How to Install Laravel on CentOS 8

Laravel is a powerful PHP framework used for web development. If you're using CentOS 8, this guide will help you install and set up Laravel step by step.

✅ What You’ll Learn:
✔️ Install PHP, Composer, and Laravel
✔️ Set up a web server (Apache or Nginx)
✔️ Configure Laravel and database
✔️ Run Laravel on CentOS 8

Step 1: Update Your System

Before installing Laravel, update your system:

sudo dnf update -y

Step 2: Install PHP and Required Extensions

Laravel requires PHP 8.1+. Enable the Remi repository and install PHP:

sudo dnf install epel-release -y
sudo dnf install https://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-8.rpm -y
sudo dnf module reset php
sudo dnf module enable php:remi-8.1 -y
sudo dnf install php php-cli php-mbstring php-xml php-bcmath php-curl php-zip unzip curl -y

Verify the PHP installation:

php -v

Step 3: Install Composer

Laravel uses Composer for dependency management. Install it using:

curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
sudo mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer

Check if Composer is installed:

composer -V

Step 4: Install MySQL and Configure the Database

If MySQL is not installed, install it using:

sudo dnf install mysql-server -y

Start and enable MySQL:

sudo systemctl start mysqld
sudo systemctl enable mysqld

Secure your MySQL installation:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

sudo mysql -u root -p

Run the following SQL commands:

CREATE DATABASE laravel_db;
CREATE USER 'laravel_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON laravel_db.* TO 'laravel_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 5: Install Laravel

Navigate to your web directory:

cd /var/www

Use Composer to install Laravel:

sudo composer create-project laravel/laravel myapp

Set proper ownership and permissions:

sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/myapp
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/myapp/storage /var/www/myapp/bootstrap/cache

Step 6: Configure Apache or Nginx for Laravel

For Apache:

Enable required modules:

sudo dnf install httpd -y
sudo systemctl start httpd
sudo systemctl enable httpd
sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=http --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Create a new virtual host file:

sudo nano /etc/httpd/conf.d/laravel.conf

Paste the following configuration:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName yourdomain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/myapp/public

    <Directory /var/www/myapp>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog /var/log/httpd/laravel-error.log
    CustomLog /var/log/httpd/laravel-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Restart Apache:

sudo systemctl restart httpd

For Nginx:

Install Nginx and PHP-FPM:

sudo dnf install nginx php-fpm -y
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx

Create a new Nginx configuration:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/laravel.conf

Paste the following configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;
    root /var/www/myapp/public;

    index index.php index.html index.htm;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php-fpm/www.sock;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
    }

    location ~ /\.ht {
        deny all;
    }
}

Restart Nginx:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 7: Configure Laravel Environment

Navigate to your Laravel project directory:

cd /var/www/myapp

Edit the .env file to update database credentials:

nano .env

Modify these lines:

DB_DATABASE=laravel_db
DB_USERNAME=laravel_user
DB_PASSWORD=your_password

Run database migrations:

php artisan migrate

Step 8: Run Laravel

Start the Laravel development server:

php artisan serve --host=0.0.0.0 --port=8000

Now, open your browser and visit:

http://your-server-ip:8000

Step 9: Optimize Laravel Performance

Run these optimization commands:

php artisan config:cache
php artisan route:cache
php artisan view:cache

Set correct permissions:

sudo chmod -R 775 storage bootstrap/cache
sudo chown -R apache:apache storage bootstrap/cache

Conclusion

🎉 Congratulations! You have successfully installed Laravel on CentOS 8. Now, you can start building amazing web applications! 🚀

💬 Have any questions? Let us know in the comments!

Souy Soeng

How to Install Laravel on CentOS 8