Installation

This guide walks you through installing LaraDashboard on your local development environment or production server.

Requirements#

Before installing LaraDashboard, ensure your system meets these requirements:

Server Requirements#

Requirement	Minimum	Recommended
PHP	8.3	8.4
MySQL	8.0	8.0+
MariaDB	10.6	10.11+
Node.js	18.x	20.x LTS
Composer	2.5	2.7+

PHP Extensions#

The following PHP extensions must be enabled:

• BCMath
• Ctype
• cURL
• DOM
• Fileinfo
• JSON
• Mbstring
• OpenSSL
• PDO
• PDO MySQL
• Tokenizer
• XML
• GD or Imagick (for image processing)

Optional Requirements#

• Redis - For caching and queues (recommended for production)
• Supervisor - For managing queue workers
• SSL Certificate - Required for production deployments

Installation Methods#

Choose the installation method that best fits your needs:

Method 1: Fresh Installation (Recommended)#

Create a new LaraDashboard project using Composer:

# Create new project
composer create-project laradashboard/laradashboard my-project

# Navigate to project directory
cd my-project

Method 2: Clone from Repository#

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/developer-developer/laraDashboard.git my-project

# Navigate to project directory
cd my-project

# Install PHP dependencies
composer install

# Install Node dependencies
npm install

Method 3: Download ZIP#

1. Download the latest release from the releases page
2. Extract the ZIP file to your desired location
3. Open terminal and navigate to the extracted directory
4. Run composer install and npm install

Environment Configuration#

Step 1: Create Environment File#

Copy the example environment file:

cp .env.example .env

Step 2: Generate Application Key#

php artisan key:generate

Step 3: Configure Database#

Open .env and configure your database connection:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=laradashboard
DB_USERNAME=your_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_password

SQLite Alternative#

For quick local development, you can use SQLite:

DB_CONNECTION=sqlite
# DB_DATABASE will be automatically set to database/database.sqlite

Create the SQLite database file:

touch database/database.sqlite

Step 4: Configure Application URL#

Set your application URL:

APP_URL=http://localhost:8000

For production:

APP_URL=https://yourdomain.com

Database Setup#

Run Migrations#

Execute database migrations to create the required tables:

php artisan migrate

Seed Default Data#

Populate the database with default data (admin user, permissions, settings):

php artisan db:seed

This creates:

• Default admin user (admin@admin.com / password)
• Permission structure
• Default settings
• Sample content (optional)

Combined Command#

Run migrations and seeders together:

php artisan migrate --seed

Asset Compilation#

Development Build#

For development with hot-reload:

npm run dev

Production Build#

For optimized production assets:

npm run build

Installation Wizard#

LaraDashboard includes a web-based installation wizard for easier setup.

Access the Wizard#

1. Start the development server:

   php artisan serve
   

2. Visit http://localhost:8000/install in your browser

3. Follow the guided steps:

   • Welcome - Introduction and requirements check
   • Environment - Database and application configuration
   • Database - Run migrations and seeders
   • Admin - Create your administrator account
   • Complete - Finalize installation

The wizard automatically:

• Validates your environment
• Tests database connectivity
• Runs migrations and seeders
• Creates your admin account
• Removes the installation routes

Verifying Installation#

Check Application Status#

php artisan about

Access Admin Panel#

1. Start the server: php artisan serve
2. Visit: http://localhost:8000/admin
3. Login with your admin credentials

Default Credentials#

If you used the database seeder:

Field	Value
Email	admin@admin.com
Password	password

Security Warning: Change the default password immediately after your first login!

Directory Permissions#

Ensure these directories are writable by your web server:

chmod -R 775 storage
chmod -R 775 bootstrap/cache
chmod -R 775 public/uploads

For production with proper user ownership:

chown -R www-data:www-data storage bootstrap/cache public/uploads

Common Installation Issues#

Issue: Composer Memory Limit#

COMPOSER_MEMORY_LIMIT=-1 composer install

Issue: Permission Denied#

sudo chmod -R 777 storage bootstrap/cache
# After installation, restrict to 775

Issue: PDO Extension Missing#

Install the PDO MySQL extension:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install php8.3-mysql

# macOS with Homebrew
brew install php@8.3

Issue: Node/NPM Not Found#

Install Node.js via your package manager or nvm:

# Using nvm (recommended)
nvm install 20
nvm use 20

Next Steps#

Your LaraDashboard installation is complete! Continue with:

1. Configuration Guide - Fine-tune your settings
2. Quick Start - Learn the basics
3. User Guide - Explore the admin panel

Production Deployment#

For production deployments, see the Deployment Guide which covers:

• Web server configuration (Nginx/Apache)
• SSL certificates
• Performance optimization
• Queue workers
• Scheduled tasks