phpMyFAQ

What is phpMyFAQ?

phpMyFAQ is a multilingual, AI-ready, and scalable FAQ platform built for modern knowledge management. Powered by PHP 8.4+ and a fully database-driven architecture, it delivers fast search with Elasticsearch/OpenSearch, flexible multi-user permissions, and a powerful content management system with revision history and WYSIWYG editing.

With 40+ languages, responsive Twig-based templates, a REST API, 2FA security, enterprise authentication (LDAP, Active Directory, Entra ID), and a built-in plugin system, phpMyFAQ integrates seamlessly into almost any environment.

Deploy it on traditional hosting or run it in the cloud via Docker.

Requirements

phpMyFAQ requires PHP 8.4 or higher and a supported database system. Supported databases include MySQL, MariaDB, Percona Server, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, and SQLite3.

For enhanced search capabilities using Elasticsearch or OpenSearch, Elasticsearch 6.x or later or OpenSearch 1.x or later is required.

For a complete and up-to-date list of system requirements, please refer to the official documentation at phpmyfaq.de.

Installation

phpMyFAQ installation package for end-users

The best way to install phpMyFAQ is to download it on phpmyfaq.de, unzip the package, and open http://www.example.org/phpmyfaq/setup/ in your preferred browser.

phpMyFAQ installation with Docker

Dockerfile

The Dockerfile provided in this repo only builds an environment to run any release for development purpose. It does not contain any code as the phpmyfaq folder is meant to be mounted as the /var/www/html folder in the container.

docker-compose.yml

For development purposes, you can start a full stack to run your current PhpMyFAQ source code from your local repo.

$ docker-compose up

The command above starts nine containers for multi-database development as follows.

Specific images started at once to prepare the project:

• composer: update composer dependencies
• pnpm: update pnpm dependencies

Running using named volumes:

• mariadb: image with MariaDB database with xtrabackup support
• phpmyadmin: a PHP tool to have a look at your MariaDB database.
• postgres: image with PostgreSQL database
• pgadmin: a PHP tool to have a look at your PostgreSQL database.
• sqlserver: image with Microsoft SQL Server for Linux
• elasticsearch: Open Source Software image (it means it does not have XPack installed)
• opensearch: OpenSearch image (it means it does not have XPack installed)
• redis: image with a Redis database

Running apache web server with PHP 8.5 support:

• apache: mounts the phpmyfaq folder in place of /var/www/html.

Running nginx web server with PHP 8.5 support:

• nginx: mounts the phpmyfaq folder in place of /var/www/html.
• php-fpm: PHP-FPM image with PHP 8.5 support

Running FrankenPHP web server with PHP 8.5 support:

• frankenphp: mounts the phpmyfaq folder in place of /var/www/html.

Then services will be available at the following addresses:

• phpMyFAQ: (https://localhost:443 or http://localhost:8080 as fallback)
• phpMyAdmin: (http://localhost:8000)
• pgAdmin: (http://localhost:8008)

Running tests

To run the test using Docker, you have to install the Composer development dependencies

$ docker build -t phpmyfaq-test . && docker run --rm -it docker.io/library/phpmyfaq-test:latest 

Quote from Elasticsearch documentation

The vm.max_map_count kernel setting needs to be set to at least 262144 for production use. Depending on your platform:

Linux

The vm.max*map_count setting should be set permanently in */etc/sysctl.conf_:

$ grep vm.max_map_count /etc/sysctl.conf
vm.max_map_count=262144

To apply the setting on a live system type: sysctl -w vm.max_map_count=262144

macOS with Docker for Mac

The vm.max_map_count setting must be set within the xhyve virtual machine:

$ screen ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/com.docker.driver.amd64-linux/tty

Log in with root and no password. Then configure the sysctl setting as you would for Linux:

$ sysctl -w vm.max_map_count=262144

Windows and macOS with Docker Toolbox

The vm.max_map_count setting must be set via docker-machine:

$ docker-machine ssh
$ sudo sysctl -w vm.max_map_count=262144

phpMyFAQ local installation from Github

To run phpMyFAQ locally, you need at least a running web server with PHP support and a database.

$ git clone git://github.com/thorsten/phpMyFAQ.git
$ cd phpMyFAQ
$ git checkout main
$ curl -s https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
$ php composer.phar install
$ curl -fsSL https://get.pnpm.io/install.sh | sh -
$ pnpm install
$ pnpm build

Then open http://www.example.org/phpmyfaq/setup/ in your browser.

Testing

PHP

To run our unit tests via PHPUnit v13.x, execute this command on your CLI

$ curl -s https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
$ php composer.phar install
$ ./phpmyfaq/src/libs/bin/phpunit

Please note that phpMyFAQ needs to be installed via Composer.

TypeScript

To run our TypeScript tests via Vitest, execute this command on your CLI

$ curl -fsSL https://get.pnpm.io/install.sh | sh -
$ pnpm install
$ pnpm test

Versioning

For transparency and insight into our release cycle, and for striving to maintain backward compatibility, phpMyFAQ will be maintained under the Semantic Versioning guidelines as much as possible.

Releases will be numbered with the following format:

<major>.<minor>.<patch>

And constructed with the following guidelines:

• Breaking backward compatibility bumps the major (and resets the minor and patch)
• New additions without breaking backward compatibility bump the minor (and reset the patch)
• Bug fixes and misc changes bump the patch

For more information on SemVer, please visit http://semver.org/.

Issue tracker

Found a bug, or do you have a feature request? Please open a new issue. Before opening any issue, please search for existing issues.

Contributing

Please check out our page about contributing on phpmyfaq.de.

Documentation

You can read the complete documentation on here.

REST API documentation

The REST API documentation is available as an OpenAPI 3.0 specification:

• JSON
• YAML

The Swagger UI is available at https://api-docs.phpmyfaq.de/.

Discord server

If you like to chat with the phpMyFAQ team, please join our Discord server. We're happy to help you with your questions!

License

Mozilla Public License 2.0, see LICENSE for more information.

Copyright © 2001–2026 Thorsten Rinne and the phpMyFAQ Team