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Requirements Install First launch Your first project Switching PHP versions Next steps

Getting Started

LaraEnv is a modern Laragon / XAMPP / WAMP / MAMP alternative built specifically for Windows. You get multiple PHP versions, Nginx, Apache, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis and Mailpit running side-by-side as native Windows services — no Docker, no WSL, no VM. This page gets you from zero to a running .test site in under five minutes.

Requirements

  • Windows 10 (build 1909+) or Windows 11, 64-bit.
  • ~2 GB free disk space for the base install. More if you install many PHP versions.
  • Administrator rights on first run (to register hosts entries and bind ports 80/443).
  • An internet connection for the initial service downloads. After that LaraEnv works fully offline.

Install

  1. Download the latest installer from laraenv.com/download or the GitHub releases page.
  2. Run LaraEnv-Setup-x64.exe and accept the UAC prompt. The installer drops everything under C:\laraenv\ — nothing is sprayed into Program Files or the registry.
  3. Launch LaraEnv from the Start menu or the desktop shortcut.

First launch

On first launch LaraEnv downloads the binaries you opted into (Nginx, your selected PHP version, MySQL, etc.). Once that finishes, the dashboard shows three columns: Services, Projects and Tools. Hit Start All to bring up Nginx, MySQL and PHP-FPM. You should see localhost serve a default page within a couple of seconds.

Your first project

  1. Click Projects → New project.
  2. Pick a folder name (e.g. my-app). LaraEnv creates C:\laraenv\www\my-app\ and a fresh Laravel install if you check that option.
  3. Choose the PHP version from the dropdown (7.4 through 8.4).
  4. Click Create. LaraEnv writes the vhost, registers my-app.test in the Windows hosts file and reloads Nginx.
  5. Open http://my-app.test in your browser. Done.

Switching PHP versions

Each project remembers its own PHP version. From the project card, click the version chip (e.g. PHP 8.3) and pick another. LaraEnv rewrites the FastCGI pool, reloads Nginx and updates the per-project php.ini overrides. The switch is instant and only affects that one project — other sites keep running on their own versions.

Next steps

  • Read Usage for the full dashboard tour, terminal, SSH manager, cron scheduler and one-click deploys.
  • Browse the Features page for a complete capability list.
  • Check the Reference for file locations, configuration formats and CLI commands.