How to Install a Laravel Project (Step-by-Step Guide)

Laravel is one of the most popular PHP frameworks for building modern web applications. In this guide, we’ll walk through the process of installing a fresh Laravel project, from setting up the environment to running your first application.

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1. Environment Setup

Before installing Laravel, we need PHP, Composer, and the Laravel installer. If you already have these installed, you can skip this step.

Install PHP and Composer

• Mac Users
  Run the following command in your terminal:

    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://php.new/install/mac/8.4)"
  

• Windows Users
  Run PowerShell as Administrator and execute:

    Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://php.new/install/windows/8.4'))
  

• Linux Users
  Run the following command in your terminal:

    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://php.new/install/linux/8.4)"
  

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2. Install the Laravel Installer

Once PHP and Composer are ready, install the Laravel installer globally using Composer:

composer global require laravel/installer

Make sure Composer’s global bin directory is in your system’s PATH so that the laravel command is recognized.

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3. Create a New Laravel Project

You can now create a new Laravel project by running:

laravel new create-project

This will generate a fresh Laravel application inside the create-project folder.

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4. Run the Laravel Project

Navigate to your project directory and start the local development server with:

php artisan serve

Your application will now be accessible at:

http://127.0.0.1:8000

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5. Connect to a Database

Most Laravel applications use a database. To configure the connection:

1. Open the .env file in the root of your Laravel project.

2. Update the following values with your database details:

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

3. Run migrations to set up the default Laravel tables:

    php artisan migrate