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When developing a Laravel application, there may come a time when you need to access it from multiple devices or share it with other team members on the same local network. By default, Laravel serves the application on localhost or 127.0.0.1, making it inaccessible from other devices. This blog explains how to host your Laravel application on a specific IP address within the same network, so you can easily share the app for testing or collaboration.
Hosting a Laravel application on an IP within the same network allows you to make it accessible to other devices, such as other computers, smartphones, or tablets, as long as they're connected to the same local network (LAN). This can be useful for testing purposes or when you need to collaborate with others on the same network.
By binding the Laravel development server to a specific IP address, you can ensure that anyone on the network can access your application, provided they know the correct IP and port.
Before proceeding, make sure you have the following:
To bind Laravel to a specific IP, you first need to know your local machine's IP address. You can easily get this information using the ipconfig command on Windows or the ifconfig command on Mac or Linux.
Here’s how to get your local IP:
ipconfig.IPv4 Address under your network adapter's information. This is the IP you will use to serve the Laravel application.ifconfig, and look for the inet address.Example output from ipconfig on Windows:
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.100
In this example, 192.168.1.100 is the local IP address to use.
Now that you have your local IP address, you can bind Laravel's built-in development server to that IP. This will make your application accessible to anyone on your local network.
Open the terminal and navigate to your Laravel project directory. Then, run the following command:
php artisan serve --host=192.168.1.100 --port=8000
Replace 192.168.1.100 with your local IP address. The --port option specifies the port number (default is 8000, but you can change it to any available port like 1200 if needed).
Once the command is executed, Laravel will start serving your application on the specified IP address, making it accessible to other devices on the same network using http://192.168.1.100:8000 (or whatever IP and port you have specified).
Now, on any device within the same local network, you can open a web browser and enter the IP address and port where your Laravel app is hosted. For example, if you used 192.168.1.100:8000, you can access it by entering that URL in the browser of any other device connected to the same network.
Make sure your firewall is configured to allow connections on the specified port (default is 8000) if you're encountering any issues connecting from other devices.
You can also change the port if 8000 is already in use or you want to run multiple Laravel applications on different ports. For example, to run on port 1200, use the following command:
php artisan serve --host=192.168.1.100 --port=1200
This will make your Laravel app available at http://192.168.1.100:1200 on the local network.
If you're unable to access the Laravel application from another device, check the following:
Hosting your Laravel application on an IP address within the same network is a simple yet powerful way to share your development environment with others. Whether you're collaborating with teammates or testing your app across multiple devices, this method ensures that your application is accessible without needing to deploy it to a public server. Start using this approach to enhance your local development workflow today!
By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can quickly and efficiently share your Laravel application with anyone on your local network. Happy coding!