diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 44d562a3..644230c0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,6 +10,15 @@ Copy config.sample.php to config.inc.php and modify connection details.
 
 Copy www/sample.htaccess to www/.htaccess and modify site path.
 
+### Install with Docker
+
+1. Copy `config.sample.php` to `config.inc.php` and use recommended docker configs
+2. Copy `www/sample.htaccess` to `www/.htaccess` and use recommended docker configs
+3. Add `127.0.0.1 localhost.unl.edu` to `/etc/hosts` on your host machine
+4. Run `docker-compose build` in the root directory to build the image for php
+6. Run `docker-compose up` in the root directory to run the docker containers
+7. Open GoURL in the browser using the URL [https://localhost.unl.edu:5507/](https://localhost.unl.edu:5507/)
+
 ## About
 
 Originally based on lilURL: http://lilurl.sourceforge.net
@@ -43,3 +52,4 @@ $shibSettings = array (
 );
 $auth = new \UNL\Templates\Auth\AuthModShib($shibSettings);
 ```
+
diff --git a/data/goURL.sql b/data/goURL.sql
index 62002a50..7f11ee32 100644
--- a/data/goURL.sql
+++ b/data/goURL.sql
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ SET SQL_MODE="NO_AUTO_VALUE_ON_ZERO";
 -- Database: `goURL`
 --
 
+USE goURL;
+
 -- --------------------------------------------------------
 
 --
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..230ffcd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+version: '3.8'
+
+services:
+  app:
+    hostname: app
+
+    # this is the URL to go to
+    domainname: localhost.unl.edu
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile
+      args:
+        # Update 'VARIANT' to pick a version of PHP version: 8, 8.1, 8.0, 7, 7.4
+        VARIANT: "7.4"
+
+        # DIRROOT is where the files will be copied to in the docker container
+        DIRROOT: "/var/www/html"
+
+        # DOCROOT is where the index.php is located typically the /www directory
+        DOCROOT: "/www"
+
+    volumes:
+      - .:/var/www/html/:cached
+
+    # this port on the left is also used in /www/.htaccess and config.inc.php
+    # Make sure all are the same
+    ports:
+      - "5507:80"
+
+    depends_on:
+      - db
+
+    stdin_open: true
+    tty: true
+
+    command: sh -c "composer install && apachectl -D FOREGROUND"
+
+  db:
+    image: mariadb:10.4
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    volumes:
+      - mariadb-data:/var/lib/mysql
+      - ./data/goURL.sql:/data/application/init.sql
+    command: --init-file /data/application/init.sql
+    environment:
+      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: mariadb
+      MYSQL_DATABASE: goURL
+      MYSQL_USER: mariadb
+      MYSQL_PASSWORD: mariadb
+    
+    ports:
+      - "9906:3306"
+
+volumes:
+  mariadb-data: null
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/dockerfile b/dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c13b3ea4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+# [Choice] PHP version (use -bullseye variants on local arm64/Apple Silicon): 8, 8.1, 8.0, 7, 7.4, 7.3, 8-bullseye, 8.1-bullseye, 8.0-bullseye, 7-bullseye, 7.4-bullseye, 7.3-bullseye, 8-buster, 8.1-buster, 8.0-buster, 7-buster, 7.4-buster
+ARG VARIANT="7.4"
+FROM php:${VARIANT}-apache-bullseye
+
+# Install MariaDB client
+RUN apt-get update && export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
+    && apt-get install -y mariadb-client \ 
+    && apt-get clean -y && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y libz-dev libmemcached-dev && \
+    pecl install memcached && \
+    docker-php-ext-enable memcached
+
+# install prerequisites
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y git zip unzip libpng-dev
+
+
+# Install php-mysql driver
+RUN docker-php-ext-install mysqli pdo pdo_mysql gd
+
+
+# Install composer
+RUN curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer
+
+# removes error "Invalid command 'RewriteEngine'"
+RUN a2enmod rewrite && service apache2 restart
+
+# changes the docroot so the domain points to the correct file
+ARG DIRROOT="/var/www/html"
+ARG DOCROOT="/www"
+ENV APACHE_DOCUMENT_ROOT=${DIRROOT}${DOCROOT}
+RUN sed -ri -e 's!/var/www/html!${APACHE_DOCUMENT_ROOT}!g' /etc/apache2/sites-available/*.conf
+RUN sed -ri -e 's!/var/www/html!${APACHE_DOCUMENT_ROOT}!g' /etc/apache2/apache2.conf /etc/apache2/conf-available/*.conf
+
+WORKDIR ${DIRROOT}
+
+# can't do this since mounting the volume in the docker compose will remove the files made here
+# COPY ./composer.json ${DIRROOT}
+# RUN composer install
+
+
+COPY . ${DIRROOT}
+
+# [Optional] Uncomment this section to install additional OS packages.
+# RUN apt-get update && export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
+#     && apt-get -y install --no-install-recommends <your-package-list-here>
+
+# [Optional] Uncomment this line to install global node packages.
+# RUN su vscode -c "source /usr/local/share/nvm/nvm.sh && npm install -g <your-package-here>" 2>&1
+