Meeting 13 - Laravel Environment & Configuration ​

Goal: Understand how Laravel handles environments (local, staging, production, testing), how .env is loaded, how configuration files work, secrets management, performance optimizations, and safe deployment practices.

1. Core Concepts ​

2. Environment Variables (.env) ​

Example minimal .env:

APP_NAME="MyApp"
APP_ENV=local
APP_KEY=base64:GENERATED_KEY
APP_DEBUG=true
APP_URL=http://localhost

LOG_CHANNEL=stack
LOG_LEVEL=debug

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=myapp
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=secret

CACHE_DRIVER=file
QUEUE_CONNECTION=database
SESSION_DRIVER=file

APP_NAME="MyApp"
APP_ENV=local
APP_KEY=base64:GENERATED_KEY
APP_DEBUG=true
APP_URL=http://localhost

LOG_CHANNEL=stack
LOG_LEVEL=debug

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=myapp
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=secret

CACHE_DRIVER=file
QUEUE_CONNECTION=database
SESSION_DRIVER=file

Notes:

• APP_DEBUG should be false in production.
• Separate .env.testing can override values during automated tests.
• Use different DBs per environment to avoid data loss.

3. How Laravel Loads Configuration ​

1. public/index.php -> bootstrap/app.
2. .env is parsed early; values are accessible with env() only during config load.
3. Each config/*.php file returns an array; many items call env('KEY').
4. After loading, you should use config() helper (not env()) inside your application logic (controllers, services, jobs). Why? Because when config is cached, env() calls return null.

Example (config/app.php excerpt):

'timezone' => env('APP_TIMEZONE', 'UTC'),
'name' => env('APP_NAME', 'Laravel'),

'timezone' => env('APP_TIMEZONE', 'UTC'),
'name' => env('APP_NAME', 'Laravel'),

Usage in code:

config('app.timezone'); // good
// env('APP_TIMEZONE');  // avoid (except inside config/*.php)

config('app.timezone'); // good
// env('APP_TIMEZONE');  // avoid (except inside config/*.php)

4. Config Caching & Optimization ​

Boost performance in production by reducing file I/O.

Clear caches when needed:

php artisan config:clear
php artisan route:clear
php artisan view:clear
php artisan cache:clear

php artisan config:clear
php artisan route:clear
php artisan view:clear
php artisan cache:clear

5. Environment Separation Strategy ​

6. Secrets Management ​

Best practices:

• NEVER commit .env to version control (only .env.example).
• Use infrastructure secret stores for production (e.g., Docker secrets, Kubernetes secrets, AWS SSM, Vault). Inject into environment before PHP-FPM starts.
• Rotate keys (DB, API, OAuth) regularly.
• Restrict APP_KEY access: treat like a password—it secures encrypted cookies.

Example .env.example snippet (no real secrets):

APP_NAME="MyApp"
APP_ENV=local
APP_KEY=
APP_DEBUG=true
APP_URL=http://localhost
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=myapp
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=

APP_NAME="MyApp"
APP_ENV=local
APP_KEY=
APP_DEBUG=true
APP_URL=http://localhost
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=myapp
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=

7. Service Container & Environment ​

You can bind different implementations by environment:

// In a service provider
public function register(): void
{
    if (app()->environment('local')) {
        $this->app->bind(App\Contracts\PaymentGateway::class, App\Services\FakeGateway::class);
    } else {
        $this->app->bind(App\Contracts\PaymentGateway::class, App\Services\StripeGateway::class);
    }
}

// In a service provider
public function register(): void
{
    if (app()->environment('local')) {
        $this->app->bind(App\Contracts\PaymentGateway::class, App\Services\FakeGateway::class);
    } else {
        $this->app->bind(App\Contracts\PaymentGateway::class, App\Services\StripeGateway::class);
    }
}

Multiple environment detection helpers:

app()->environment();            // current name
app()->environment('local');      // boolean
app()->environment(['staging','production']); // boolean

app()->environment();            // current name
app()->environment('local');      // boolean
app()->environment(['staging','production']); // boolean

8. Configuration Patterns ​

8.1 Centralized Configuration Class (Optional Wrapper) ​

class FeatureFlags
{
    public static function isBetaEnabled(): bool
    {
        return (bool) config('features.beta');
    }
}

class FeatureFlags
{
    public static function isBetaEnabled(): bool
    {
        return (bool) config('features.beta');
    }
}

config/features.php:

return [
  'beta' => env('FEATURE_BETA', false),
];

return [
  'beta' => env('FEATURE_BETA', false),
];

8.2 Per-Environment File Override (Advanced) ​

You can load extra config per environment by checking app()->environment() within a service provider and merging arrays (config([...])). Keep this minimal to avoid confusion.

9. Testing Environment ​

• PHPUnit automatically loads .env.testing if present.
• Use dedicated database: set DB_DATABASE=myapp_test.
• Run migrations fresh for isolation:

php artisan test --env=testing
# or
php artisan test --parallel

php artisan test --env=testing
# or
php artisan test --parallel

• Use RefreshDatabase trait in tests to migrate before each test suite.

10. Deployment Checklist (Environment Focused) ​

1. Copy/Inject .env (or environment variables) – ensure APP_KEY set.
2. Run composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader.
3. Run database migrations: php artisan migrate --force.
4. Cache config & routes: php artisan config:cache && php artisan route:cache.
5. (Optional) Cache views & events: php artisan view:cache && php artisan event:cache.
6. Queue workers / horizon restarted: php artisan queue:restart.
7. Ensure storage & bootstrap/cache writable.
8. Monitor logs & health endpoint after deploy.

11. Common Pitfalls ​

12. Summary ​

Laravel environment management = .env + config/*.php + caching + container decisions. Treat configuration as code (but secrets as data). Cache for speed, isolate per environment, and never leak secrets through debug pages.