How to install the Laravel framework (tutorial)

Laravel is an open source PHP web application framework that uses the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern and the Composer tool. The easy-to-use, flexible, and efficient Laravel framework is highly sought after by developers. Next, we will introduce how to install the Laravel framework.

First of all, we need to confirm whether the server environment meets the operating requirements of Laravel. Laravel's server environment requires a PHP version of at least 7.2.0, and some PHP extensions need to be installed, such as OpenSSL, PDO, Mbstring, Tokenizer, and XML. If you're not sure your server meets these requirements, you can check using Laravel's runtime requirements:

$ php artisan requirements

Install Composer

Laravel relies on Composer to install and update project dependencies. Therefore, before installing Laravel, you must first install Composer. Composer is a package manager for PHP development. It supports automatic loading, dependency resolution, installation and uninstallation, updates and other operations, and can easily manage various dependencies of the project. On any operating system, you can download the latest version of the Composer installer from the getcomposer.org website.

Installing Laravel

Once you have confirmed the server environment and installed Composer, you can start installing Laravel. There are two ways to install Laravel: use Composer to create a new project, or use Composer to install the Laravel-installer tool. For most developers, the first method is more intuitive.

Create a new project using Composer

Enter the following command at the command line:

$ composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel your-project-name

This command will download the latest stable version of the Laravel framework to a new project directory named your-project-name. We can replace the project name with the name we want. If you are using a Chinese system, you need to specify your-project-name in English.

Use Composer to install the Laravel-installer tool

Another way to install Laravel is to install the Laravel-installer tool through Composer and use this tool to create a Laravel project. It replaces the create-project command and is therefore simpler and more efficient.

First, install the Laravel-installer tool globally through Composer:

$ composer global require laravel/installer

Next, create a new project in your favorite directory:

$ laravel new your-project-name

Wait for a while and Composer will complete the installation.

Configure Laravel environment

After you successfully install Laravel, you need to configure the project environment. In the root directory of the project, you can see the .env.example file. Make a copy of the .env.example file and save it as .env:

$ cp .env.example .env

Then, You need to configure the following constants in .env: APP_NAME, APP_ENV, APP_KEY, APP_DEBUG, APP_URL, DB_CONNECTION, DB_HOST, DB_PORT, DB_DATABASE, DB_USERNAME, DB_PASSWORD, etc. These constants are very important as they will serve as the configuration file for the entire framework.

Finally, run the following command to generate a new application key in your application:

$ php artisan key:generate

This command will automatically generate a random application key and store it in the configuration file.

Now, you have completed the installation and configuration of Laravel. You can start developing your Laravel application. I hope you have a pleasant Laravel development journey!

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