Backend App supports multiple database drivers including SQLite, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server. The default configuration uses SQLite for quick setup and development.
Default Configuration By default, the application uses SQLite with a database file stored at database/database.sqlite.
SQLite is perfect for development and small applications. No additional setup or server configuration required.
Database Setup Initial Setup When setting up the application for the first time, the database file is automatically created:
This runs the complete setup including migrations:
Installs dependencies
Copies .env.example to .env
Generates application key
Runs database migrations
Installs and builds frontend assets
Manual Migration To run migrations manually:
To run migrations with force (useful in production):
php artisan migrate --force
Database Drivers
Configuration SQLite requires minimal configuration. The database is stored as a single file. The database file location is configured in config/database.php: 'sqlite' => [ 'driver' => 'sqlite' , 'url' => env ( 'DB_URL' ), 'database' => env ( 'DB_DATABASE' , database_path ( 'database.sqlite' )), 'prefix' => '' , 'foreign_key_constraints' => env ( 'DB_FOREIGN_KEYS' , true ), ],
Creating the Database File If the database file doesn’t exist, create it: touch database/database.sqlite
SQLite is great for development, testing, and small applications. For production applications with high concurrency, consider MySQL or PostgreSQL.
Configuration Update your .env file with MySQL connection details: DB_CONNECTION = mysql DB_HOST = 127.0.0.1 DB_PORT = 3306 DB_DATABASE = laravel DB_USERNAME = root DB_PASSWORD = your_password
Connection Options The MySQL configuration in config/database.php includes: 'mysql' => [ 'driver' => 'mysql' , 'url' => env ( 'DB_URL' ), 'host' => env ( 'DB_HOST' , '127.0.0.1' ), 'port' => env ( 'DB_PORT' , '3306' ), 'database' => env ( 'DB_DATABASE' , 'laravel' ), 'username' => env ( 'DB_USERNAME' , 'root' ), 'password' => env ( 'DB_PASSWORD' , '' ), 'unix_socket' => env ( 'DB_SOCKET' , '' ), 'charset' => env ( 'DB_CHARSET' , 'utf8mb4' ), 'collation' => env ( 'DB_COLLATION' , 'utf8mb4_unicode_ci' ), 'prefix' => '' , 'prefix_indexes' => true , 'strict' => true , 'engine' => null , ],
Creating the Database Create the database using MySQL CLI: CREATE DATABASE laravel CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
Additional MySQL Variables DB_SOCKET = /path/to/mysql.sock # For Unix socket connections DB_CHARSET = utf8mb4 DB_COLLATION = utf8mb4_unicode_ci MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CA = /path/to/ca-cert.pem # For SSL connections
Configuration MariaDB uses the same connection settings as MySQL with a different driver: DB_CONNECTION = mariadb DB_HOST = 127.0.0.1 DB_PORT = 3306 DB_DATABASE = laravel DB_USERNAME = root DB_PASSWORD = your_password
MariaDB is a drop-in replacement for MySQL with enhanced performance and features.
Configuration Configure PostgreSQL in your .env file: DB_CONNECTION = pgsql DB_HOST = 127.0.0.1 DB_PORT = 5432 DB_DATABASE = laravel DB_USERNAME = postgres DB_PASSWORD = your_password
Connection Options 'pgsql' => [ 'driver' => 'pgsql' , 'url' => env ( 'DB_URL' ), 'host' => env ( 'DB_HOST' , '127.0.0.1' ), 'port' => env ( 'DB_PORT' , '5432' ), 'database' => env ( 'DB_DATABASE' , 'laravel' ), 'username' => env ( 'DB_USERNAME' , 'root' ), 'password' => env ( 'DB_PASSWORD' , '' ), 'charset' => env ( 'DB_CHARSET' , 'utf8' ), 'prefix' => '' , 'prefix_indexes' => true , 'search_path' => 'public' , 'sslmode' => env ( 'DB_SSLMODE' , 'prefer' ), ],
Creating the Database CREATE DATABASE laravel WITH ENCODING 'UTF8' ;
Additional PostgreSQL Variables DB_CHARSET = utf8 DB_SSLMODE = prefer # Options: disable, allow, prefer, require, verify-ca, verify-full
Configuration For Microsoft SQL Server: DB_CONNECTION = sqlsrv DB_HOST = localhost DB_PORT = 1433 DB_DATABASE = laravel DB_USERNAME = sa DB_PASSWORD = your_password
Additional Options DB_CHARSET = utf8 # DB_ENCRYPT=yes # DB_TRUST_SERVER_CERTIFICATE=false
Migration Files The application includes the following migrations in database/migrations/:
Core Laravel Migrations
0001_01_01_000001_create_cache_table.php - Cache and cache locks tables0001_01_01_000002_create_jobs_table.php - Queue jobs, job batches, and failed jobs
Application Migrations
2026_02_27_202300_create_institutions_table.php - Institutions2026_02_27_210506_create_users_table.php - Users2026_02_27_214046_section.php - Sections2026_03_01_214910_registration.php - Registrations2026_03_01_233421_create_units_table.php - Units2026_03_01_235915_create_topics_table.php - Topics2026_03_02_002017_create_resources_table.php - Resources2026_03_02_011220_create_questions_table.php - Questions2026_03_05_181016_create_response_options_table.php - Response options2026_03_05_183245_evaluations.php - Evaluations2026_03_05_191516_eval_preguntas.php - Evaluation questions
Migrations are run in chronological order based on their timestamp prefix.
Migration Commands Run Migrations Run Migrations (Production) php artisan migrate --force
The --force flag is required to run migrations in production when APP_ENV=production.
Check Migration Status php artisan migrate:status
Rollback Last Migration php artisan migrate:rollback
Rollback All Migrations php artisan migrate:reset
Rollback and Re-run All Migrations php artisan migrate:refresh
Drop All Tables and Re-run Migrations php artisan migrate:fresh
migrate:fresh will drop all tables. Use with caution in production.
Database Connection Testing Test your database connection:
This displays:
Database connection name
Database driver
Database version
Number of open connections
Redis Configuration The application supports Redis for caching, queues, and sessions.
REDIS_CLIENT = phpredis REDIS_HOST = 127.0.0.1 REDIS_PASSWORD = null REDIS_PORT = 6379
Redis Configuration in config/database.php 'redis' => [ 'client' => env ( 'REDIS_CLIENT' , 'phpredis' ), 'default' => [ 'url' => env ( 'REDIS_URL' ), 'host' => env ( 'REDIS_HOST' , '127.0.0.1' ), 'username' => env ( 'REDIS_USERNAME' ), 'password' => env ( 'REDIS_PASSWORD' ), 'port' => env ( 'REDIS_PORT' , '6379' ), 'database' => env ( 'REDIS_DB' , '0' ), ], 'cache' => [ 'url' => env ( 'REDIS_URL' ), 'host' => env ( 'REDIS_HOST' , '127.0.0.1' ), 'username' => env ( 'REDIS_USERNAME' ), 'password' => env ( 'REDIS_PASSWORD' ), 'port' => env ( 'REDIS_PORT' , '6379' ), 'database' => env ( 'REDIS_CACHE_DB' , '1' ), ], ],
Database URL Connection You can use a database URL instead of individual connection parameters:
DB_URL = mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/database
This is useful for platforms like Heroku that provide database credentials as a single URL.
Migrations Table Laravel tracks applied migrations in a table (default: migrations):
'migrations' => [ 'table' => 'migrations' , 'update_date_on_publish' => true , ],
Connection Pooling For high-traffic applications, consider using connection pooling:
PgBouncer for PostgreSQLProxySQL for MySQL/MariaDBRedis Sentinel for Redis high availability
Query Optimization # Enable query logging in local development php artisan db:monitor
Use database indexes on frequently queried columns to improve performance.
Troubleshooting Connection Refused
Verify database server is running
Check host and port settings
Verify firewall rules
Check database credentials
Permission Denied
Verify database user has necessary privileges
Grant privileges: GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON database.* TO 'user'@'localhost';
SQLite File Not Found touch database/database.sqlite chmod 664 database/database.sqlite
Ensure the web server user has write permissions to the database/ directory.