Install Laravel on Windows | Set Local Laravel Development Environment

Many developers use Windows for PHP projects, we will cover a basic XAMPP Setup for a Laravel project. Following these easy steps will help you run your PHP projects and install Laravel on Windows in a matter of minutes.

Installing XAMPP for Laravel

Download XAMPP for Windows from their official site: https://www.apachefriends.org/download.html
For our example, we’ve chosen PHP 7.1 and XAMPP 32 bit
Run the installer and select Apache, MySQL and phpMyAdmin
It’s recommended to make the installation in C:\ to avoid issues with Windows User permissions (or the drive where your Windows is installed)
After it’s complete do not start anything just yet.

Setting PHP from Windows CMD

Open Advanced System Settings (System Properties -> Advanced)
Open Environment Variables
On the top window select Path and click on Edit
In the new window click on New
We need to enter the path to XAMPP’s PHP
```
C:\xampp\php
```
We will also add MySQL’s Path, click on New again and enter
```
C:\xampp\mysql\bin
```

Composer from Windows CMD

Download Composer’s Windows .exe installer: https://getcomposer.org/download/
Place the installer and run it from the added to Path directory – C:\xampp\php

Now that we have Apache, PHP, MySQL and Composer installed, we’re ready to install Laravel, set a Virtual Host with a custom domain for local development. XAMPP’s Apache uses the htdocs folder for serving HTTP requests, we’ll set our custom Laravel Virtual Host under C:\xampp\htdocs\example\ which will be opened locally from example.com

Install Laravel on Windows with Composer

Open Window’s CMD or PowerShell
```
cd C:\xampp\htdocs
```

Install Laravel using Composer

composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel example

Creating MySQL Database for Laravel

Open the CMD or PowerShell again
Access the MySQL CLI
```
mysql -u root -p
```

Create Database for Laravel

CREATE DATABASE laravel DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci;

Setting Laravel’s .env file

Navigate to C:\xampp\htdocs\example

Open the config/database.php file and edit the MySQL Connection settings

'mysql' => [
    'read' => [
        'host' => [
            '192.168.1.1',
            '196.168.1.2',
        ],
    ],
    'write' => [
        'host' => [
            '196.168.1.3',
         ],
    ],
    'sticky'    => true,
    'driver'    => 'mysql',
    'database'  => 'laravel',
    'username'  => 'root',
    'password'  => 'THE ONE YOU CREATED THE USER WITH',
    'charset'   => 'utf8mb4',
    'collation' => 'utf8mb4_unicode_ci',
    'prefix'    => '',
],

Virtual Host with XAMPP

Navigate to C:\xampp\apache\conf\extra

Open httpd-vhosts.conf and append:

NameVirtualHost *:80

<VirtualHost example.com:80>
    DocumentRoot "C:\xampp\htdocs\example\public"
    ServerName example.com
    ServerAlias www.example.com
    
    <Directory "c:/xampp/htdocs/example/public">
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Enable mod_rewrite for Laravel

Open the httpd.conf file in C:\xampp\apache\conf\extra
Look for LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so and remove the ; at the start

Setting local domain with hosts file

Navigate to c:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc
Open the hosts file with Administrator Privileges
Append the line at the bottom
```
127.0.0.1 www.example.com example.com
```

Start Apache and MySQL, your local Laravel project will be opened from example.com and you’re ready to start working on it. When ready you can contact us to have it deployed on a WebHostFace server

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