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

Log in to Your Account via SSH.
- Use an SSH client to connect to your hosting account.
Install Laravel Using Composer.
- Laravel uses Composer, a PHP dependency manager.
- Navigate to your home directory:
  Terminal window
```
cd ~
```
- Run the following command (replace project with your desired project name):
  Terminal window
```
composer create-project laravel/laravel project
```
- This installs Laravel in /home/username/project.
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
```
Make Laravel Publicly Accessible.
- Copy the contents of the public directory to your public_html folder:
  Terminal window
```
cp -r ~/project/public/* ~/public_html
```
- Alternatively, copy to a subdirectory (e.g., public_html/laravel):
  Terminal window
```
cp -r ~/project/public/* ~/public_html/laravel
```
- In this case, your site will be accessible at http://example.com/laravel.
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';
```
Verify Installation.
- In your browser, go to http://example.com.
- You should see the Laravel welcome page.