💻 Setting a Local Development Environment for Laravel on Windows | 🚀 Install Laravel on Windows

How to Set Up Laravel on Windows Using XAMPP: A Step-by-Step Guide for Developers

Introduction

Many developers choose Windows as their primary environment for PHP projects. In this article, we'll walk you through setting up XAMPP for a Laravel project on Windows. By following these straightforward steps, you'll be able to run your PHP projects and install Laravel in just a few minutes.

Installing XAMPP for Laravel

1. Download XAMPP
   Download XAMPP for Windows from the official site: XAMPP Download.
   For this guide, we are using PHP 7.1 and XAMPP 32-bit.
2. Run the Installer
   Install XAMPP and choose Apache, MySQL, and phpMyAdmin. It's recommended to install XAMPP on C:\ (or the drive where Windows is installed) to avoid permission issues.
3. Do Not Start Services Yet
   After the installation is complete, don't start any services immediately.

Configuring PHP in Windows CMD

1. Set PHP Path
   Go to System Properties -> Advanced -> Environment Variables. In the Path variable, click Edit and add the path to XAMPP's PHP directory:
   C:\xampp\php
2. Add MySQL Path
   Similarly, add MySQL's path:
   C:\xampp\mysql\bin

Installing Composer

1. Download Composer
   Download Composer's Windows installer: Composer Download.
   Run the installer from the directory added to your Path (C:\xampp\php).
2. Install Laravel
   Now that you have Apache, PHP, MySQL, and Composer installed, you can proceed with installing Laravel.

Setting Up Laravel and a Virtual Host

1. Create a Laravel Project
   Open CMD or PowerShell and navigate to the XAMPP htdocs directory:
   cd C:\xampp\htdocs
   Then install Laravel using Composer:
   composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel example
2. Create MySQL Database for Laravel
   In CMD or PowerShell, access MySQL CLI:
   mysql -u root -p
   Then create a database:
   CREATE DATABASE laravel DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci;
3. Configure Laravel’s .env File
   Navigate to C:\xampp\htdocs\example and open config/database.php to configure the MySQL connection:

   'mysql' => [
       'driver'    => 'mysql',
       'database'  => 'laravel',
       'username'  => 'root',
       'password'  => 'YOUR_PASSWORD',
       'charset'   => 'utf8mb4',
       'collation' => 'utf8mb4_unicode_ci',
   ],
           

4. Set Up a Virtual Host
   Go to C:\xampp\apache\conf\extra and open httpd-vhosts.conf. Add the following configuration:

       DocumentRoot "C:\xampp\htdocs\example\public"
       ServerName example.com
       ServerAlias www.example.com
       
           Require all granted
       
           

5. Enable mod_rewrite
   In C:\xampp\apache\conf\httpd.conf, find the line:
   LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so
   Remove the semicolon (;) at the beginning to enable URL rewriting.
6. Edit Hosts File
   Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc and open the hosts file with administrator privileges. Add:
   127.0.0.1 example.com www.example.com

Start Apache and MySQL

Start the XAMPP services for Apache and MySQL, and open your Laravel project locally at example.com.

Deploying Your Laravel Project

When you're ready to deploy, contact us to host your Laravel project on WebHostFace’s servers. Our hosting provides fast, reliable SSD Laravel Hosting at a discounted price, perfect for growing your online presence without a large investment!

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