2.8.4.2.5. The Artisan utility

The Artisan utility is a command-line interface for working with the Laravel framework; it comes bundled with the framework and is installed when creating a project. This utility simplifies working with the framework and offers a wide range of features.

The utility and its commands are run directly from the framework's project directory. To use them, follow these steps:

1. Connect to hosting via SSH.
2. Navigate to the project directory by running the following command:

   cd ~/example.com/www/

   Replace example.com/www with the site root directory.

3. By default, the SSH environment on the hosting platform uses PHP 5.6. According to the framework requirements, you need version 7.3 or higher, so override the paths in the $PATH variable by running the following command:

   export PATH=/usr/local/php73/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/sbin

4. Run the following command to check if Artisan is working:

   php artisan

   • The artisan command can only be run from its directory. If you need to create a command that can be called without having to change directories, run the following command:

     echo "alias command='/usr/local/php73/bin/php ~/example.com/www/artisan'" >> ~/.bashrc && source ~/.bashrc

     Modify the command as needed:

     • Instead of "command", enter the desired name of the command you want to use. For example, you can enter a project name such as "laravel_example".
     • Instead of "example.com/www", specify the site root directory.
   • Check that the command is working by running:

     command -V

     The standard output of this command will be the version of the installed framework.