Overview

Laravel Homestead has been at the top of the table since the introduction of modern web application tools in the market. Whether it is an individual developer or an organization, experts are always looking for methodologies to introduce scalability and eliminate the complexity in their overall operation.

These are the tools that can be utilized to make the overall development process much more proficient in every way possible. So we present you a blog that will give you a quick yet helpful explanation of how to implement Laravel Homestead for local development. On top of that, we have also discussed some of the advantages and footnotes too.

What is Laravel Homestead?

Every web development expert knows that there are a plethora of benefits to using a local development environment. It lets you write codes, build, and test your web development project on local storage. Laravel Homestead is a Vagrant box that comes with numerous sets of tools and software. This pre-packaged box allows you to build and test your projects conveniently without utilizing any other server-side software.

Its characteristics include all the tools and packages like MySQL, Redis, PHP, etc, is one of its unique selling prices. This comprehensive Vagrant box has been highly appreciated by the Laravel web development community. But hold your horses right there; that’s not just it. Its capabilities to provide an easily understandable and modest local development environment have been highly appreciated.

One can access its features and start developing scalable Laravel applications by simply installing the Vagrant Box. The next section will help clear any doubts you might have currently, so bear with us.

A Step-by-step Guide to Implement Laravel Homestead

The fundamental step is to download Vagrant Box. Once you are done with the installation process the next step is to configure a Homestead box. Lots of boxes, right? But they have detailed documentation for that too.

Step 1

Starting with the first step is installing the Vagrant command line utility, which comes with three primary benefits:

• Helps you track the lifecycle of your virtual machine.
• Provides your access to various commands and codes 
• Access to MySQL database.

Now once you have downloaded the Vagrant box from their official download page. Add Homestead to the Vagrant Box. To run Homestead, open the terminal and follow up with this command. 

After running the code, the output will look like:

The third option aligns with our current task demand, so click on that, and it will take some time to process. Lastly, to validate, run the below command, and it will pop a window provided in the image below.

Step 2

After completing a nominal installation and storing process. Like choosing the directory to download the Laravel Homestead and running a command to boot up the Homestead, which will create a few necessary files.

For Windows 

For Ubuntu

By navigating to the previous step, you will reach the documents/Laravel folder. This step comes under the configuration phase.

Now we need to create a folder that will have all your codes and projects.

Once you are done with all the straps, you will be able to observe a folder structure:

• Documents
• Laravel
• Code
• Homestead

You can also modify the path according to the folder you just created.

Note- Don’t forget to save the file

Step 3

• Running the below-mentioned command in the terminal will wake up the Homestead virtual machine.

• A quick reminder if you make changes to Homestead.yaml file, you will have to restart the server through the below-mentioned command. Not doing so results in an error.

• This is the command for revprovision

• And the last command we would like you to remember is for suspending the vagrant box.

Connecting with SSH:

• To visit your process, you must log in to the machine, and running this command for SSH can provide you access to log in.

• In SSH, you can view your projects.

• By entering the common below you will be able to evaluate that the configuration we did up until now would not go in vain and throw an error at us.

• The last code is again for exiting the SSH.

Installing the Laravel Installer

• For creating multiple projects, you need to install Laravel installer in the Homestead. 

• First, run the below code

Then using Composer, run in the below command to download the Laravel installer.

• Using the below command, you will be able to create a fresh Laravel project.

Step 4

Configuring the newly created Laravel project in our Homestead

The step begins with adding a new project, website, or specified URL.

Set the database alleging respected places.

Database:

Set the values default username & default password used by Homestead. These values should be set for your first project to make the connection with the database.

Save the file and voila, your project is successfully configured. 

Let’s move on to our post configuration phase. 

Map the host’s file

• You must have set a specific name for the domain/URL you are working on. We will call it ‘myproject.test’ this will eliminate any confusion, and we will be able to explain it easily.

• Adding your project to the system host file and running a simple command in the terminal allows you to open your project in the browser. 

For Ubuntu and Mac

For Windows

• Through those steps, you will be able to access the hosts file in edit mode in your terminal.
• Looking like this

• The names that you choose to set for the URL/domain project add that at the end of the code line.

Note- Save and close the file through Ctrl+O and Ctrl+X commands, respectively.

Step 5

• Your project would be available for you to open by entering the website address/URL, post-fixed with 8000. 
• Example of our project website add/URL: http://myproject1.test:8000/ 
• For the cherry on top, your fresh Laravel website is up and running.

What are the Benefits of Laravel Homestead?

Easy to Comprehend – Most liked Laravel characteristic is that the whole configuration part is easy to set up. Even a new developer that has just started in a leading Laravel development company can easily understand the basics of Laravel Homestead.

Trouble-Free Configuration- Providing a wonderful development environment to your developers it allows them to scale with the project efficiently. But all this does not require complex configuration that could lead to operational errors.

Compatibility and Consistency – Streamlining development through providing a consistent development state for the experts as well as being compatible with all operating systems like macOS, Windows, and Linux. It’s like a gold mine for every developer who needs to gain access to the benefits of Laravel Homestead without worrying about extra add-ons. 

Wrapping up

Using this step-by-step guide you can conveniently implement Laravel Homestead for Local Development. From streamlining the workflow to being compatible with all the operating systems Laravel Homestead is highly versatile for local development. Probably best to hire a well-known Laravel development company that could guide you and assist your project impacting the overall business operation. They will ensure code quality and bring proficiency with their rigorous research and development methodologies.