Installation

Requirements

Laravel Spark has a few requirements you should be aware of before installing:

  • Composer
  • Laravel Framework 5.6+
  • Laravel Mix
  • Bootstrap 4 (SASS)
  • Node.js & NPM

Before installing Spark, make sure you have the latest version of Node and NPM. You can download a graphical installer for Node on the Node website.

The Vue.js JavaScript framework is utilized on the registration and settings pages; however, you are free to build the "bulk" of your application using the JavaScript framework of your choice, or no JavaScript framework at all.

Installation

Spark Installer

Downloading The Installer

Laravel Spark offers a convenient installer that will create a new Laravel application and install Spark in the directory of your choice. Before getting started, make sure you have the laravel/installer package globally installed using Composer. You should make sure your version of the installer is >= 2.0.0:

composer global require laravel/installer

Note: The Spark installer is only recommended for those on Mac or Linux systems. If you are using Windows, please install via Composer. Before using the Spark installer, make sure you have installed the Laravel installer.

First, clone the laravel/spark-installer repository from GitHub into any location on your machine. Once you have cloned the installer, be sure to run the composer install command within the cloned directory so the installer's dependencies will be installed.

Next, make sure the spark-installer directory is added to your systems $PATH variable, so that your machine will be able to locate the spark executable when you issue Spark commands.

Registering Your API Token

Now that you have the Spark installer, you need to register your Spark API token with the installer. You may create an API token from the API settings dashboard. Once you have created a token, register it with the installer using the register command:

spark register token-value

If you would like to view the currently registered token, you may use the token command:

spark token

Creating Spark Projects

Once you have installed the Spark installer and registered your API token, you may create new Spark projects using the new command:

spark new project-name

This command will create a new Laravel project in a directory matching the given project-name. Spark will then be automatically installed into the project and configured.

Note: Once the new Spark project has been created, you will need to migrate your new project's database using the php artisan migrate Artisan command. If you are not using Homestead, you will also need to update your .env file with your database credentials.

Once Spark is installed, you are ready to configure your application.

Installation Via Composer

Spark provides a Satis repository which makes it simple to install Spark just like any other Composer package. First, make sure you have purchased a Spark license and joined the Spark GitHub repository.

Create a new Laravel project using the Laravel installer:

laravel new project-name

Next, add the following repository to your composer.json file:

"repositories": [
    {
        "type": "composer",
        "url": "https://spark-satis.laravel.com"
    }
],

You should also add the following dependency to your composer.json file's require section:

"laravel/spark-aurelius": "~6.0",

Next, you should add Cashier to your project. If you are using Stripe, you should use the laravel/cashier package. If you are using Braintree, you should use the laravel/cashier-braintree package:

"laravel/cashier": "~7.0"

// or...

"laravel/cashier-braintree": "~2.0"

Next, run the composer update command. You may be prompted for a GitHub token in order to install the private Spark repository. Composer will provide a link where you can create this token. Once the dependencies are installed, add the following service providers to your app.php configuration file:

Laravel\Spark\Providers\SparkServiceProvider::class,
Laravel\Cashier\CashierServiceProvider::class,

Next, run the spark:install --force command:

php artisan spark:install --force

Once Spark is installed, add the following provider to your app.php configuration file:

App\Providers\SparkServiceProvider::class,

Finally, you are ready to run the npm install, npm run dev, and php artisan migrate commands. Once these commands have completed, you are ready to enjoy Spark!

Linking The Storage Directory

Once Spark is installed, you should link the public/storage directory to your storage/app/public directory. Otherwise, user profile photos stored on the local disk will not be available:

php artisan storage:link

Installation Types

The default spark command will generate a project that supports individual user plans and Stripe for credit card processing. However, you may also create projects that use team billing or Braintree as your payment processor.

spark new project-name --braintree

spark new project-name --team-billing

spark new project-name --team-billing --braintree