Dedicated Servers & VPS•December 15, 2025• 3 views

How to install Laravel on a Linux VPS (Debian 13 / Ubuntu 24.04)

How to install Laravel on a Linux VPS (Debian 13 / Ubuntu 24.04)

How to install Laravel on a Linux VPS (Debian 13 / Ubuntu 24.04)

Estimated Time: 30-45 minutes
Difficulty: Intermediate ⭐⭐
System: Debian 13 (Trixie) / Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

📋 Introduction

This guide explains how to install Laravel 12 (latest version) on a Linux VPS with Debian 13 or Ubuntu 24.04. By the end of this tutorial, you will have a production environment ready with:

  • ✅ PHP 8.3 (required for Laravel 12)
  • ✅ Composer (PHP dependency manager)
  • ✅ Nginx (high-performance web server)
  • ✅ MariaDB (database)
  • ✅ Laravel 12 (PHP framework)

Prerequisites

Prerequisite Description
🖥️ Linux VPS Debian 13 or Ubuntu 24.04 with root access
🔑 SSH Access Root or sudo user connection
🌐 Domain Name (Optional) To access via URL
💾 RAM Minimum 1 GB recommended
💿 Storage Minimum 10 GB

Required Configuration for Laravel 12

Component Minimum Version
PHP 8.2 (8.3 or 8.4 recommended)
Composer 2.x
Database MySQL 5.7+ / MariaDB 10.3+ / PostgreSQL 10+ / SQLite 3.26+

🔄 Step 1: Update the System

Before any installation, update your system.

SSH Connection

ssh root@your-server-ip

Update Packages

# Update package list
apt update

# Upgrade installed packages
apt upgrade -y

✅ Expected Outcome: All packages are up to date.

🐘 Step 2: Install PHP 8.3

Laravel 12 requires a minimum of PHP 8.2. We will install PHP 8.3 for better performance.

For Debian 13

Debian 13 (Trixie) includes PHP 8.4 by default. To install PHP 8.3, add the Sury repository:

# Install dependencies
apt install -y apt-transport-https lsb-release ca-certificates curl gnupg


# Download the GPG key for the Sury repository
curl -fsSL https://packages.sury.org/php/apt.gpg | gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/sury-php.gpg


# Add the Sury repository
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/sury-php.gpg] https://packages.sury.org/php/ $(lsb_release -sc) main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sury-php.list


# Update package list
apt update

For Ubuntu 24.04

Ubuntu 24.04 includes PHP 8.3 by default. If you want a newer version, add the Ondřej PPA:

# Install dependencies
apt install -y software-properties-common


# Add PHP PPA (optional for PHP 8.4)
add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php -y


# Update package list
apt update

Install PHP 8.3 and required extensions

apt install -y php8.3 php8.3-fpm php8.3-cli php8.3-common \
    php8.3-mysql php8.3-pgsql php8.3-sqlite3 \
    php8.3-curl php8.3-gd php8.3-mbstring php8.3-xml \
    php8.3-zip php8.3-bcmath php8.3-intl php8.3-readline \
    php8.3-tokenizer php8.3-opcache
Extension Purpose
php8.3-fpm FastCGI Process Manager (for Nginx)
php8.3-mysql MySQL/MariaDB connection
php8.3-curl HTTP requests
php8.3-gd Image manipulation
php8.3-mbstring Multibyte strings (UTF-8)
php8.3-xml XML processing
php8.3-zip ZIP compression
php8.3-bcmath Precision calculations
php8.3-intl Internationalization

Check the Installation

php -v

Expected Outcome:

PHP 8.3.x (cli) (built: ...)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.3.x, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
    with Zend OPcache v8.3.x, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

📦 Step 3: Install Composer

Composer is the PHP dependency manager essential for Laravel.

Download and Install Composer

# Download the installer
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer -o composer-setup.php


# Install Composer globally
php composer-setup.php --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer


# Remove the installer
rm composer-setup.php

Check the Installation

composer --version

Expected Outcome:

Composer version 2.x.x 2024-xx-xx xx:xx:xx

🌐 Step 4: Install Nginx

Nginx is a high-performance web server, ideal for Laravel.

Install Nginx

apt install -y nginx

Start and Enable Nginx

# Start Nginx
systemctl start nginx
# Enable on boot
systemctl enable nginx
# Check status
systemctl status nginx

Expected Outcome:

● nginx.service - A high performance web server and a reverse proxy server
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; ...)
     Active: active (running) since ...

Test Nginx

Open your browser and access http://your-server-ip. You should see the default Nginx page.

🗄️ Step 5: Install MariaDB

MariaDB is a MySQL-compatible, high-performance, open-source database.

Install MariaDB

apt install -y mariadb-server mariadb-client

Start and Enable MariaDB

# Start MariaDB
systemctl start mariadb
# Enable on boot
systemctl enable mariadb
# Check status
systemctl status mariadb

Secure the Installation

mysql_secure_installation

Answer the questions:

Question Recommended Answer
Enter current password for root Press Enter (empty)
Switch to unix_socket authentication n
Change the root password Y then enter a strong password
Remove anonymous users Y
Disallow root login remotely Y
Remove test database Y
Reload privilege tables Y

Create a Database for Laravel

# Connect to MariaDB
mysql -u root -p

-- Create the database
CREATE DATABASE laravel CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

-- Create a user
CREATE USER 'laravel_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'YourSecurePassword123!';

-- Grant permissions
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON laravel.* TO 'laravel_user'@'localhost';

-- Apply changes
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

-- Exit
EXIT;

📝 Note: Keep this information for Laravel configuration:

  • Database: laravel
  • User: laravel_user
  • Password: YourSecurePassword123!

🚀 Step 6: Install Laravel 12

Create the project directory

# Create the folder for websites
mkdir -p /var/www

# Go to the directory
cd /var/www

Install Laravel via Composer

composer create-project laravel/laravel monsite

💡 Replace monsite with your project name.

Expected result:

Creating a "laravel/laravel" project at "./monsite"
Installing laravel/laravel (v12.x.x)
  - Downloading laravel/laravel (v12.x.x)
  - Installing laravel/laravel (v12.x.x): Extracting archive
...
Application ready! Build something amazing.

Laravel project structure

📁 /var/www/monsite/
├── 📁 app/              ← Application code
├── 📁 bootstrap/        ← Bootstrap files
├── 📁 config/           ← Configuration
├── 📁 database/         ← Migrations and seeds
├── 📁 public/           ← Web entry point (index.php)
├── 📁 resources/        ← Views, CSS, JS
├── 📁 routes/           ← Application routes
├── 📁 storage/          ← Generated files, logs, cache
├── 📁 tests/            ← Unit tests
├── 📁 vendor/           ← Composer dependencies
├── 📄 .env              ← Environment variables
├── 📄 artisan           ← Laravel CLI
└── 📄 composer.json     ← Project dependencies

⚙️ Step 7: Configure Laravel

Configure the .env file

cd /var/www/monsite
nano .env

Modify the following lines:

APP_NAME="My Laravel Site"
APP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=false
APP_URL=http://your-domain.com

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=laravel
DB_USERNAME=laravel_user
DB_PASSWORD=YourSecurePassword123!

⚠️ Important: In production, set APP_DEBUG=false to avoid exposing sensitive information.

Generate the application key

php artisan key:generate

Expected result:

INFO  Application key set successfully.

Run migrations

php artisan migrate

Expected result:

INFO  Running migrations.

2024_01_01_000000_create_users_table ............... 45ms DONE
2024_01_01_000001_create_password_reset_tokens_table  12ms DONE
2024_01_01_000002_create_sessions_table ............ 18ms DONE
...

📁 Step 8: Configure Permissions

Laravel requires certain directories to be writable.

Set the owner

# Change the owner to the web user
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/monsite

Set permissions

# Permissions for directories
find /var/www/monsite -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;

# Permissions for files
find /var/www/monsite -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

# Special permissions for storage and bootstrap/cache
chmod -R 775 /var/www/monsite/storage
chmod -R 775 /var/www/monsite/bootstrap/cache

🔧 Step 9: Configure Nginx for Laravel

Create the site configuration

nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/monsite

Paste the following configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    
    # Replace with your domain or IP
    server_name your-domain.com www.your-domain.com;
    
    # Site root (Laravel public folder)
    root /var/www/monsite/public;
    
    # Index files
    index index.php index.html index.htm;
    
    # Encoding
    charset utf-8;
    
    # Logs
    access_log /var/log/nginx/monsite.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/monsite.error.log;
    
    # Request handling
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }
    
    # Static files
    location = /favicon.ico { access_log off; log_not_found off; }
    location = /robots.txt  { access_log off; log_not_found off; }
    
    # 404 error → Laravel
    error_page 404 /index.php;
    
    # PHP processing via PHP-FPM
    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $realpath_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_hide_header X-Powered-By;
    }
    
    # Block access to hidden files
    location ~ /\.(?!well-known).* {
        deny all;
    }
}

Enable the site

# Create a symbolic link
ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/monsite /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

# Disable the default site (optional)
rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default

# Test the configuration
nginx -t

Expected result:

nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful

Restart Nginx

systemctl restart nginx

✅ Step 10: Test the Installation

Access the site

Open your browser and go to:

  • http://your-server-ip (if no domain)
  • http://your-domain.com (if domain configured)

You should see the Laravel homepage:

Check the application health

Laravel 12 includes a health check route:

curl http://localhost/up

Expected result: HTTP code 200 (OK)

🔒 Step 11: Secure with HTTPS (Let's Encrypt)

Install Certbot

apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Obtain an SSL certificate

certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com -d www.your-domain.com

Follow the instructions:

  1. Enter your email
  2. Accept the terms
  3. Choose to redirect HTTP to HTTPS (recommended)

Check automatic renewal

certbot renew --dry-run

Expected result:

Congratulations, all simulated renewals succeeded

✅ Your site is now accessible via https://your-domain.com

🛠️ Useful Laravel Commands

Artisan (Laravel CLI)

# Go to the project folder
cd /var/www/mywebsite

# See all available commands
php artisan list

# Clear cache
php artisan cache:clear
php artisan config:clear
php artisan route:clear
php artisan view:clear

# Optimize for production
php artisan optimize

# Create a controller
php artisan make:controller NameController

# Create a model with migration
php artisan make:model ModelName -m

# Run migrations
php artisan migrate

# Rollback
php artisan migrate:rollback

# Maintenance mode
php artisan down
php artisan up

📊 Production Optimization

Optimize Laravel

cd /var/www/mywebsite

# Cache configuration
php artisan config:cache

# Cache routes
php artisan route:cache

# Cache views
php artisan view:cache

# Global optimization
php artisan optimize

Configure OPcache

nano /etc/php/8.3/fpm/conf.d/10-opcache.ini

Add or modify:

opcache.enable=1
opcache.memory_consumption=256
opcache.interned_strings_buffer=16
opcache.max_accelerated_files=10000
opcache.validate_timestamps=0
opcache.save_comments=1

Restart PHP-FPM:

systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

🔧 Troubleshooting

Error 500 - Internal Server Error

❌ Cause ✅ Solution
Incorrect permissions chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/mywebsite
Inaccessible storage chmod -R 775 /var/www/mywebsite/storage
Missing APP_KEY php artisan key:generate
Incorrect .env configuration Check database settings 
# View Laravel errors
tail -f /var/www/mywebsite/storage/logs/laravel.log

Error 502 Bad Gateway

❌ Cause ✅ Solution
PHP-FPM not started systemctl start php8.3-fpm
Incorrect PHP socket Check /var/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock
Incorrect PHP version update-alternatives --config php

Database Connection Error

❌ Cause ✅ Solution
MariaDB not started systemctl start mariadb
Incorrect credentials Check .env (DB_DATABASE, DB_USERNAME, DB_PASSWORD)
Database not created Create the database using mysql -u root -p 
# Test connection
php artisan tinker
>>> DB::connection()->getPdo();

White Page

# Temporarily enable debug
nano /var/www/mywebsite/.env
# Change APP_DEBUG=true

# Clear cache
php artisan cache:clear
php artisan config:clear

# Check logs
tail -50 /var/www/mywebsite/storage/logs/laravel.log

📝 Command Summary

# === SYSTEM UPDATE ===
apt update && apt upgrade -y

# === PHP 8.3 INSTALLATION (Debian 13) ===
apt install -y apt-transport-https lsb-release ca-certificates curl gnupg
curl -fsSL https://packages.sury.org/php/apt.gpg | gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/sury-php.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/sury-php.gpg] https://packages.sury.org/php/ $(lsb_release -sc) main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sury-php.list
apt update
apt install -y php8.3 php8.3-fpm php8.3-cli php8.3-common php8.3-mysql php8.3-curl php8.3-gd php8.3-mbstring php8.3-xml php8.3-zip php8.3-bcmath php8.3-intl

# === COMPOSER INSTALLATION ===
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer

# === NGINX INSTALLATION ===
apt install -y nginx
systemctl enable nginx && systemctl start nginx

# === MARIADB INSTALLATION ===
apt install -y mariadb-server mariadb-client
systemctl enable mariadb && systemctl start mariadb
mysql_secure_installation

# === DATABASE CREATION ===
mysql -u root -p -e "CREATE DATABASE laravel; CREATE USER 'laravel_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'Password'; GRANT ALL ON laravel.* TO 'laravel_user'@'localhost'; FLUSH PRIVILEGES;"

# === LARAVEL INSTALLATION ===
cd /var/www
composer create-project laravel/laravel mywebsite
cd mywebsite
php artisan key:generate
php artisan migrate

# === PERMISSIONS ===
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/mywebsite
chmod -R 775 /var/www/mywebsite/storage /var/www/mywebsite/bootstrap/cache

# === HTTPS (Let's Encrypt) ===
apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx
certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com

🎉 Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed:

  • ✅ PHP 8.3 with all Laravel extensions
  • ✅ Composer 2.x for dependency management
  • ✅ Nginx configured for Laravel
  • ✅ MariaDB with a dedicated database
  • ✅ Laravel 12 ready for production
  • ✅ HTTPS with Let's Encrypt (optional)

Next Steps

  • 📖 Check the Laravel documentation
  • 🎨 Install a starter kit: php artisan breeze:install or php artisan jetstream:install
  • 📊 Configure queues with Redis or Supervisor
  • 📧 Set up email sending (SMTP, Mailgun, etc.)
Back to Documentation