How to make a Laravel application run as a desktop application

Some clients or users prefer to run their applications as a desktop application that is a .exe.

In this shot, we will learn how to convert a Laravel application to a desktop application.

Step 1: Download PHP desktop

Download and extract the PHP desktop package from Github. This package comes with PHP version 7.1.3 and Chrome 57. The name of the file should look like phpdesktop-chrome-57.0-rc-php-7.1.3.zip.

Step 2: Configure settings.json

Edit the settings.json file. You will see the settings.json file within the extracted file’s root directory. Replace the web_server section with the code below:

"web_server": {
      "listen_on": ["127.0.0.1", 0],
      "www_directory": "www/public",
      "index_files": ["index.php"],
      "cgi_interpreter": "php/php-cgi.exe",
      "cgi_extensions": ["php"],
      "cgi_temp_dir": "",
      "404_handler": "/index.php",
      "hide_files": []
}

Note: The changes above are made to configure the 404_handler to index.php for our Laravel application since .htaccess is not supported by PHP desktop.

Step 3: Add your Laravel application

In the file you downloaded and extracted, open the www folder, delete every file there, and transfer your Laravel application into the www folder.

Step 4: Testing

Run your Laravel application. Click on the phpdesktop-chrome.exe file to execute your application.