Here's how to quickly set up a development environment with MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis and Kafka using Docker Compose, with bitnami images, environment variables, and UI tools for each database. We'll go through the process step by step:

Why use bitnami images ?

Pre-Configured and Optimized: Bitnami images come pre-configured with best practices, making them easier to set up and optimize for common use cases.
Security: Bitnami regularly updates its images to address vulnerabilities, providing a more secure option compared to some community-maintained images that may not be updated as frequently.
Consistency Across Environments: Bitnami ensures that their images work consistently across different environments, making them a good choice for testing, development, and production setups.
Ease of Use: They often include scripts and defaults that simplify deployments, reducing the need for manual configuration and setup.
Documentation and Support: Bitnami provides detailed documentation and sometimes support through their parent company, VMware, which can be valuable for troubleshooting and enterprise usage.

Another import note is about licenses, it can vary, but bitnami software is generally free to use, its containers and packages are based on open-source software and use licenses like MIT, Apache 2.0, or GPL... Read More About Licenses for Open Sources

Step 1: Install Docker and Docker Compose

Install Docker: Follow the instructions for your OS from the official Docker documentation.
Install Docker Compose: Follow instructions from the Docker Compose installation guide

Step 2: Project Structure

Create the following project structure:

dev-environment/
├── components   # for mounting container volumes
├── scripts/
│   ├── pgadmin
│   │   ├──servers.json   # for pgadmin automatically load postgreDB
│   ├── create-topics.sh  # for creating kafka topics
│   ├── mongo-init.sh     # init script for mongodb
│   ├── mysql-init.sql    # init script for mysql
│   ├── postgres-init.sql # init script for postgre
├── .env
├── docker-compose.yml

Step 3: (`.env`) File

Create a .env file with the following content:

# MySQL Configuration
MYSQL_PORT=23306
MYSQL_USERNAME=dev-user
MYSQL_PASSWORD=dev-password
MYSQL_DATABASE=dev_database

# PostgreSQL Configuration
POSTGRES_PORT=25432
POSTGRES_USERNAME=dev-user
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=dev-password
POSTGRES_DATABASE=dev_database

# MongoDB Configuration
MONGO_PORT=27017
MONGO_USERNAME=dev-user
MONGO_PASSWORD=dev-password
MONGO_DATABASE=dev_database

# Redis Configuration
REDIS_PORT=26379
REDIS_PASSWORD=dev-password

# Kafka Configuration
KAFKA_PORT=29092
KAFKA_USERNAME=dev-user
KAFKA_PASSWORD=dev-password

# UI Tools Configuration
PHPMYADMIN_PORT=280
PGADMIN_PORT=281
MONGOEXPRESS_PORT=28081
REDIS_COMMANDER_PORT=28082
KAFKA_UI_PORT=28080

# Data Directory for Volumes
DATA_DIR=./

Step 4: (`docker-compose.yml`) File

Create the docker-compose.yml file:

version: '3.8'
services:
  dev-mysql:
    image: bitnami/mysql:latest
    # This container_name can be used for internal connections between containers (running on the same docker virtual network)
    container_name: dev-mysql
    ports:
      # This mapping means that requests sent to the ${MYSQL_PORT} on the host machine will be forwarded to port 3306 in the dev-mysql container. This setup allows users to access the MySQL database from outside the container, such as from a local machine or another service.
      - '${MYSQL_PORT}:3306'
    environment:
      # Setup environment variables for container
      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=${MYSQL_PASSWORD}
      - MYSQL_USER=${MYSQL_USERNAME}
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=${MYSQL_PASSWORD}
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=${MYSQL_DATABASE}
    volumes:
      # Syncs msyql data from inside container to host machine, to keep them accross container restarts
      - '${DATA_DIR}/components/mysql/data:/bitnami/mysql/data'
      # Add custom script to init db
      - './scripts/mysql-init.sql:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/init.sql'

  phpmyadmin:
    image: phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin:latest
    container_name: dev-phpmyadmin
    # The depends_on option in Docker specifies that a container should be started only after the specified dependent container (e.g., dev-mysql) has been started (but not ensuring that it is ready)
    depends_on:
      - dev-mysql
    ports:
      - '${PHPMYADMIN_PORT}:80'
    environment:
      - PMA_HOST=dev-mysql
      # use internal port for internal connections, not exposed port ${MYSQL_PORT}
      - PMA_PORT=3306
      - PMA_USER=${MYSQL_USERNAME}
      - PMA_PASSWORD=${MYSQL_PASSWORD}

  #=======

  dev-postgresql:
    image: bitnami/postgresql:latest
    container_name: dev-postgresql
    ports:
      - '${POSTGRES_PORT}:5432'
    environment:
      - POSTGRESQL_USERNAME=${POSTGRES_USERNAME}
      - POSTGRESQL_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
      - POSTGRESQL_DATABASE=${POSTGRES_DATABASE}
    volumes:
      # This setup will ensure that PostgreSQL data from inside container is synced to host machine, enabling persistence across container restarts.
      - '${DATA_DIR}/components/postgresql/data:/bitnami/postgresql/data'
      # Most relational databases support a special docker-entrypoint-initdb.d folder. This folder is used to initialise the database automatically when the container is first created.
      # We can put .sql or .sh scripts there, and Docker will automatically, here ./scripts/postgres-init.sql from host machine be automatically copied to the Docker container during the build and then run it
      - ./scripts/postgres-init.sql:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/init.sql:ro

  pgadmin:
    image: dpage/pgadmin4:latest
    container_name: dev-pgadmin
    depends_on:
      - dev-postgresql
    ports:
      - '${PGADMIN_PORT}:80'
    # user: root used to ensure that the container has full administrative privileges,
    # necessary when performing actions that require elevated permissions, such as mounting volumes (properly read or write to the mounted volumes), executing certain entrypoint commands, or accessing specific directories from host machine
    user: root
    environment:
      # PGADMIN_DEFAULT_EMAIL and PGADMIN_DEFAULT_PASSWORD - Sets the default credentials for the pgAdmin user
      - PGADMIN_DEFAULT_EMAIL=admin@dev.com
      - PGADMIN_DEFAULT_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
      # PGADMIN_CONFIG_SERVER_MODE - determines whether pgAdmin runs in server mode (multi-user) or desktop mode (single-user). We’re setting it to false, so we won’t be prompted for login credentials
      - PGADMIN_CONFIG_SERVER_MODE=False
      # PGADMIN_CONFIG_MASTER_PASSWORD_REQUIRED - controls whether a master password is required to access saved server definitions and other sensitive information
      - PGADMIN_CONFIG_MASTER_PASSWORD_REQUIRED=False
    volumes:
      # This setup will ensure that PGAdmin data from inside container is synced to host machine, enabling persistence across container restarts.
      - '${DATA_DIR}/components/pgadmin:/var/lib/pgadmin'
      # This setup to make PGAdmin automatically detect and connect to PostgreSQL when it starts (following the config being set in servers.json)
      - ./scripts/pgadmin/servers.json:/pgadmin4/servers.json:ro

  #=======

  dev-mongodb:
    image: bitnami/mongodb:latest
    container_name: dev-mongodb
    ports:
      - '${MONGO_PORT}:27017'
    environment:
      - MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_USERNAME=${MONGO_USERNAME}
      - MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_PASSWORD=${MONGO_PASSWORD}
      - MONGO_INITDB_DATABASE=${MONGO_DATABASE}
      - MONGODB_ROOT_USER=${MONGO_USERNAME}
      - MONGODB_ROOT_PASSWORD=${MONGO_PASSWORD}
      - MONGODB_DATABASE=${MONGO_DATABASE}
    volumes:
      - '${DATA_DIR}/components/mongodb/data:/bitnami/mongodb'
      # This line maps ./scripts/mongo-init.sh from host machine to /docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/mongo-init.sh inside container with 'ro' mode (read only mode) which means container can't modify the mounted file
      - ./scripts/mongo-init.sh:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/mongo-init.sh:ro
      # - ./scripts/mongo-init.sh:/bitnami/scripts/mongo-init.sh:ro

  mongo-express:
    image: mongo-express:latest
    container_name: dev-mongoexpress
    depends_on:
      - dev-mongodb
    ports:
      - '${MONGOEXPRESS_PORT}:8081'
    environment:
      - ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_ENABLE_ADMIN=true
      - ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_ADMINUSERNAME=${MONGO_USERNAME}
      - ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_ADMINPASSWORD=${MONGO_PASSWORD}
      # - ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_SERVER=dev-mongodb
      # - ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_PORT=${MONGO_PORT}
      - ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_URL=mongodb://${MONGO_USERNAME}:${MONGO_PASSWORD}@dev-mongodb:${MONGO_PORT}/${MONGO_DATABASE}?authSource=admin&ssl=false&directConnection=true
    restart: unless-stopped
    # 'restart: unless-stopped' restarts a container automatically unless it is explicitly stopped by the user.
    # some others: 1. 'no': (Default option if not specified) meaning the container won't automatically restart if it stops or crashes.
    #              2. 'always': The container will restart regardless of the reason it stopped, including if Docker is restarted.
    #              3. 'on-failure': The container will restart only if it exits with a non-zero status indicating an error. (and won't restart if it stops when completing as short running task and return 0 status).

  #=======

  dev-redis:
    image: bitnami/redis:latest
    container_name: dev-redis
    ports:
      - '${REDIS_PORT}:6379'
    environment:
      - REDIS_PASSWORD=${REDIS_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - '${DATA_DIR}/components/redis:/bitnami/redis'
    networks:
      - dev-network

  redis-commander:
    image: rediscommander/redis-commander:latest
    container_name: dev-redis-commander
    depends_on:
      - dev-redis
    ports:
      - '${REDIS_COMMANDER_PORT}:8081'
    environment:
      - REDIS_HOST=dev-redis
      # While exposed port ${REDIS_PORT} being bind to host network, redis-commander still using internal port 6379 (being use internally inside docker virtual network) to connect to redis
      - REDIS_PORT=6379
      - REDIS_PASSWORD=${REDIS_PASSWORD}
    networks:
      - dev-network
    # This networks setup is optional, in case not being set, both redis-commader and redis will both be assigned to default docker network (usually named bridge) and still being able to connect each other

  #=======

  dev-kafka:
    image: 'bitnami/kafka:latest'
    container_name: dev-kafka
    ports:
      - '${KAFKA_PORT}:9094'
    environment:
      # Sets the timezone for the container to "Asia/Shanghai". This ensures that logs and timestamps inside the Kafka container align with the Shanghai timezone.
      - TZ=Asia/Shanghai
      # KAFKA_CFG_NODE_ID=0: Identifies the Kafka node with ID 0. This is crucial for multi-node Kafka clusters to distinguish each node uniquely.
      - KAFKA_CFG_NODE_ID=0
      # KAFKA_CFG_PROCESS_ROLES=controller,broker: Specifies the roles the Kafka node will perform, in this case, both as a controller (managing cluster metadata) and a broker (handling messages).
      - KAFKA_CFG_PROCESS_ROLES=controller,broker
      # KAFKA_CFG_CONTROLLER_QUORUM_VOTERS=0@<your_host>:9093: Defines the quorum voters for the Kafka controllers. It indicates that node 0 (the current node) acts as a voter for controller decisions and will be accessible at 9093 on <your_host>.
      - KAFKA_CFG_CONTROLLER_QUORUM_VOTERS=0@<your_host>:9093
      # The following lists different listeners for Kafka. Each listener binds a protocol to a specific port:
      # PLAINTEXT for client connections (:9092). CONTROLLER for internal controller communication (:9093). EXTERNAL for external client access (:9094).SASL_PLAINTEXT for SASL-authenticated clients (:9095).
      - KAFKA_CFG_LISTENERS=PLAINTEXT://:9092,CONTROLLER://:9093,EXTERNAL://:9094,SASL_PLAINTEXT://:9095
      # KAFKA_CFG_ADVERTISED_LISTENERS specifies how clients should connect to Kafka externally:
      # PLAINTEXT at dev-kafka:9092 for internal communication. EXTERNAL at 127.0.0.1:${KAFKA_PORT} (host access). SASL_PLAINTEXT for SASL connections (kafka:9095).
      - KAFKA_CFG_ADVERTISED_LISTENERS=PLAINTEXT://dev-kafka:9092,EXTERNAL://127.0.0.1:${KAFKA_PORT},SASL_PLAINTEXT://kafka:9095
      # The following maps security protocols to each listener. For example, CONTROLLER uses PLAINTEXT, and EXTERNAL uses SASL_PLAINTEXT.
      - KAFKA_CFG_LISTENER_SECURITY_PROTOCOL_MAP=CONTROLLER:PLAINTEXT,EXTERNAL:SASL_PLAINTEXT,PLAINTEXT:PLAINTEXT,SASL_PLAINTEXT:SASL_PLAINTEXT
      # Indicates that the CONTROLLER role should use the CONTROLLER listener for communications.
      - KAFKA_CFG_CONTROLLER_LISTENER_NAMES=CONTROLLER
      # Specifies users with relevant passwords that can connect to Kafka using SASL authentication
      - KAFKA_CLIENT_USERS=${KAFKA_USERNAME}
      - KAFKA_CLIENT_PASSWORDS=${KAFKA_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - '${DATA_DIR}/components/kafka/data:/bitnami/kafka/data'
      # Maps a local file create-topics.sh from the ./scripts directory to the path /opt/bitnami/kafka/create_topic.sh inside the Kafka container
      # This script can be used to automatically create Kafka topics when the container starts
      - ./scripts/create-topics.sh:/opt/bitnami/kafka/create_topic.sh:ro
    # Following command starts the Kafka server in the background using /opt/bitnami/scripts/kafka/run.sh. then sleep 5 to ensure that the Kafka server is fully up and running.
    # Executes the create_topic.sh script, which is used to create Kafka topics. Uses 'wait' to keep the script running until all background processes (like the Kafka server) finish,
    command: >
      bash -c "
      /opt/bitnami/scripts/kafka/run.sh & sleep 5; /opt/bitnami/kafka/create_topic.sh; wait
      "

  kafka-ui:
    image: provectuslabs/kafka-ui:latest
    container_name: dev-kafka-ui
    ports:
      - '${KAFKA_UI_PORT}:8080'
    environment:
      # Sets the name of the Kafka cluster displayed in the UI as "local."
      - KAFKA_CLUSTERS_0_NAME=local
      # Specifies the address (dev-kafka:9092) for the Kafka broker that the UI should connect to.
      - KAFKA_CLUSTERS_0_BOOTSTRAPSERVERS=dev-kafka:9092
      # Uses the provided ${KAFKA_USERNAME} for SASL (Simple Authentication and Security Layer) authentication with the Kafka cluster.
      - KAFKA_CLUSTERS_0_SASL_USER=${KAFKA_USERNAME}
      # Uses the ${KAFKA_PASSWORD} for authentication with the Kafka broker.
      - KAFKA_CLUSTERS_0_SASL_PASSWORD=${KAFKA_PASSWORD}
      # Sets the SASL mechanism as 'PLAIN', which is a simple username-password-based authentication method.
      - KAFKA_CLUSTERS_0_SASL_MECHANISM=PLAIN
      # Configures the communication protocol as SASL_PLAINTEXT, which means it uses SASL for authentication without encryption over plaintext communication.
      - KAFKA_CLUSTERS_0_SECURITY_PROTOCOL=SASL_PLAINTEXT
    depends_on:
      - dev-kafka

networks:
  dev-network:
    driver: bridge

Step 5: Scripts

Create the necessary scripts in the scripts folder.

pgadmin/servers.json:

    {
    "Servers": {
      "1": {
        "Name": "Local PostgreSQL",
        "Group": "Servers",
        "Host": "dev-postgresql",
        "Port": 5432,
        "MaintenanceDB": "dev_database",
        "Username": "dev-user",
        "Password": "dev-password",
        "SSLMode": "prefer",
        "Favorite": true
      }
    }
  }

create-topics.sh:

# Wait for Kafka to be ready
until /opt/bitnami/kafka/bin/kafka-topics.sh --list --bootstrap-server localhost:9092; do
  echo "Waiting for Kafka to be ready..."
  sleep 2
done

# Create topics
/opt/bitnami/kafka/bin/kafka-topics.sh --create --bootstrap-server localhost:9092 --replication-factor 1 --partitions 8 --topic latestMsgToRedis
/opt/bitnami/kafka/bin/kafka-topics.sh --create --bootstrap-server localhost:9092 --replication-factor 1 --partitions 8 --topic msgToPush
/opt/bitnami/kafka/bin/kafka-topics.sh --create --bootstrap-server localhost:9092 --replication-factor 1 --partitions 8 --topic offlineMsgToMongoMysql

echo "Topics created."

mongo-init.sh:

# mongosh --: Launches the MongoDB shell, connecting to the default MongoDB instance.
# "$MONGO_INITDB_DATABASE": Specifies the database to connect to (using the value from the environment variable).
# <<EOF: Indicates the start of a multi-line input block. Everything between <<EOF and EOF is treated as MongoDB shell commands to be executed. 
# db.getSiblingDB('admin'): Switches to the admin database, which is the default administrative database in MongoDB. It allows you to perform administrative tasks like user creation, where the user dev-user will be created.
# db.auth('$MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_USERNAME', '$MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_PASSWORD') (commented out): This line, if executed, would authenticate the user with the given credentials against the "admin" database. It’s necessary if the following operations require authentication.
# The user dev-user is created in the admin database with the specified username and password.
# { role: 'root', db: 'admin' }: Allows full access to the admin database.
# { role: 'readWrite', db: '$MONGO_INITDB_DATABASE' }: Grants read and write permissions specifically for dev_database.

mongosh -- "$MONGO_INITDB_DATABASE" <<EOF
db = db.getSiblingDB('admin')
db.auth('$MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_USERNAME', '$MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_PASSWORD')
db.createUser({
  user: "$MONGODB_ROOT_USER",
  pwd: "$MONGODB_ROOT_PASSWORD",
  roles: [
    { role: 'root', db: 'admin' },
    { role: 'root', db: '$MONGO_INITDB_DATABASE' }
  ]
})

db = db.getSiblingDB('$MONGO_INITDB_DATABASE');
db.createCollection('users');
db.users.insertMany([
  { username: 'user1', email: 'user1@example.com' },
  { username: 'user2', email: 'user2@example.com' }
]);
EOF

mysql-init.sql:

-- CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS test (id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, name VARCHAR(50));

BEGIN;

-- structure setup

CREATE TABLE users (
    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    username VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
    email VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL
);

-- data setup

INSERT INTO users (username, email) 
VALUES ('user1', 'user1@example.com');

INSERT INTO users (username, email) 
VALUES ('user2', 'user2@example.com');

COMMIT;

postgres-init.sql:

-- CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS test (id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, name VARCHAR(50));

BEGIN;

-- structure setup

CREATE TABLE users (
    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    username VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
    email VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL
);

-- data setup

INSERT INTO users (username, email) 
VALUES ('user1', 'user1@example.com');

INSERT INTO users (username, email) 
VALUES ('user2', 'user2@example.com');

COMMIT;

Step 6: Run Docker Compose

In your terminal, navigate to the dev-environment folder and run:

docker-compose up -d

This command will start all the services, each with its own container, port, and environment configuration as defined.

Step 7: Access the Databases Using UI Tools

phpMyAdmin: Access via http://localhost:280
Mongo Express: Access via http://localhost:28081
pgAdmin 4: Access via http://localhost:281
Redis Commander: Access via http://localhost:28082
Kafka UI: Access via http://localhost:28080

Each UI tool is already configured to connect to its respective database container.

Step 8: Access via CLI

First of all we need to load all environment variables from .env file to current working CLI session. To do that we can use the following command:

export $(grep -v '^#' .env | xargs)

grep -v '^#' .env: Filters out comments (lines starting with #) from the .env file.
xargs: Converts each line into key=value pairs.
export: Loads the variables into the current environment, making them available for use in the session.

Access MySQL CLI

To access the MySQL database inside the dev-mysql container:

docker exec -it dev-mysql mysql -u${MYSQL_USERNAME} 
-p${MYSQL_PASSWORD} ${MYSQL_DATABASE}

Access PostgreSQL CLI

To access the PostgreSQL database inside the dev-postgresql container:

 docker exec -it dev-postgresql psql -U ${POSTGRES_USERNAME} -d ${POSTGRES_DATABASE}

Access MongoDB CLI

To access the MongoDB shell inside the dev-mongodb container:

 docker exec -it dev-mongodb mongosh -u ${MONGO_USERNAME} -p ${MONGO_PASSWORD} --authenticationDatabase admin

Access Redis CLI
- To access the Redis CLI inside the dev-redis container:
```
 docker exec -it dev-redis redis-cli -a ${REDIS_PASSWORD}
```

Access Kafka CLI

To access the Kafka CLI inside the dev-kafka container:

 docker exec -it dev-kafka /opt/bitnami/kafka/bin/kafka-console-consumer.sh --bootstrap-server dev-kafka:9092 --topic latestMsgToRedis --from-beginning

Summary

This setup uses Docker Compose with environment variables, bitnami images, and volume mappings to create a reproducible development environment. By using docker-compose up -d, you can quickly spin up or tear down the entire environment with docker-compose down, making it suitable for local development and testing.

If you found this helpful, let me know by leaving a 👍 or a comment!, or if you think this post could help someone, feel free to share it! Thank you very much! 😃

⚡ 🚀 Quickly Start Dev Environment For MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, and Kafka Using Docker Compose 🔥