Laravel PHP Continuous Integration#

This guide shows you how to use Semaphore to set up a continuous integration (CI) pipeline for a Laravel PHP web application.

Demo project#

Semaphore maintains an example Laravel project that you can use to learn:

In the repository you will find an annotated Semaphore configuration file: .semaphore/semaphore.yml.

The application uses the latest stable version of Laravel, Composer, NPM, PHP Mess Detector, Code Sniffer, Copy Detector, PHPUnit, Laravel Dusk with Chrome, Sensiolabs, and PostgreSQL as the database.

Overview of the CI pipeline#

The demo Laravel PHP CI pipeline performs the following tasks:

  • Analyses code by running:
  • PHP Mess Detector
  • Code Sniffer
  • Copy Detector
  • Runs PHPUnit unit tests
  • Runs browser tests using Laravel Dusk
  • Runs security tests using Sensiolabs checker

The CI pipeline is composed of a dependency installation block and four blocks of tests:

Laravel PHP CI pipeline

Sample configuration#

# .semaphore/semaphore.yml
# Use the latest stable version of Semaphore 2.0 YML syntax:
version: v1.0

# Name your pipeline. In the event that you connect multiple pipelines with promotions,
# the names will help you differentiate between them, e.g. a CI build phase
# and delivery phases.
name: Semaphore PHP Example Pipeline

# An agent defines the environment in which your code runs.
# It is a combination of one of the available machine types and operating
# system images.
# See https://docs.semaphoreci.com/ci-cd-environment/machine-types/
# and https://docs.semaphoreci.com/ci-cd-environment/ubuntu-18.04-image/
agent:
  machine:
    type: e1-standard-2
    os_image: ubuntu1804

# Blocks are the heart of a pipeline and are executed sequentially.
# Each block has a task that defines one or more jobs. Jobs define the
# commands to execute.
# See https://docs.semaphoreci.com/essentials/concepts/
blocks:
  - name: "Install Dependencies"
    task:
      env_vars:
        - name: APP_ENV
          value: prod
      jobs:
        - name: composer
          commands:
            # Checkout code from Git repository. This step is mandatory if the
            # job has to work with your code.
            # Optionally, you may use --use-cache flag to avoid roundtrips to
            # a remote repository.
            # See https://docs.semaphoreci.com/reference/toolbox-reference/#checkout
            - checkout
            # Try and find a cached version of our /vendor dependencies folder.
            # Semaphore tries to find a partial match.
            # Read about caching: https://docs.semaphoreci.com/essentials/caching-dependencies-and-directories/
            - cache restore
            # Install our project composer
            - composer install
            # Install node dependencies
            - npm install
            # Store the /vendor and node_modules folders in the cache for later use.
            - cache store
            # We are setting up the .env file from our example file which contains Semaphore DB data and proper app URL
            - cp .env.example .env
            # We need to generate an application key for Laravel to work.
            - php artisan key:generate

  - name: "Run Code Analysis"
    task:
      prologue:
        commands:
          - checkout
          - cache restore
      jobs:
        - name: phpmd
          commands:
            # Run the PHP Mess Detector from our project dependency binary
            - php vendor/bin/phpmd app/ text phpmd_ruleset.xml
        - name: phpcs
          commands:
            # Run the PHP Code Sniffer from our project dependency binary
            - php vendor/bin/phpcs app --report-full --standard=PSR2
        - name: phpcpd
          commands:
            # Run the PHP Copy Paste Detector from the online repository.
            - curl -L https://phar.phpunit.de/phpcpd.phar -o phpcpd.phar
            - php phpcpd.phar app/ --min-lines=50

  - name: "Run Unit tests"
    task:
      jobs:
      - name: phpunit
        commands:
          - checkout
          - cache restore
          # Run the unit tests from the phpunit binary in the vendor folder
          - ./vendor/bin/phpunit

  - name: "Run Browser tests"
    task:
      jobs:
        - name: laravel dusk
          commands:
            - checkout
            - cp .env.example .env
            # Create an empty .sqlite DB
            - touch database/database.sqlite
            - cache restore
            # Create an application key again.
            - php artisan key:generate
            - php artisan dusk:update --detect
            # Start Laravel's built-in web server, so the web driver used by Dusk can connect.
            # We start the server using the .env.dusk.local environment file that uses SQLITE.
            - php artisan serve --env=dusk.local --port=8010 &
            # Run the tests
            - php artisan dusk

  - name: "Run Security Tests"
    task:
      jobs:
        - name: sensiolabs
          commands:
            - checkout
            # We clone the Security Checker repository and cd into it.
            - git clone https://github.com/sensiolabs/security-checker.git
            - cd security-checker
            # Install Secuirity Checker dependencies (not to be confused with our project dependencies)
            - composer install
            # Finally, run the check
            - php security-checker security:check ../composer.lock

Run the demo Laravel project yourself#

A good way to start using Semaphore is to take a demo project and run it yourself. Here’s how to build the demo project with your own account:

  1. Fork the project on GitHub to your own account.
  2. Clone the repository to your local machine.
  3. In Semaphore, follow the link in the sidebar to create a new project. Follow the instructions to install the sem CLI and connect it to your organization.
  4. Run sem init inside your repository.
  5. Edit the .semaphore/semaphore.yml file and make a commit. When you push a commit to GitHub, Semaphore will run the CI pipeline.

Next steps#

Congratulations! You have set up your first PHP continuous integration project on Semaphore. Here’s some recommended reading:

See also#