How to install Laravel: simple step-by-step instructions

Simple step-by-step instructions for installing Laravel on your system via the command line (CLI).

Let's go through all the steps together:

Step 1: Make sure you have PHP and Composer installed

1. Check PHP: Open a command prompt and type:

   php -v

   If PHP is installed, you will see the version. If not, you will need to install it.

2. Install Composer: If you don't have Composer yet, you can install it by following the instructions on Composer's official website.

Step 2: Install Laravel

1. Create a Laravel project: After installing Composer, you can use the following command to install a new Laravel project. Replace `my-project` with the name of your project:

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

   This command will create a new folder named `my-project` and install a fresh copy of Laravel into it.

2. Go to the project folder:

   cd my-project

Step 3: Setting up the environment

1. Copy the environment file: Laravel uses the `.env` file to store configuration parameters. Create a copy of the `.env.example` file and rename it to `.env`:

   cp .env.example .env

2. Generate the application key:

   php artisan key:generate

Step 4: Start the server

Now you can run the built-in Laravel server. Do the following:

php artisan serve

After executing this command, you will see a message that the server is running, usually at `http://localhost:8000 `.

Step 5: Open in the browser

Open your browser and go to `http://localhost:8000 `. You should see the Laravel start page.

Congratulations!

Now you have Laravel installed on your system and you can start developing your applications!