Create and Run a Laravel Project

What is Laravel?

Laravel is an open-source PHP web framework created by PHP developer Taylor Otwell. It aims to provide developers with a clean and elegant toolkit to build modern web applications. Laravel offers a wealth of features such as routing, sessions, caching, authentication, etc., which simplify common web development tasks.

Key Features and Advantages of Laravel

• Simplicity and Elegance: Laravel’s syntax is simple and elegant, making the code more readable and maintainable.
• Rich Feature Set: Includes routing, authentication, session management, and caching, greatly simplifying development work.
• Powerful ORM: Eloquent ORM offers a simple ActiveRecord implementation for database operations.
• Modular Design: Easily integrates third-party libraries and extensions through the Composer package manager.
• Strong Community Support: Has a large developer community and a rich ecosystem.

Laravel helps developers quickly build high-quality web applications and APIs, suitable for projects of all sizes, from small applications to large enterprise systems.

Create and Run a Laravel Project Using ServBay

In this article, we will use the PHP environment provided by ServBay to create and run a Laravel project. We will utilize ServBay’s ‘Host’ feature to set up a web server and configure it to access the project easily.

Note: For users who previously used NGINX or Apache

ServBay uses Caddy as the default web server. For users migrating from NGINX and Apache to ServBay, there are some key changes to be aware of:

1. Caddy Configuration

   ServBay comes with Caddy pre-installed and pre-configured for optimization and debugging. Developers just need to manage their sites through ServBay’s ‘Host’ feature without manually modifying the Caddy configuration file.

2. Rewrite Rules and .htaccess

   In NGINX and Apache, developers usually write their own Rewrite rules and .htaccess files for URL rewriting and other configurations. However, ServBay has already configured Caddy's rules out of the box. Unless you have special requirements, you don’t need to write these rules yourself.

3. Learn More

   For more information, refer to Rewrite and .htaccess, How to Migrate an Apache Website to ServBay, and How to Migrate an NGINX Website to ServBay.

Create a Laravel Project

TIP

ServBay recommends developers place websites in the /Applications/ServBay/www directory for easier management.

1. Install Composer

   ServBay comes with Composer pre-installed, no separate installation is needed.

2. Create a Laravel Project

   Use Composer to create a new Laravel project:

   cd /Applications/ServBay/www
   mkdir servbay-laravel-app
   cd servbay-laravel-app
   composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel .

3. Enter the Project Directory

   Enter the newly created Laravel project directory:

   cd /Applications/ServBay/www/servbay-laravel-app

Initial Configuration

1. Generate Application Key

   Laravel requires an application key to ensure the security of user sessions and other encrypted data. Use the Artisan command to generate it:

   php artisan key:generate

2. Configure Environment Variables

   Configure database connection information and other environment variables in the .env file. Make sure the following configurations are set correctly:

   APP_NAME=Laravel
   APP_ENV=local
   APP_KEY=base64:...
   APP_DEBUG=true
   APP_URL=https://servbay-laravel-test.local
   
   LOG_CHANNEL=stack
   
   DB_CONNECTION=mysql
   DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
   DB_PORT=3306
   DB_DATABASE=servbay_laravel_app
   DB_USERNAME=root
   DB_PASSWORD=password

Configure Web Server

Use ServBay’s ‘Host’ feature to access the Laravel project through a web server. In ServBay’s ‘Host’ settings, add a new host:

• Name: My First Laravel Dev Site
• Domain: servbay-laravel-test.local
• Website Type: PHP
• PHP Version: Choose 8.3
• Web Root Directory: /Applications/ServBay/www/servbay-laravel-app/public

For detailed setup steps, refer to Adding the First Website.

Add Sample Code

Add the following code to the routes/web.php file to output "Hello ServBay!":

Route::get('/', function () {
    return 'Hello ServBay!';
});

Access the Website

Open your browser and visit https://servbay-laravel-test.local, you should see the page output Hello ServBay!.

NoSQL Database Example

Memcached Example

1. Install Memcached Extension

   Memcached extension comes pre-installed in ServBay, no additional installation is needed.

2. Configure Memcached

   Configure Memcached connection information in the .env file:

   CACHE_STORE=memcached
   MEMCACHED_HOST=127.0.0.1

3. Use Memcached

   Use cache in the controller:

   use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Cache;
   
   Route::get('/memcached', function () {
       Cache::put('key', 'value', 600);
       return Cache::get('key');
   });

Redis Example

1. Install Redis Extension

   Redis extension comes pre-installed in ServBay, no additional installation is needed.

2. Configure Redis

   Configure Redis connection information in the .env file:

   CACHE_STORE=redis
   REDIS_HOST=127.0.0.1
   REDIS_PASSWORD=null
   REDIS_PORT=6379

3. Use Redis

   Use cache in the controller:

   use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Redis;
   
   Route::get('/redis', function () {
       Redis::set('key', 'value');
       return Redis::get('key');
   });

Relational Database Example

Create Database Structure and Migration Files

1. Create Migration File

   Use Artisan command to create a migration file:

   php artisan make:migration create_accounts_table

2. Edit Migration File

   Find the newly created migration file in the database/migrations directory and edit it to define the database table structure:

   public function up()
   {
       Schema::create('accounts', function (Blueprint $table) {
           $table->id();
           $table->string('name');
           $table->string('email')->unique();
           $table->timestamps();
       });
   }

3. Run Migration

   Use the Artisan command to run the migration and create the database table:

   php artisan migrate

MySQL Example

1. Configure MySQL

   Configure MySQL connection information in the .env file:

   DB_CONNECTION=mysql
   DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
   DB_PORT=3306
   DB_DATABASE=servbay_laravel_app
   DB_USERNAME=root
   DB_PASSWORD=password

2. Insert User Data

   Insert user data in the controller:

   use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
   
   Route::get('/mysql-add', function () {
       DB::table('accounts')->insert([
           'name' => 'ServBay',
           'email' => '[email protected]',
       ]);
       return 'Account added';
   });

3. Use MySQL

   Query the database in the controller:

   use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
   
   Route::get('/mysql', function () {
       $users = DB::table('accounts')->get();
       return $users;
   });

PostgreSQL Example

1. Configure PostgreSQL

   Configure PostgreSQL connection information in the .env file:

   DB_CONNECTION=pgsql
   DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
   DB_PORT=5432
   DB_DATABASE=servbay_laravel_app
   DB_USERNAME=root
   DB_PASSWORD=password

2. Insert User Data

   Insert user data in the controller:

   use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
   
   Route::get('/pgsql-add', function () {
       DB::table('accounts')->insert([
           'name' => 'ServBay',
           'email' => '[email protected]',
       ]);
       return 'Account added';
   });

3. Use PostgreSQL

   Query the database in the controller:

   use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
   
   Route::get('/pgsql', function () {
       $users = DB::table('accounts')->get();
       return $users;
   });

By following these steps, you have successfully created and run a Laravel project, utilized ServBay's features to manage and access your project, and connected various databases to retrieve data.