How to Set Up Laravel Properly

July 30, 2025
No Comments

Learn how to set up Laravel, a powerful PHP framework for web development. Start by installing Composer and creating a new Laravel project. Configure your .env file with database credentials, run migrations, and launch the development server. With just a few commands, your Laravel app will be ready. Perfect for beginners and professionals alike.

Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following installed:

  1. PHP ≥ 8.1

  2. Composer – PHP dependency manager

  3. MySQL / MariaDB – For database

  4. Node.js & NPM (for frontend asset compilation)

  5. Laravel Installer (optional)

You can check with:

Put this comment in your project terminal:


php -v
composer -V
mysql -V
node -v && npm -v

Step-by-Step Laravel Setup

1. Create a New Laravel Project

You can use either:

Option A: Using Composer

Put this comment in your project terminal:


composer create-project laravel/laravel myApp
cd myApp

Option B: Using Laravel Installer (if installed)

Put this comment in your project terminal:


laravel new myApp
cd myApp

2. Set Up Environment File

Rename .env.example to .env (if not done already):


cp .env.example .env

Generate application key:

Put this comment in your project terminal:


php artisan key:generate

3. Configure Database

In .env file, set your database info:


DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=your_database
DB_USERNAME=your_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_password

Make sure the database exists in MySQL.

4. Run Migrations (Optional)

If your project has migrations:

Put this comment in your project terminal:


php artisan migrate

5. Start Development Server

Put this comment in your project terminal:


php artisan serve

Now open:
http://127.0.0.1:8000