Services
LaraEnv bundles a set of services, each backed by a real native binary that LaraEnv starts, stops, and manages for you. You control them from the Dashboard.
Web servers
Nginx
The default web server. It serves your sites through per-project virtual hosts (vhosts), automatically generated when you scaffold a project.
Apache
An alternative web server, also using per-project vhosts. Choose Apache if your project specifically needs it.
Only one web server can listen on ports 80/443 at a time. Run either Nginx or Apache, not both.
Databases
MySQL
A MySQL server. On first start, LaraEnv auto-initializes the data directory. When you scaffold a project, a per-project database can be created automatically.
PostgreSQL
A PostgreSQL server. Like MySQL, it auto-initializes its data directory on first start, and per-project databases can be auto-created during scaffolding.
Redis
Redis provides cache and queue storage for your applications.
Mailpit
Mailpit catches outgoing SMTP mail so you can test email without sending anything for real:
- SMTP listens on port 1025 — point your app's mail config here.
- Web UI is available on port 8025 — open it to read captured messages.
This is ideal for testing Laravel mail: messages are caught locally and shown in the Mailpit inbox instead of being delivered.
Controlling services
From the Dashboard you can:
- Start, Stop, and Restart (reload) each service.
- View logs (stdout/stderr) for each service.
- Hide unused services from the grid using the "show on dashboard" / enabled toggle (also available on the Downloads/Installer page).
Reloading a service applies new tuning without a full restart where the service supports it. See Service tuning.
Default ports
Each service listens on a default port (for example, Mailpit's SMTP on 1025 and web UI on 8025). For the full list of paths and ports, see Paths & ports.