes — PrestaShop runs the installer automatically when PS_INSTALL_AUTO=1 is set. Check progress with docker compose logs -f prestashop.

Initial Setup

1. Visit http://your-server:8080 — the storefront appears
2. Access the admin panel at http://your-server:8080/admin-secure/
3. Log in with the email and password from your .env file
4. Navigate to Shop Parameters → General to configure your store name, logo, and basic settings
5. Set up payment methods under Payment → Payment Methods
6. Configure shipping under Shipping → Carriers

Enabling SSL

Once you have a reverse proxy with SSL in front of PrestaShop:

1. Update .env: set PS_ENABLE_SSL=1 and PS_DOMAIN=shop.example.com
2. In the admin panel: Shop Parameters → General → enable “Enable SSL” and “Enable SSL on all pages”
3. Restart the container: docker compose restart prestashop

Key Configuration

Setting	Location	Default
Store name	Admin → Shop Parameters → General	”PrestaShop”
Default currency	Admin → International → Localization	EUR
Tax rules	Admin → International → Taxes	EU rules
Admin URL path	PS_FOLDER_ADMIN env var	admin-secure
Debug mode	PS_DEV_MODE env var	0 (off)
Auto-install	PS_INSTALL_AUTO env var	1 (on)

Modules and Themes

PrestaShop’s module marketplace has 5,000+ extensions. Install from the admin panel under Modules → Module Manager:

• PayPal Checkout — free, direct PayPal integration
• Stripe — credit card payments
• Google Analytics — traffic tracking
• SEO Expert — structured data, sitemap management
• One Page Checkout — streamlined checkout flow

Modules install into /var/www/html/modules/ inside the container. Since we’re using a named volume (ps-data), installed modules persist across container restarts.

Reverse Proxy with SSL

PrestaShop should run behind a reverse proxy for SSL. With Nginx Proxy Manager, point to http://prestashop:80 (using the container’s internal port). With Caddy:

shop.example.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:8080
}

After setting up SSL, enable it in the PrestaShop admin and update PS_DOMAIN to exclude the port number.

See Reverse Proxy Setup for full configuration guides.

Backup

Database

docker compose exec mysql mysqldump -u prestashop -p${DB_PASSWORD} prestashop > prestashop-backup.sql

Files

Product images, themes, and modules live in the ps-data volume:

docker run --rm -v prestashop_ps-data:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/ps-files-backup.tar.gz /data

Back up both the database and files. The database alone is not sufficient — product images are stored on the filesystem.

See Backup Strategy for automated backup scheduling.

Troubleshooting

Auto-install fails with database connection error

Symptom: Container starts but store shows the PrestaShop installer instead of auto-installing Fix: Wait for the MySQL health check to pass before PrestaShop starts. The depends_on condition handles this, but if MySQL is slow to initialize (first run), increase the start_period on the PrestaShop health check. Check logs: docker compose logs prestashop | grep -i error.

Admin panel shows blank page after SSL change

Symptom: After enabling SSL, the admin panel returns a white page Fix: Clear the PrestaShop cache: docker compose exec prestashop rm -rf /var/www/html/var/cache/*. If still broken, disable SSL via the database directly:

docker compose exec mysql mysql -u prestashop -p${DB_PASSWORD} prestashop -e "UPDATE ps_configuration SET value='0' WHERE name='PS_SSL_ENABLED';"

“caching_sha2_password” error

Symptom: PrestaShop can’t connect to MySQL 8 with authentication errors Fix: The --default-authentication-plugin=mysql_native_password flag in the MySQL command handles this. If you removed that flag, add it back.

Permission issues on volume mount

Symptom: PrestaShop can’t write files (module installs fail, image uploads fail) Fix: PrestaShop runs as www-data (UID 33). If using bind mounts instead of named volumes: sudo chown -R 33:33 ./ps-data.

Resource Requirements

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
RAM	1 GB (PrestaShop) + 512 MB (MySQL)	2 GB + 1 GB
CPU	1 vCPU	2+ vCPUs
Disk	5 GB + product media	20 GB+

PrestaShop is heavier than static site generators but lighter than Magento. A $10-20/month VPS handles a small-to-medium store comfortably.

Verdict

PrestaShop is the best self-hosted option for a traditional e-commerce store with a built-in admin panel. It ships everything you need — product management, inventory, orders, payments, shipping — out of the box. The module ecosystem fills any gaps.

Choose PrestaShop over Saleor or Medusa if you want an admin-panel-driven store (not headless/API-first). Choose it over WooCommerce if you don’t want to manage WordPress. For headless commerce with a custom frontend, look at the Saleor vs Medusa comparison instead.

Related

• WooCommerce vs PrestaShop: Which E-Commerce Platform?
• Saleor Docker Setup
• Medusa Docker Setup
• Saleor vs Medusa
• Best Self-Hosted E-Commerce Platforms
• Self-Hosted Alternatives to Shopify
• Docker Compose Basics
• Reverse Proxy Setup
• Backup Strategy