How to Install Laravel on Ubuntu 24.04

Laravel is a dynamic, object-oriented programming framework based on PHP for creating applications from basic to complex web solutions. Laravel offers a modern syntax for productivity, runs with an interpreter instead of a compiler, and integrates with multiple frameworks for use in various projects.

This article explains how to install Laravel on Ubuntu 24.04 and configure the server to run Laravel applications.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you need to:

• Have access to an Ubuntu 24.04 instance.
• Create a domain A record pointing to the server's IP address. For example, laravelapp.example.com.

Create a MySQL Database for Laravel

Laravel supports multiple database engines you can configure and integrate to store application data. Follow the steps below to create a new dedicated MySQL database to use with Laravel on your server.

1. Verify that the MySQL database server is active and running.

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   $ sudo systemctl status mysql

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   Output:

   ● mysql.service - MySQL Community Server
    Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/mysql.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
    Active: active (running) since Wed 2024-12-04 13:03:09 UTC; 19s ago
   Process: 2843 ExecStartPre=/usr/share/mysql/mysql-systemd-start pre (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 2857 (mysqld)
    Status: "Server is operational"
     Tasks: 39 (limit: 2269)
    Memory: 361.6M (peak: 377.9M)
       CPU: 646ms
    CGroup: /system.slice/mysql.service
            └─2857 /usr/sbin/mysqld

2. Log in to the MySQL database server.

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   $ sudo mariadb

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3. Create a new laravelapp database for your Laravel project.

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   > CREATE DATABASE laravelapp;

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4. Create a new laravelapp user with a strong password to use with the Laravel application. Replace password with a strong password of your choice.

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   > CREATE USER laravelapp@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'password';

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5. Grant the new laravelapp user full privileges to the Laravel database.

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   > GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON laravelapp.* TO laravelapp@localhost;

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6. Flush the MySQL privileges table to apply the database changes.

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   > FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

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7. Exit the MySQL database console.

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   > EXIT;

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Install Composer and Required PHP Extensions

Laravel requires composer dependency manager and specific PHP extensons to run and deliver dynamic web applications on a server. Follow the steps below to install Composer and all required PHP extensions on your server.

1. Update the server's package index.

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   $ sudo apt update

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2. Install Composer and all required extensions.

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   $ sudo apt install  composer php php-curl php-bcmath php-json php-mysql php-mbstring php-xml php-tokenizer php-zip git -y

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3. View the installed PHP version.

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   $ php -v

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   Output:

   PHP 8.3.6 (cli) (built: Sep 30 2024 15:17:17) (NTS)
   Copyright (c) The PHP Group
   Zend Engine v4.3.6, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
       with Zend OPcache v8.3.6, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

4. View the installed Composer version.

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   $ sudo -u www-data composer -v

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   Output:

      ______
     / ____/___  ____ ___  ____  ____  ________  _____
    / /   / __ \/ __ `__ \/ __ \/ __ \/ ___/ _ \/ ___/
   / /___/ /_/ / / / / / / /_/ / /_/ (__  )  __/ /
   \____/\____/_/ /_/ /_/ .___/\____/____/\___/_/
                       /_/
   Composer version 2.7.1 2024-02-09 15:26:28
   
   Usage:
     command [options] [arguments]

5. View the Apache service status and verify that it's active.

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   $ sudo systemctl status apache2

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   Output:

   enabled
   ● apache2.service - The Apache HTTP Server
        Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/apache2.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
        Active: active (running) since Tue 2024-11-19 14:28:27 UTC; 5min ago
          Docs: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/
      Main PID: 20426 (apache2)
         Tasks: 6 (limit: 4607)
        Memory: 13.9M (peak: 14.1M)
           CPU: 71ms
        CGroup: /system.slice/apache2.service
                ├─20426 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
                └─20434 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start

6. Create a new info.php file in the default /var/www/html web root directory to display all PHP configuration details.

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   $ sudo nano /var/www/html/info.php

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7. Add the following phpinfo function to the file.

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   <?php phpinfo(); ?>

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   Save and close the file.

8. Allow HTTP connections through the default firewall configuration.

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   $ sudo ufw allow 80/tcp

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9. Reload UFW to apply the firewall changes.

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   $ sudo ufw reload

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10. Restart the Apache web server to apply your PHP application changes.

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    $ sudo systemctl restart apache2

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11. Access your server's IP address using the /info.php path in a web browser such as Chrome.

    http://SERVER-IP/info.php

    View all installed extensions on your server and verify that thefileinfo, mbstring, and openssl are available on the PHP information page.

Install Laravel on Ubuntu 24.04

Follow the steps below to set up all required project directories and create a new Laravel project using Composer with all necessary dependency packages.

1. Create all required project directories in the /var/www/ directory.

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   $ sudo mkdir -p /var/www/{.cache,.config,laravelapp}

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   The above command create the /var/www/.cache directory to store the Composer cache files, while /var/www/.config stores configuration files for Composer, and /var/www/laravelapp works as the main Laravel project directory.

2. Grant the Apache www-data user and group ownership privileges to all files in the Laravel project directory.

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   $ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/{.cache,.config,laravelapp}

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3. Navigate to the laravelapp project directory.

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   $ cd /var/www/laravelapp/

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4. Create a new project using Composer and the default Laravel application template.

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   $ sudo -u www-data composer create-project laravel/laravel .

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   Output:

   Creating a "laravel/laravel" project at "./my_laravel_project"
   Installing laravel/laravel (v10.2.0)
     - Installing laravel/laravel (v10.2.0): Extracting archive
   Created project in /var/www/html/my_laravel_project

5. Open the .env file using a text editor such as nano to set up the Laravel database connection information.

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   $ sudo nano .env

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6. Find the following DB_CONNECTION directive.

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   DB_CONNECTION=sqlite

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   • Change the default value from sqlite to mysql.

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     DB_CONNECTION=mysql

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   • Uncomment the DB_ directives and replace the default values with your actual Laravel database information.

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     APP_URL=http://laravelapp.example.com
     
     DB_CONNECTION=mysql
     DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
     DB_PORT=3306
     DB_DATABASE=laravelapp
     DB_USERNAME=laravelapp
     DB_PASSWORD=password

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   Save and close the file.

7. Run the database migration script to create the default database structure for your Laravel project.

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   $ sudo -u www-data php artisan migrate

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   Output:

    INFO  Preparing database.  
   
     Creating migration table .................................................................................... 5.68ms DONE
   
      INFO  Running migrations.  
   
     0001_01_01_000000_create_users_table ........................................................................ 15.56ms DONE
     0001_01_01_000001_create_cache_table ......................................................................... 4.07ms DONE
     0001_01_01_000002_create_jobs_table ......................................................................... 12.17ms DONE

Create a New Apache Virtual Host Configuration for Laravel

Apache serves web application files using virtual host configurations in the /etc/apache2 directory. Follow the steps below to create a new Apache virtual host configuration to serve the Laravel project files using your laravelapp.example.com domain.

1. Enable the Apache rewrite module mod_rewrite to enable Laravel to process clean URLs.

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   $ sudo a2enmod rewrite

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2. Create a new laravelapp.conf virtual host configuration file.

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   $ sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/laravelapp.conf

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3. Add the following contents to the file. Replace laravelapp.example.com with your actual domain.

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   <VirtualHost *:80>
   
    ServerAdmin admin@example.com
    ServerName laravelapp.example.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/laravelapp/public
   
    <Directory />
    Options FollowSymLinks
    AllowOverride None
    </Directory>
    <Directory /var/www/laravelapp>
    AllowOverride All
    </Directory>
   
    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
   
   </VirtualHost>

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   Save and close the file.

   The above apache virtual host configuration listens for connection requests on the HTTP port 80 and serves the Laravel web application files from the /var/www/laravelapp directory.

4. Enable the Laravel virtual host configuration.

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   $ sudo a2ensite laravelapp.conf

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5. Disable the default Apache virtual host configuration to avoid port conflicts.

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   $ sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf

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6. Test the Apache configuration for errors.

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   $ sudo apachectl configtest

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   Output:

   Enabling site laravelapp.
   To activate the new configuration, you need to run:
     systemctl reload apache2
   Syntax OK

   If you see Syntax OK, the configuration is valid.

7. Restart the Apache service to apply the configuration changes.

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   $ sudo systemctl restart apache2

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Access Laravel

Follow the steps below to access your Laravel application using your laravelapp.example.com virtual host domain on your server.

1. Access the Laravel application using your domain in a web browser such as Chrome. Replace laravelapp.example.com with your actual domain.

   http://laravelapp.example.com

   Output:

   

Conclusion

You have installed Laravel on Ubuntu 24.04 and set up a default project to run on your server. You can create new models, views and controller files in your Laravel project directory to run frameworks such as Blade and customize your dynamic Laravel web application functionalities.