Using the ddev command line interface (CLI)

Type ddev or ddev -hin a terminal windows to see the available ddev commands. There are commands to configure a project, start, remove, describe, etc. Each command also has help. For example, ddev describe -h.

Quickstart Guides

These are quickstart instructions for generic PHP, WordPress, Drupal 6, Drupal 7, Drupal 8, TYPO3, and Backdrop.

Prerequisites: Before you start, follow the installation instructions. Make sure to check the system requirements, you will need docker and docker-compose to use ddev.

PHP Project Quickstart

DDEV works happily with most any PHP or static HTML project, although it has special additional support for several CMSs. But you don't need special support if you already know how to configure your project.

  1. Create a directory (mkdir my-new-project)
  2. cd into the directory
  3. ddev config
  4. Get initial code:
    • Clone your project into the current directory
    • Or build it with ddev composer create <package_name>
  5. ddev start
  6. Configure any database settings; host='db', user='db', password='db', database='db'
  7. If needed, import a database with ddev import-db
  8. Visit the project and continue on.

WordPress Quickstart

Git Clone Example

To get started using ddev with an existing WordPress project, clone the project's repository and checkout its directory:

git clone https://github.com/example-user/example-wordpress-site
cd example-wordpress-site

From here we can start setting up ddev. Inside your project's working directory, enter the command:

ddev config

Note: ddev config will prompt you for a project name, docroot, and project type.

After ddev config, you're ready to start running your project. Run ddev using:

ddev start

When ddev start runs, it outputs status messages to indicate the project environment is starting. When the startup is complete, ddev outputs a message like the one below with a link to access your project in a browser.

Successfully started example-wordpress-site
Your project can be reached at: http://example-wordpress-site.ddev.local and https://example-wordpress-site.ddev.local

Quickstart instructions regarding database imports can be found under Database Imports.

Composer Setup Example

mkdir my-wordpress-site
cd my-wordpress-site
ddev config --project-type=php
ddev composer create wordpress/skeleton --no-interaction --prefer-dist
ddev config --docroot=wp --project-type=wordpress
ddev restart

When ddev start runs, it outputs status messages to indicate the project environment is starting. When the startup is complete, ddev outputs a message like the one below with a link to access your project in a browser.

Successfully started my-wordpress-site
Your application can be reached at: http://my-wordpress-site.ddev.local

Drupal 6/7 Quickstart

Beginning to use ddev with a Drupal 6 or 7 project is as simple as cloning the project's repository and checking out its directory.

git clone https://github.com/user/my-drupal-site
cd my-drupal-site

Now to start working with ddev. In your project's working directory, enter the following command:

ddev config

Note: ddev config will prompt you for a project name, docroot, and project type.

After ddev config, you're ready to start running your project. Run ddev using:

ddev start

When ddev start runs, it outputs status messages to indicate the project environment is starting. When the startup is complete, ddev outputs a message like the one below with a link to access your project in a browser.

Successfully started my-drupal7-site
Your project can be reached at: http://my-drupal7-site.ddev.local

If you want to run the Drupal install script, the next step is to hit "/install.php" on your project (like http://my-drupal7-site.ddev.local/install.php) or run drush site-install, ddev exec drush site-install --yes.

Quickstart instructions for database imports can be found under Database Imports.

Drupal 8 Quickstart

Get started with Drupal 8 projects on ddev either by cloning a git repository or using a new or existing composer project.

Git Clone Example

git clone https://github.com/example-user/my-drupal8-site
cd my-drupal8-site
ddev composer install

Composer Setup Example

mkdir my-drupal8-site
cd my-drupal8-site
ddev config --project-type php
ddev composer create drupal-composer/drupal-project:8.x-dev --stability dev --no-interaction --prefer-dist
ddev config --project-type drupal8
ddev restart

When ddev start runs, it outputs status messages to indicate the project environment is starting. When the startup is complete, ddev outputs a message like the one below with a link to access your project in a browser.

Successfully started my-drupal8-site
Your project can be reached at: http://my-drupal8-site.ddev.local

TYPO3 Quickstart

To get started using ddev with a TYPO3 project, clone the project's repository and checkout its directory.

Git Clone Example

git clone https://github.com/example-user/example-typo3-site
cd example-typo3-site
ddev composer install

Composer Setup Example

mkdir my-typo3-site
cd my-typo3-site
ddev config --project-type php
ddev composer create typo3/cms-base-distribution ^9 --no-interaction --prefer-dist
ddev config --project-type typo3
ddev restart

When ddev start runs, it outputs status messages to indicate the project environment is starting. When the startup is complete, ddev outputs a message like the one below with a link to access your project in a browser.

Successfully started example-typo3-site
Your application can be reached at: http://example-typo3-site.ddev.local

For those wanting/needing to connect to the database within the database container directly, please see the developer tools page.

Backdrop Quickstart

To get started with Backdrop, clone the project repository and navigate to the project directory.

git clone https://github.com/example-user/example-backdrop-site
cd example-backdrop-site

To set up ddev for your project, enter the command:

ddev config

Note: ddev config will prompt you for a project name, docroot, and project type.

After ddev config, you're ready to start running your project. Run ddev using:

ddev start

When ddev start runs, it outputs status messages to indicate the project environment is starting. When the startup is complete, ddev outputs a message like the one below with a link to access your project in a browser.

Successfully started example-backdrop-site
Your application can be reached at: http://example-backdrop-site.ddev.local

Database Imports

Import a database with just one command; We offer support for several file formats, including: .sql, sql.gz, mysql, mysql.gz, tar, tar.gz, and zip.

Here's an example of a database import using ddev:

ddev import-db --src=dumpfile.sql.gz

Note for Backdrop users: In addition to importing a Backdrop database, you will need to extract a copy of your Backdrop project's configuration into the local active directory. The location for this directory can vary depending on the contents of your Backdrop settings.php file, but the default location is [docroot]/files/config_[random letters and numbers]/active. Please refer to the Backdrop documentation for more information on moving your Backdrop site into the ddev environment.

Getting Started

Check out the git repository for the project you want to work on. cd into the directory, run ddev config, and follow the prompts.

$ mkdir drupal8
$ cd drupal8
$ ddev config --project-type php
$ ddev composer create drupal-composer/drupal-project:8.x-dev --stability dev --no-interaction
$ ddev config --project-type drupal8

Configuration files have now been created for your project. Take a look at the project's .ddev/config.yaml file.

Now that the configuration files have been created, you can start your project with ddev start (still from within the project working directory):

$ ddev start

Starting environment for drupal8...
Creating local-drupal8-db
Creating local-drupal8-web
Waiting for the environment to become ready. This may take a couple of minutes...
Successfully started drupal8
Your project can be reached at: http://drupal8.ddev.local

And you can now visit your working project. Enjoy!

Configuration files

Note: If you're providing the settings.php or wp-config.php and DDEV is creating the settings.ddev.php (or wp-config-local.php, AdditionalConfig.php, or similar), the main settings file must explicitly include the appropriate DDEV-generated settings file.

The ddev config command attempts to create a CMS-specific settings file with DDEV credentials pre-populated.

For Drupal and Backdrop, DDEV settings are written to a DDEV-managed file, settings.ddev.php. The ddev config command will ensure that these settings are included in your settings.php through the following steps:

  • Write DDEV settings to settings.ddev.php
  • If no settings.php file exists, create one that includes settings.ddev.php
  • If a settings.php file already exists, ensure that it includes settings.ddev.php, modifying settings.php to write the include if necessary

For TYPO3, DDEV settings are written to AdditionalConfiguration.php. If AdditionalConfiguration.php exists and is not managed by DDEV, it will not be modified.

For Wordpress, DDEV settings are written to a DDEV-managed file, wp-config-ddev.php. The ddev config command will attempt to write settings through the following steps:

  • Write DDEV settings to wp-config-ddev.php
  • If no wp-config.php exists, create one that include wp-config-ddev.php
  • If a DDEV-managed wp-config.php exists, create one that includes wp-config.php
  • If a user-managed wp-config.php exists, instruct the user on how to modify it to include DDEV settings

How do you know if DDEV manages a settings file? You will see the following comment. Remove the comment and DDEV will not attempt to overwrite it!

/**
 #ddev-generated: Automatically generated Drupal settings.php file.
 ddev manages this file and may delete or overwrite the file unless this comment is removed.
 */

Listing project information

To see a list of your current projects you can use ddev list.

➜  ddev list
NAME     TYPE     LOCATION             URL(s)                      STATUS
drupal8  drupal8  ~/workspace/drupal8  http://drupal8.ddev.local   running
                                       https://drupal8.ddev.local

You can also see more detailed information about a project by running ddev describe from its working directory. You can also run ddev describe [project-name] from any location to see the detailed information for a running project.

NAME     TYPE     LOCATION             URL(s)                      STATUS
drupal8  drupal8  ~/workspace/drupal8  http://drupal8.ddev.local   running
                                       https://drupal8.ddev.local

Project Information
-----------------
PHP version:    7.0

MySQL Credentials
-----------------
Username:       db
Password:       db
Database name:  db
Host:           db
Port:           3306
To connect to mysql from your host machine, use port 32768 on 127.0.0.1.
For example: mysql --host=127.0.0.1 --port=32768 --user=db --password=db --database=db

Other Services
--------------
MailHog:    http://drupal8.ddev.local:8025
phpMyAdmin: http://drupal8.ddev.local:8036

DDEV ROUTER STATUS: healthy

Importing assets for an existing project

An important aspect of local web development is the ability to have a precise recreation of the project you are working on locally, including up-to-date database contents and static assets such as uploaded images and files. ddev provides functionality to help with importing assets to your local environment with two commands.

Importing a database

The ddev import-db command is provided for importing the MySQL database for a project. Running this command will provide a prompt for you to specify the location of your database import.

➜  ddev import-db
Provide the path to the database you wish to import.
Import path:
~/Downloads/db.sql
Importing database...
Successfully imported database for drupal8

Supported file types

Database import supports the following file types:

  • Raw SQL Dump (.sql)
  • Gzipped SQL Dump (.sql.gz)
  • (Gzipped) Tarball Archive (.tar, .tar.gz, .tgz)
  • Zip Archive (.zip)

If a Tarball Archive or Zip Archive is provided for the import, you will be provided an additional prompt, allowing you to specify a path within the archive to use for the import asset. The specified path should provide a Raw SQL Dump (.sql). In the following example, the database we want to import is named data.sql and resides at the top-level of the archive:

➜  ddev import-db
Provide the path to the database you wish to import.
Import path:
~/Downloads/site-backup.tar.gz
You provided an archive. Do you want to extract from a specific path in your archive? You may leave this blank if you wish to use the full archive contents
Archive extraction path:
data.sql
Importing database...
A settings file already exists for your application, so ddev did not generate one.
Run 'ddev describe' to find the database credentials for this application.
Successfully imported database for drupal8

Non-interactive usage

If you want to use import-db without answering prompts, you can use the --src flag to provide the path to the import asset. If you are importing an archive, and wish to specify the path within the archive to extract, you can use the --extract-path flag in conjunction with the --src flag. Example:

ddev import-db --src=/tmp/mydb.sql.gz

Exporting a Database

You can export a database with ddev export-db, which outputs to stdout or with options to a file:

ddev export-db --file /tmp/db.sql.gz
ddev export-db >/tmp/db.sql.gz
ddev export-db --gzip=false >/tmp/db.sql

Importing static file assets

To import static file assets for a project, such as uploaded images and documents, use the command ddev import-files. This command will prompt you to specify the location of your import asset, then import the assets into the project's upload directory. To define a custom upload directory, set the upload_dir key in your project's config.yaml. If no custom upload directory is defined, the a default will be used:

  • For Drupal projects, this is the sites/default/files directory
  • For WordPress projects, this is the wp-content/uploads directory
  • For TYPO3 projects, this is the fileadmin directory
  • For Backdrop projects, this is the files directory
➜  ddev import-files
Provide the path to the directory or archive you wish to import. Please note, if the destination directory exists, it will be replaced with the import assets specified here.
Import path:
~/Downloads/files.tar.gz
Successfully imported files for drupal8

Supported file types

Static asset import supports the following file types:

  • A directory containing static assets
  • (Gzipped) Tarball Archive (.tar, .tar.gz, .tgz)
  • Zip Archive (.zip)

If a Tarball Archive or Zip Archive is provided for the import, you will be provided an additional prompt, allowing you to specify a path within the archive to use for the import asset. In the following example, the assets we want to import reside at "web/sites/default/files":

➜  ddev import-files
Provide the path to the directory or archive you wish to import. Please note, if the destination directory exists, it will be replaced with the import assets specified here.
Import path:
~/Downloads/site-backup.tar.gz
You provided an archive. Do you want to extract from a specific path in your archive? You may leave this blank if you wish to use the full archive contents
Archive extraction path:
web/sites/default/files
Successfully imported files for drupal8

Non-interactive usage

If you want to use import-files without answering prompts, you can use the --src flag to provide the path to the import asset. If you are importing an archive, and wish to specify the path within the archive to extract, you can use the --extract-path flag in conjunction with the --src flag. Example:

ddev import-files --src=/tmp/files.tgz

Snapshotting and restoring a database

The project database is stored in a docker volume, but can be snapshotted (and later restored) with the ddev snapshot command. A snapshot is automatically taken when you do a ddev stop --remove-data. For example:

$ ddev snapshot
Creating database snapshot d8git_20180801132403
Created database snapshot d8git_20180801132403 in /Users/rfay/workspace/d8git/.ddev/db_snapshots/d8git_20180801132403
Created snapshot d8git_20180801132403
rfay@rfay-mbp-2017:~/workspace/d8git$ ddev restore-snapshot d8git_20180801132403
...

$ ddev restore-snapshot d8git_20180801132403
...
Restored database snapshot: /Users/rfay/workspace/d8git/.ddev/db_snapshots/d8git_20180801132403

Snapshots are stored in the project's .ddev/db_snapshots directory, and the directory can be renamed as necessary. For example, if you rename the above d8git_20180801132403 directory to "working_before_migration", then you can use ddev restore-snapshot working_before_migration.

Interacting with your project

ddev provides several commands to facilitate interacting with your project in the development environment. These commands can be run within the working directory of your project while the project is running in ddev.

Executing Commands in Containers

The ddev exec command allows you to run shell commands in the container for a ddev service. By default, commands are executed on the web service container, in the docroot path of your project. This allows you to use the developer tools included in the web container. For example, to run the Drush CLI in the web container, you would run ddev exec drush status.

To run a shell command in the container for a different service, use the --service flag at the beginning of your exec command to specify the service the command should be run against. For example, to run the mysql client in the database, container, you would run ddev exec --service db mysql. To specify the directory in which a shell command will be run, use the --dir flag. For example, to see the contents of the /usr/bin directory, you would run ddev exec --dir /usr/bin ls.

To run privileged commands, sudo can be passed into ddev exec. For example, to update the container's apt package lists, use ddev exec sudo apt-get update.

Commands can also be executed using the shorter ddev . <cmd> alias.

SSH Into Containers

The ddev ssh command will open an interactive bash shell session to the container for a ddev service. The web service is connected to by default. The session can be ended by typing exit. To connect to another service, use the --service flag to specify the service you want to connect to. For example, to connect to the database container, you would run ddev ssh --service db. To specify the destination directory, use the --dir flag. For example, to connect to the database container and be placed into the /home directory, you would run ddev ssh --service db --dir /home.

If you want to use your personal ssh keys within the web container, that's possible. Use ddev auth ssh to add the keys from your ~/.ssh directory and provide a passphrase, and then those keys will be usable from within the web container. You generally only have to ddev auth ssh one time per computer reboot.

Log Access

The ddev logs command allows you to easily view error logs from the web container (both nginx/apache and php-fpm logs are concatenated). To follow the log (watch the lines in real time), run ddev logs -f. When you are done, press CTRL+C to exit from the log trail. Similarly, ddev logs -s db will show logs from a running or stopped db container.

Stopping a project

To remove a project's containers run ddev stop in the working directory of the project. To remove any running project's containers, providing the project name as an argument, e.g. ddev stop <projectname>.

ddev stop is not destructive. It removes the docker containers but does not remove the database for the project, and does nothing to your codebase. This allows you to have many configured projects with databases loaded without wasting docker containers on unused projects. ddev stop does not affect the project code base and files.

To remove the imported database for a project, use the flag --remove-data, as in ddev stop --remove-data. This command will destroy both the containers and the imported database contents.

ddev Command Auto-Completion

Bash auto-completion is available for ddev. Bash auto-completion is included in the homebrew install on macOS and Linux. For other platforms, download the latest ddev release tarball and locate ddev_bash_completion.sh inside it. This can be installed wherever your bash_completions.d is. For example, cp ddev_bash_completion.sh /etc/bash_completion.d/ddev.

Opt-In Usage Information

When you start ddev for the first time (or install a new release) you'll be asked to decide whether to opt-in to send usage and error information to the developers. You can change this at any time by editing the ~/.ddev/global_config.yaml file.

If you do choose to send the diagnostics it helps us tremendously in our effort to improve this tool. What information gets sent? Here's an example of what we might see:

usage_stats

Of course if you have any reservations about this, please just opt-out (ddev config global --instrumentation-opt-in=false). If you have any problems or concerns with it, we'd like to know. One person did report slow ddev command completion on a network that was apparently not friendly to sentry.io.