laragon Documentation

Laragon is a portable, isolated, fast & powerful universal development environment for PHP, Node.js, Python. It is fast, lightweight, easy-to-use and...

5,441 stars PHP PHP 5 files · ~3,042 tokens
RAW Doc

File: README.md

Laragon - The Dev Environment for Entrepreneurs

What is Laragon?

Laragon is a portable, isolated, fast & powerful universal development environment for PHP, Node.js, Python. It is fast, lightweight, easy-to-use and easy-to-extend.

Laragon is great for building and managing modern web applications. It is focused on performance - designed around stability, simplicity, flexibility and freedom.

Laragon is very lightweight and will stay as lean as possible. The core binary itself is less than 6MB and uses around 4MB - 10MB RAM when running.

Laragon doesn't use Windows services. It has its own service orchestration which manages services asynchronously and non-blocking so you'll find things run fast & smoothly with Laragon.

Enjoy!

Starting with Laragon 7.x, a license is required to use Laragon. For more details, visit https://laragon.lemonsqueezy.com/.

Features

  • Pretty URLs
    Use app.test instead of localhost/app.
  • Portable
    You can move Laragon folder around (to another disks, to another laptops, sync to Cloud,...) without any worries.
  • Isolated
    Laragon has an isolated environment with your OS - it will keep your system clean.
  • Easy Operation
    Unlike others which pre-config for you, Laragon auto-configs all the complicated things. That way you can add another versions of PHP, Python, Ruby, Java, Go, Apache, Nginx, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB,... effortlessly.
  • Modern & Powerful
    Laragon comes with a modern architecture which is suitable to build modern web apps. You can work with both Apache & Nginx as they are fully-managed.
    Also, Laragon makes things a lot easier:
    • Wanna have a Wordpress CMS? Just 1 click.
    • Wanna show your local project to customers? Just 1 click.
    • Wanna enable/disable a PHP extension? Just 1 click.

Laragon is trully isolated & portable. However, you may need to use the installer as it will detect and install missing run-time components that are required to run C++ applications built using Visual Studio such as PHP, Apache for you.

How fast?

Laragon starts instantly. You can set Laragon autorun when Windows starts. When running, Laragon uses just a little amount of your RAM.
Here is the GUI of Laragon:

How easy?

  • Laragon is very easy to install & upgrade. Just download the latest version and click Next, Next, Next...
  • Laragon is very easy to use. Most of the time it will work out-of-the-box without the need to touch any configuration files.
  • Laragon is very easy to extend. You can add other services to your current stack by just extracting them to Laragon's bin folder.

File: CHANGELOG.md

https://github.com/leokhoa/laragon/releases

File: SECURITY.md

Security Policy

Supported Versions

Version Supported Reason
>=7.0 :white_check_mark:
<=6.0 :x: EOL

Reporting a Vulnerability

If you find a security vulnerability in Laragon, please report it via email to Leo Khoa at [email protected]
We take security seriously, and all reports will be promptly addressed.

File: usr/quotes.txt

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. - Leonardo da Vinci
Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. - Winston Churchill
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. - Lao Tzu
Dream big and dare to fail. - Norman Vaughan
The power of imagination makes us infinite. - John Muir
Make each day your masterpiece. - John Wooden
Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail. - Charles Kettering
Light tomorrow with today. - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. - Will Rogers
Believe you can and you're halfway there. - Theodore Roosevelt
Don't wait. The time will never be just right. - Napoleon Hill
A year from now you may wish you had started today. - Karen Lamb
It is never too late to be what you might have been. - George Eliot
If there is no struggle, there is no progress. - Frederick Douglass
What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do. - Tim Ferriss
Do what you love and the money will follow. - Marsha Sinetar
Champions keep playing until they get it right. - Billie Jean King
Action is the foundational key to all success. - Pablo Picasso

File: .github/copilot-instructions.md

Laragon - Windows Development Environment

Laragon is a portable, isolated Windows development environment for PHP, Node.js, and Python. This repository contains the distribution files and configuration templates for Laragon.

Always reference these instructions first and fallback to search or bash commands only when you encounter unexpected information that does not match the info here.

Critical Limitations

WINDOWS-ONLY ENVIRONMENT: Laragon is exclusively a Windows GUI application. The main executable (laragon.exe) is a Windows PE32+ binary that cannot run on Linux or macOS. Development and testing of the actual Laragon environment requires Windows.

NO BUILD PROCESS: This repository contains pre-built binaries and configuration files. There is no source code compilation, build system, or CI/CD pipeline.

NO AUTOMATED TESTS: This is a packaged application distribution, not a development project with test suites.

Working Effectively on Linux/macOS

While you cannot run Laragon itself, you can:

Repository Structure Exploration

  • View and understand the file structure: ls -la /path/to/laragon
  • Examine configuration files: find . -name "*.ini" -o -name "*.conf"
  • Check included software versions: grep -r "Version=" usr/laragon.ini
  • List bundled tools: ls -la bin/

Configuration Management

  • View main configuration: cat usr/laragon.ini
  • Check site templates: cat usr/sites.conf
  • Examine Procfile format: cat usr/Procfile
  • Review user customization: cat usr/user.cmd

Documentation Tasks

  • Edit README.md and documentation files
  • Update configuration templates
  • Modify default project templates in www/
  • Update site configuration examples

Laragon Architecture

Core Components

  • laragon.exe: Main Windows GUI application (5.3MB PE32+ executable)
  • bin/: Bundled software packages
    • PHP (current versions with auto-update support)
    • MySQL (current versions with auto-update support)
    • Nginx (current versions)
    • Apache (configurable)
    • Composer (PHP dependency manager)
    • HeidiSQL (database management GUI)
    • Cmder (terminal emulator)
    • Notepad++ (text editor)
    • Sendmail (mail handling)

Note: This repository contains historical/example versions (PHP 5.4.9, MySQL 5.1.72, Nginx 1.14.0) but actual Laragon releases bundle current software versions with an integrated auto-update system for minor version updates.

Configuration Files

  • usr/laragon.ini: Main configuration (service versions, preferences)
  • usr/sites.conf: Project template definitions
  • usr/Procfile: Custom service definitions
  • usr/user.cmd: User startup customizations
  • etc/: Service-specific configurations (Apache, Nginx, PHP)

Directory Structure

text
laragon/
├── laragon.exe              # Main Windows GUI application
├── bin/                     # Bundled software (PHP, MySQL, Nginx, etc.)
├── etc/                     # Configuration files for services
├── usr/                     # User configurations and templates
├── www/                     # Default web root directory
├── README.md               # Project documentation
├── CHANGELOG.md            # Version history
└── SECURITY.md             # Security policy

Key Features

  • Portable: Entire environment can be moved between Windows machines
  • Auto-configuration: Services are automatically configured when started
  • Auto-update system: Integrated minor version updates for bundled software
  • Current software versions: Ships with up-to-date PHP, MySQL, Apache, and other tools
  • Pretty URLs: Uses .test domains instead of localhost
  • Multi-version support: Can switch between different PHP/MySQL versions
  • Project templates: Built-in templates for WordPress, Laravel, Symfony

Common Tasks

Examining Service Versions

bash
# Check configured versions (note: repository contains historical versions)
grep "Version=" usr/laragon.ini

# List available software in bin directory (historical snapshot)
ls bin/

Important: The versions shown in this repository (PHP 5.4.9, MySQL 5.1.72, etc.) are historical examples. Actual Laragon installations include current software versions with automatic update capabilities.

Configuration File Management

bash
# View main configuration
cat usr/laragon.ini

# Check site template definitions
cat usr/sites.conf

# Examine user customization file
cat usr/user.cmd

Project Template Analysis

bash
# Check available project types
grep "^[A-Za-z]" usr/sites.conf | grep "="

# View default web page
cat www/index.php

Structure Exploration

bash
# Repository root contents
ls -la

# Find all configuration files
find . -name "*.ini" -o -name "*.conf" | head -10

# Check documentation files
find . -name "*.md"

Validation on Windows

Note: These steps can only be performed on a Windows machine with Laragon installed:

Basic Functionality Testing

  1. Start Laragon GUI application
  2. Verify all services start (Apache/Nginx, MySQL, PHP)
  3. Access http://localhost to see default page
  4. Create a test project using quick app creation
  5. Verify pretty URLs work (e.g., http://testapp.test)

Configuration Validation

  1. Modify usr/laragon.ini settings
  2. Restart Laragon to apply changes
  3. Verify service versions match configuration
  4. Test custom Procfile entries
  5. Validate user.cmd customizations

File Editing Guidelines

Safe to Edit

  • Documentation: README.md, CHANGELOG.md, SECURITY.md
  • Configuration templates: usr/laragon.ini, usr/sites.conf
  • Default web content: www/index.php
  • User scripts: usr/user.cmd, usr/Procfile

Do Not Modify

  • Binary files: laragon.exe, all files in bin/
  • Service configurations: etc/ files (unless creating templates)
  • Git ignored items: See .gitignore for excluded files

Development Workflow

For Configuration Changes

  1. Edit configuration files using text editors
  2. Validate syntax if applicable (e.g., INI format for laragon.ini)
  3. Test changes on Windows Laragon installation
  4. Document changes in comments or README

For Documentation Updates

  1. Edit Markdown files directly
  2. Ensure proper formatting and links
  3. Validate Markdown syntax
  4. No special testing required

Repository Maintenance

Adding New Project Templates

  1. Edit usr/sites.conf
  2. Follow existing format: ProjectName=installation_command
  3. Test template on Windows Laragon installation
  4. Document new template in README if needed

Configuration Updates

  1. Modify relevant .ini or .conf files
  2. Ensure Windows compatibility
  3. Test with actual Laragon installation
  4. Update documentation if behavior changes

Common File Locations

Frequently Referenced Files

bash
# Main configuration
usr/laragon.ini

# Project templates
usr/sites.conf

# Default web page
www/index.php

# User customization
usr/user.cmd

# Main documentation
README.md

Configuration Paths

bash
# Apache configuration
etc/apache2/

# Nginx configuration  
etc/nginx/

# PHP configuration
etc/php/

# SSL certificates
etc/ssl/

This repository serves as the distribution package for Laragon. All development and testing of the actual development environment functionality must be done on Windows machines with Laragon installed.

Explore Related Technologies & Topics

View All 9,111+ Repositories →

Discover similar high-velocity repositories, agent skills, and OpenAPI specifications across the ecosystem.

⚡ MCP Servers Model Context Protocol → 🧠 Agent Skills Prompt & rule files → 🔌 OpenAPI Specs REST & Swagger schemas →