Larascript

Larascript offers a quick, customizable way to setup new Laravel 4.1 (laravel.com) projects, from the command line. It is meant to be used with MacOS, for local development. Since Larascript is used in a pretty specific environment, it may not be suitable for all situations. Many parts can be slightly modified and used with Linux or Vagrant boxes.

So, why not use Vagrant? You could. My reasons for developing locally are as follows:

• My server environment doesn't change much. Similar environments are setup on my Macs that don't have to change for a long while. Only three lines had to be changed in Apache's configuration file after upgrading to Mavericks. PHP and MySql continued to work.
• During the weekends, I work from home on a different Mac workstation. Working locally makes backup/restore easier. The Vagrant VM's could be saved to an external drive, but it is all or nothing. Not really interested in large backups, when only a few files were changed.
• Many of my projects have databases. It's nice to be able to access them directly. Also, the original DB files are backed up with the my other files. This means there's no extra MySql setup at home.
• After looking into it, Vagrant won't save me any time. Currently, my system works great. No need for the latest hotness, just because. Will evaluate again when needs change.
• Switching between many projects as quickly as possible is important to me.
• I work alone.
• It's okay to use my Mac computers this way, and it's okay for you too. (Just in case someone tells you otherwise. #Therapy)

Someone out there can probably argue each of my points, in favor of their process. After investigating other ways, my process works best for me. Ultimately, use whatever makes your life easier. I like working locally. It was taking me quite a while to setup new Laravel projects how I liked them. Then came Larascript, problem solved. If you like the Vagrant way, check out Vaprobash.

Features

• Interactive - A step-by-step Laravel setup process. It asks you questions.
• Profiles - Create multiple, customizable profiles for different Laravel configurations.
• Settings - Changes Laravel settings for you automatically during setup, based on profile settings.
• Customizations - A place to store general custom commands. The sample code gives examples of creating files and folders and much more.
• Local Environment - Creates a development environment with automatic hostname detection among other features. Also, the production environment debug is disabled, for security reasons.
• Public - Optionally move public files to public_html or to the root folder (for shared hosting and such), with Laravel references automatically updated.
• Packages - Add logical groups of commands, for custom configurations. During the Laravel installation, each package will ask if it should be installed, unless autoload is enabled.
• Bower Support - Bower packages may be easily added to your projects. This optional feature requires Bower to be installed.
• Functions - Easy to use Bash functions for adding service providers and aliases, for packages and custom code. Addition functions for adding psr-0, psr-4 and items to the classmap array, in composer.json.
• MySql - Create new MySql databases and configure Laravel to use them. This optional feature requires MySql to be installed.
• Virtual Host - An optional Apache virtual host can be created, with /etc/hosts domain entries.

Installation and Usage

Assumptions

• Familiar with Mac/Linux command line.
• Composer is installed globally and added to the PATH. Get Composer
• PHP cli version 5.4+ is installed and working. OS X PHP Installer
• Gsed is installed. brew install gnu-sed
• Optional - Install laravel.phar globally for much faster installations. Install laravel.phar. Larascript will now prompt to install laravel.phar.
• Optional - Local installation of MySql.
• Optional - Local installation of Bower.

Install Larascript

Let's get Larascript on your Mac. Install it in the folder of your choice. To make things easier to follow, we will assume that Larascript will be installed in /Sites/larascript and your first local website project will be located in /Sites/new_website.dev.

Use one of the following methods to install Larascript to your Mac workstation.

Install Method 1 - Github Clone. Using the command line, enter the following commands. (May require additional Github setup)

cd /Sites
git clone git@github.com:sq2/larascript.git

Install Method 2 - Curl. Using the command line, enter the following commands.

cd /Sites
curl -LOk https://github.com/sq2/larascript/archive/master.zip
unzip master.zip
rm master.zip
mv larascript-master larascript

Optionally add a symbolic link for easy access.

ln -s /Sites/larascript/larascript.sh /usr/local/bin/larascript

Profiles

Create a profile by duplicating the default profile. This will allow you to customize Larascript without overwriting your changes, when updating Larascript.

# Many profiles can be created. Name them as you wish, without spaces. In this case, we will use 'custom'.
cp -R /Sites/larascript/profiles/default /Sites/larascript/profiles/custom

Modify config.sh and custom.sh in the new 'custom' profile. Add any supporting files in the src folder. Add packages in the packages folder (see below).

Use Larascript

Note: larascript.sh may not be executable when first installed. From its folder, try running chmod +x larascript.sh.

To create a new Laravel project based on your Larascript profile, run the following.

cd /Sites
larascript/larascript.sh

Then, answer the questions. If you choose to install Laravel, a project folder (in this case new_website.dev) will be created for you.

Customizations

Just duplicate the profiles/default folder and name it. This will be your new profile. Customize config.sh and custom.sh files to meet your needs.

Common configurations

Modify profiles/your_custom_profile/config.sh file. This file contains variables that can be modified to change Larascript's work flow. There are also some MySql, Virtual Host and Laravel specific settings.

Modify profiles/your_custom_profile/custom.sh file. Add any general customizations that are needed. There are examples for common tasks, like the following:

• Adding content or a single line to a file
• Creating files and folders
• Copying files and folders from your profile's src folder
• Adding aliases and service providers
• Adding PSR-0 and PSR-4 key/value pairs to composer.json
• Adding to the classmap in composer.json

To be prompted to load smaller groups of commands, add a custom package.

Packages

Packages can be used to save and load groups of commands, in a modular way. For each package, Larascript will ask you if you want to load it, unless autoloaded or disabled. Packages can be available globally by placing them in the packages folder, or per profile by placing them in the profiles/profile_name/packages folder. Packages bundled with Larascript are located under profiles/default/packages. For example, one of the included packages is Clockwork. The filename is Clockwork_dev.sh. There are a few commands in this file that Larascript will use to configure this package.

# Composer command to add this package to the composer.json file as a require-dev item.
composer require --dev --no-update itsgoingd/clockwork:dev-master`

# A Larascript helper function is used to easily add the service provider.
addServiceProvider "Clockwork\Support\Laravel\ClockworkServiceProvider"

# A Larascript helper function is used to easily add the facade alias.
addAlias "Clockwork" "Clockwork\Support\Laravel\Facade"

# A file stored in the Larascript profile src folder will be appended to the end of
# app/start/local.php. These are some optional functions that I liked from
# a laracasts.com video. The $PROFILE_PATH variable holds
# the path to the currently selected customization profile.
cat "$PROFILE_PATH/src/vendor/clockwork.php" >> app/start/local.php

Bower

Bower is a front-end package manager that loads Javascript, CSS and other assets. Packages for Bower act similar to the above packages. Place Bower and other Bash commands in .sh files. They may be saved in one of two places. Globally, they can be saved to packages/bower, or on a per profile basis to profiles/profile_name/packages/bower. See the examples for more details.

Autoloading Packages

Add the autoload command within a package file, to avoid being prompted to load that package. Place it on a line by itself, preferably near the top of the file.

Disabling Packages

Add the disabled command within a package file, to skip the prompting and loading of that package. Place it on a line by itself, preferably near the top of the file. Note that when used in combination with the autoload command, that package will not be loaded.

About the Developer

Hello, my name is Matt. I have been programming in one form or another since 1993. My Twitter handle is @codepl. I code a lot and say very little, so I only have seven nine followers. But, they are all awesome.

Use Larascript as needed. It was uploaded to Github to help the Laravel community. I'm not looking for any job offers or clients. Nor am I writing any books. If you want to contribute code, make a pull request. If you want to contribute money, don't. Please consider donating to @taylorotwell, Laravel's creator. Gittip him for future awesomeness.

Disclaimer / Warranty

This script works well on my Mac workstations. Perhaps you are using a different OS version or have a different configuration. Use at your own risk. There is no warranty. Command line scripts can break your shit. Be careful. :)