Installation

Download the files

Make sure you have PHP installed on your system. If not, click here for instructions on how to install it for your system.

If you're using Composer, you can run the following command:

composer require flightphp/core

OR you can download the files directly and extract them to your web directory.

Configure your Web Server

Built-in PHP Development Server

This is by far the simplest way to get up and running. You can use the built-in server to run your application and even use SQLite for a database (as long as sqlite3 is installed on your system) and not require much of anything! Just run the following command once PHP is installed:

php -S localhost:8000

Then open your browser and go to http://localhost:8000.

If you want to make the document root of your project a different directory (Ex: your project is ~/myproject, but your document root is ~/myproject/public/), you can run the following command once your in the ~/myproject directory:

php -S localhost:8000 -t public/

Then open your browser and go to http://localhost:8000.

Apache

Make sure Apache is already installed on your system. If not, google how to install Apache on your system.

For Apache, edit your .htaccess file with the following:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php [QSA,L]

Note: If you need to use flight in a subdirectory add the line RewriteBase /subdir/ just after RewriteEngine On.

Note: If you want to protect all server files, like a db or env file. Put this in your .htaccess file:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php

Nginx

Make sure Nginx is already installed on your system. If not, google how to Nginx Apache on your system.

For Nginx, add the following to your server declaration:

server {
  location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php;
  }
}

Create your index.php file

<?php

// If you're using Composer, require the autoloader.
require 'vendor/autoload.php';
// if you're not using Composer, load the framework directly
// require 'flight/Flight.php';

// Then define a route and assign a function to handle the request.
Flight::route('/', function () {
  echo 'hello world!';
});

// Finally, start the framework.
Flight::start();

Installing PHP

If you already have php installed on your system, go ahead and skip these instructions and move to the download section

macOS

Installing PHP using Homebrew

Install Homebrew (if not already installed):

Open Terminal and run:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Install PHP:
- Install the latest version:
```
brew install php
```
- To install a specific version, for example, PHP 8.1:
```
brew tap shivammathur/php
brew install shivammathur/php/php@8.1
```
Switch between PHP versions:
- Unlink the current version and link the desired version:
```
brew unlink php
brew link --overwrite --force php@8.1
```
- Verify the installed version:
```
php -v
```

Windows 10/11

Installing PHP manually

Download PHP:
- Visit PHP for Windows and download the latest or a specific version (e.g., 7.4, 8.0) as a non-thread-safe zip file.
Extract PHP:
- Extract the downloaded zip file to C:\php.
Add PHP to the system PATH:
- Go to System Properties > Environment Variables.
- Under System variables, find Path and click Edit.
- Add the path C:\php (or wherever you extracted PHP).
- Click OK to close all windows.
Configure PHP:
- Copy php.ini-development to php.ini.
- Edit php.ini to configure PHP as needed (e.g., setting extension_dir, enabling extensions).
Verify PHP installation:
- Open Command Prompt and run:
```
php -v
```

Installing Multiple Versions of PHP

Repeat the above steps for each version, placing each in a separate directory (e.g., C:\php7, C:\php8).
Switch between versions by adjusting the system PATH variable to point to the desired version directory.

Ubuntu (20.04, 22.04, etc.)

Installing PHP using apt

Update package lists:
- Open Terminal and run:
```
sudo apt update
```
Install PHP:
- Install the latest PHP version:
```
sudo apt install php
```
- To install a specific version, for example, PHP 8.1:
```
sudo apt install php8.1
```
Install additional modules (optional):
- For example, to install MySQL support:
```
sudo apt install php8.1-mysql
```
Switch between PHP versions:
- Use update-alternatives:
```
sudo update-alternatives --set php /usr/bin/php8.1
```
Verify the installed version:
- Run:
```
php -v
```

Rocky Linux

Installing PHP using yum/dnf

Enable the EPEL repository:
- Open Terminal and run:
```
sudo dnf install epel-release
```

Install Remi's repository:

Run:

sudo dnf install https://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-8.rpm
sudo dnf module reset php

Install PHP:
- To install the default version:
```
sudo dnf install php
```
- To install a specific version, for example, PHP 7.4:
```
sudo dnf module install php:remi-7.4
```

Switch between PHP versions:

Use the dnf module command:

sudo dnf module reset php
sudo dnf module enable php:remi-8.0
sudo dnf install php

Verify the installed version:
- Run:
```
php -v
```

General Notes

For development environments, it's important to configure PHP settings as per your project requirements.
When switching PHP versions, ensure all relevant PHP extensions are installed for the specific version you intend to use.
Restart your web server (Apache, Nginx, etc.) after switching PHP versions or updating configurations to apply changes.