Installing Laravel manually

Laravel is a modern PHP framework designed for building robust web applications. While Softaculous can automate installation, you may sometimes need to install Laravel manually, for example, if you want a specific version or are working on an unmanaged server.

Why Install Laravel Manually?

• Greater control over version selection.

• Works on unmanaged VPS or dedicated servers.

• Useful for developers who want custom setups.

Steps to Install Laravel Manually

1. Log in to Your Account via SSH.

   • Use an SSH client to connect to your hosting account.

2. Install Laravel Using Composer.

   • Laravel uses Composer, a PHP dependency manager.

   • Navigate to your home directory:

     Bash
     
     cd ~
     

      

   • Run the following command (replace project with your desired project name):

     Bash
     
     composer create-project laravel/laravel project
     

      

   • This installs Laravel in /home/username/project.

3. Set Up Artisan Alias (Optional).

   • Artisan is Laravel’s command‑line interface.

   • To run Artisan by simply typing artisan, add an alias:

     echo 'alias artisan="php /home/username/project/artisan"' >> ~/.bashrc
     source ~/.bashrc
     

      

4. Make Laravel Publicly Accessible.

   • Copy the contents of the public directory to your public_html folder:

     Bash
     
     cp -r ~/project/public/* ~/public_html
     

      

   • Alternatively, copy to a subdirectory (e.g., public_html/laravel):

     Bash
     
     cp -r ~/project/public/* ~/public_html/laravel
     

      

   • In this case, your site will be accessible at http://example.com/laravel.

5. Update index.php Paths.

   • Open public_html/index.php in a text editor.

   • Update the following lines to include the correct project directory:

     require __DIR__.'/../project/vendor/autoload.php';
     require __DIR__.'/../project/bootstrap/app.php';
     

      

6. Verify Installation.

   • In your browser, go to http://example.com.

   • You should see the Laravel welcome page.