Requirements

Before installing Krayin please make sure your server meets the following requirements,

🖥️ Server configuration

• SERVER: Apache 2 OR NGINX (NGINX with PHP-FPM recommended)
• RAM: 3GB or higher
• PHP: 8.3 or higher
• Composer: 2.5 or higher

Use the per-OS install guides below to set up each component on your system.

Choose ONE web server — not both

Krayin needs a single web server. Pick either Apache 2 (uses mod_php out of the box) OR NGINX (requires PHP-FPM). You do not need to install both.

Recommended: NGINX + PHP-FPM — better performance and the standard Laravel production stack.

Install Apache 2

Apache serves PHP via the built-in mod_php module, so no separate process manager is needed.

Official documentation: Apache HTTP Server install guide (opens new window)

Install Homebrew (opens new window) first, then:

brew install httpd

Follow the Apache on Windows (opens new window) guide.

sudo apt update && sudo apt install apache2 libapache2-mod-php8.3

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— OR —

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Install NGINX (Recommended)

NGINX does not execute PHP itself — it forwards PHP requests to PHP-FPM over a socket. You must install both NGINX and PHP-FPM.

Official documentation: NGINX install guide (opens new window)

brew install nginx

Install Homebrew (opens new window) first if you don't have it.

Follow the NGINX on Windows (opens new window) guide.

sudo apt update && sudo apt install nginx

Install PHP-FPM (required for NGINX)

Official documentation: PHP-FPM install manual (opens new window)

Bundled with brew install php. Start with:

brew services start php

Or run php-fpm directly.

PHP-FPM is not officially supported on Windows. Use php-cgi.exe with NGINX fastcgi_pass to 127.0.0.1:9000, or use Apache 2 instead. See PHP CGI on Windows (opens new window).

sudo apt install php8.3-fpm
sudo systemctl enable --now php8.3-fpm

Verify PHP-FPM is running:

php-fpm -v

After installing PHP-FPM, point NGINX at the FPM socket in your server block (typically unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock on Ubuntu).

Install PHP 8.3 or higher

Run the php.new (opens new window) installer for your OS. It installs PHP and Composer in a single command, so you can skip the Composer section below.

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://php.new/install/mac/8.5)"

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://php.new/install/windows/8.5'))

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://php.new/install/linux/8.5)"

Close and reopen your command line once the installer finishes. To upgrade PHP or Composer later, re-run the same command.

Prefer your package manager?

You can still install PHP via Homebrew (brew install php) on macOS, or the ondrej/php PPA (opens new window) on Ubuntu — see the PHP installation manual (opens new window). On Windows, download from windows.php.net (opens new window).

Verify the installed version:

php -v

Install Composer 2.5 or higher

If you installed PHP through php.new (opens new window) above, Composer is already on your PATH — skip to the verification command at the bottom of this section.

Otherwise, install Composer manually:

brew install composer

Or follow the Linux / Unix / macOS guide (opens new window).

Run the Composer-Setup installer (opens new window).

Follow the Linux / Unix / macOS guide (opens new window) to download and move composer.phar into /usr/local/bin/composer.

Verify the installed version:

composer --version

🧩 PHP Extensions

Krayin needs two PHP extensions on top of the defaults:

Extension	Used for
intl	Internationalization — locales, currency and date formatting
gd	Image processing — avatars, thumbnails, uploads

1. Enable for your OS

Already bundled if you installed PHP via php.new (opens new window) or brew install php. Nothing to do.

Open your php.ini (find it with php --ini) and uncomment these two lines by removing the leading ;:

extension=intl
extension=gd

sudo apt install php8.3-intl php8.3-gd

2. Restart PHP

Apply the change with the restart command for your stack — see Restart so the changes apply below.

3. Verify

php -m | grep -E '^(intl|gd)$'

You should see both intl and gd printed. If either is missing, double-check step 1 for your OS.

⚙️ PHP Configuration

These three php.ini overrides are required — without them the installer fails on memory limits and bulk imports / exports time out. Three steps:

1. Find your php.ini

php --ini

The path printed next to Loaded Configuration File is the file to edit.

Using NGINX + PHP-FPM?

That command shows the CLI php.ini. NGINX uses the FPM one — find it with php-fpm -i | grep "Loaded Configuration File" and apply the same three changes there too.

2. Set these three values

Open the file in any editor and update:

memory_limit = 4G
max_execution_time = 360
date.timezone = Asia/Kolkata

Setting	Why
memory_limit	4G or higher — needed for composer install and bulk CSV imports
max_execution_time	360 seconds or higher — lets long imports / exports finish
date.timezone	Your local timezone (full list (opens new window))

WARNING

If a line starts with ;, remove the ; so the directive takes effect.

3. Restart so the changes apply

Run the restart command that matches the web server you installed earlier on this page — NGINX + PHP-FPM or Apache + mod_php. Inside that section, pick the tab for your OS.

Not sure which one you installed?

You picked it under Install Apache 2 / Install NGINX above. If you went with the recommended path, you're on NGINX + PHP-FPM.

NGINX + PHP-FPM (recommended)

brew services restart php

Restart the PHP-FPM / php-cgi process you configured (or use the Services console).

sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

Apache + mod_php

sudo apachectl -k restart

Restart the Apache service from the Services console, or run:

Restart-Service -Name Apache2.4

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Verify the new values are live:

php -i | grep -E '^(memory_limit|max_execution_time|date.timezone)'

CLI php artisan ... commands pick up the new settings automatically — no restart needed.

🗄️ Supported Database Servers

Krayin supports two database servers: MySQL 8.0.32+ OR MariaDB 11.4 LTS+. Use collation utf8mb4_unicode_ci for proper Unicode / multilingual support.

Choose ONE database — not both

Krayin connects to a single database server. Pick either MySQL OR MariaDB. Both are fully supported — neither is preferred over the other.

Recommended: MySQL 8.0.32+ — the default Laravel database with the widest hosting and tooling support.

Set `DB_CONNECTION` to match your database

In your .env file, use DB_CONNECTION=mysql for MySQL and DB_CONNECTION=mariadb for MariaDB.

Both values will connect to a MariaDB server, but only mariadb makes Laravel use the MariaDB driver and SQL grammar. If you are already running Krayin on MariaDB with DB_CONNECTION=mysql, change it and run php artisan config:clear.

Install MySQL 8.0.32 or higher (Recommended)

Official downloads: dev.mysql.com/downloads (opens new window)

brew install mysql

Or use the macOS installer (opens new window).

Use the MySQL Installer for Windows (opens new window).

sudo apt install mysql-server

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— OR —

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Install MariaDB 11.4 LTS or higher

Use a currently maintained LTS release. MariaDB 11.8 LTS is recommended.

Version	Support status	Use it?
10.3 / 10.4 / 10.5 / 10.6	End of life	No
10.11 LTS	Supported until Feb 2028	Works, but short runway
11.4 LTS	Supported until May 2029	Yes
11.8 LTS	Supported until June 2028	Yes — recommended
12.3 LTS	Supported until June 2029	Newest, less widely deployed

Older versions are end of life

MariaDB 10.6 and everything below it no longer receive security fixes. Earlier versions of this page listed 10.3 as the minimum — that guidance is outdated. Start at 11.4 LTS.

Official downloads: mariadb.org/download (opens new window)

brew install [email protected]

Download the MSI installer for an LTS release from mariadb.org/download (opens new window).

Set up the MariaDB repository (opens new window) pinned to an LTS version, then install:

curl -LsS https://r.mariadb.com/downloads/mariadb_repo_setup | sudo bash -s -- --mariadb-server-version=11.8
sudo apt update && sudo apt install mariadb-server

Verify the installed version:

mariadb --version

Create the database

Create the database with the collation Krayin expects before running the installer:

CREATE DATABASE krayin
  CHARACTER SET utf8mb4
  COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

Moving an existing MySQL database to MariaDB?

A plain mysqldump from MySQL 8 will not import. MySQL stamps every table with the utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci collation, which does not exist in MariaDB, so each CREATE TABLE fails. Rewrite it first:

sed -i 's/utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci/utf8mb4_unicode_ci/g' krayin.sql

Do not plan the move around replication — row-based replication of JSON columns does not work from MySQL to MariaDB.