Laravel Installation on Ubuntu with Nginx – Complete Configuration Guide

Intorduction

Laravel is the ultimate free and open-source PHP framework designed for building fast, secure, and reliable web applications. It has quickly become the industry standard thanks to its powerful, cohesive toolset that guarantees a streamlined development process for any modern PHP project.

In this guide, we’ll learn in detail how to install Laravel on any version of Ubuntu and configure it with Nginx for the best performance. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer, this tutorial is perfect for learning the complete Laravel setup.

Installing Nginx on Ubuntu.

Before deploying your application, the Laravel Nginx configuration must be properly installed and set up. As one of the fastest and most reliable web servers for PHP applications, correctly configuring Nginx is a critical step for maximizing your Laravel site's performance and security.

Step 1: Update System Packages

First, make sure your system is up-to-date by running:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

This ensures that all existing packages are updated before installing new ones.

Step 2: Install Nginx

Now install Nginx using the following command:

sudo apt install nginx -y

After installation, enable Nginx to start automatically on boot:

sudo systemctl enable nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx

Step 3: Verify Installation

To check if Nginx is installed and running properly, run:

sudo systemctl status nginx

or open your browser and visit:

http://localhost

You should see the “Welcome to Nginx!” page — this means Nginx is successfully installed and running.

Next Step: Install PHP 8.3 and Essential Extensions for Laravel

With Nginx successfully installed, the critical next step is to set up PHP. This powerful server-side language is the backbone required to efficiently run your Laravel application.

We will install the latest stable version, PHP 8.3, ensuring you get the best performance, security, and compatibility. Crucially, we'll include all necessary PHP extensions to guarantee your Laravel project functions flawlessly right out of the box.

Step 1: Add PHP Repository

First, add the official PHP repository maintained by Ondřej Surý, which provides the latest PHP packages:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php -y
sudo apt update

Step 2: Install PHP and Required Extensions

Next, install PHP 8.3 along with the commonly required extensions for Laravel:

sudo apt install php8.3 php8.3-fpm php8.3-cli php8.3-common php8.3-mysql php8.3-xml php8.3-mbstring php8.3-curl php8.3-zip php8.3-bcmath php8.3-gd unzip -y

Step 3: Verify PHP Installation

After installation, check if PHP is installed correctly by running:

php -v

You should see something like:

Step 4: Enable PHP-FPM Service

Since Nginx uses PHP-FPM to process PHP files, make sure it’s enabled and running:

sudo systemctl enable php8.3-fpm
sudo systemctl start php8.3-fpm

Installing Composer - Step-by-Step Guide for Ubuntu and Windows

Composer is a powerful dependency manager for PHP. It’s used to install and manage all Laravel packages and libraries efficiently.
Without Composer, you can’t create or run a Laravel project — so let’s install it now.

Step 1: Download Composer Installer

Run the following command to download the Composer installer:

php -r "copy('https://getcomposer.org/installer', 'composer-setup.php');"

Step 2: Verify the Installer (Optional but Recommended)

To ensure the installer file is safe, you can verify its integrity with:

HASH="$(wget -q -O - https://composer.github.io/installer.sig)" 
php -r "if (hash_file('SHA384', 'composer-setup.php') === '$HASH') { echo 'Installer verified'; } else { echo 'Installer corrupt'; unlink('composer-setup.php'); } echo PHP_EOL;"

Step 3: Install Composer Globally

Now run the command below to install Composer system-wide:

sudo php composer-setup.php --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer

Step 4: Verify Installation

Once installed, check if Composer is working:

composer -V

You should see something like:

    ______
  / ____/___  ____ ___  ____  ____  ________  _____
 / /   / __ \/ __ `__ \/ __ \/ __ \/ ___/ _ \/ ___/
/ /___/ /_/ / / / / / / /_/ / /_/ (__  )  __/ /
\____/\____/_/ /_/ /_/ .___/\____/____/\___/_/
                    /_/
Composer version 2.8.11 2025-08-21 11:29:39


Installing Laravel and Configuring Nginx for Localhost.

Now that Nginx, PHP, and Composer are ready, let’s install Laravel and configure Nginx to run it locally on your system (e.g. http://localhost).

Step 1: Create a New Laravel Project

Run the following command to create a new Laravel project inside the web directory:

cd /var/www/
sudo composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel myproject

After installation, move into the project folder:

cd myproject

Step 2: Set Folder Permissions

Laravel needs write access for storage and bootstrap/cache folders.
Run the following commands:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/myproject
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/myproject/storage
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/myproject/bootstrap/cache

Step 3: Configure Nginx for Laravel (Localhost)

Now create a new Nginx configuration file for the Laravel project:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/laravel

Paste this configuration (optimized for localhost):

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name localhost;
    root /var/www/myproject/public;
    index index.php index.html;
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }
    location ~ \.php$ {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
    }
    location ~ /\.ht {
        deny all;
    }
}

Step 4: Enable and Reload Nginx

Enable this configuration by creating a symlink and reloading Nginx:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/laravel /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Step 5: Access Laravel in Browser

Now open your browser and visit:

http://localhost

If everything is configured properly, you’ll see the Laravel welcome page 🎉