Building User Authentication in Laravel: Step-by-Step

Laravel is a popular PHP framework known for its simplicity and efficiency in building web applications. One of the key features of web applications is user authentication, which allows users to securely access and interact with the application. In this article, we will walk through the process of building user authentication in Laravel, step-by-step.

Step 1: Setting Up Laravel

The first step in building user authentication in Laravel is to set up a new Laravel project. If you haven’t installed Laravel, you can do so using Composer by running the following command in your terminal:

composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel project-name

Once your project is set up, navigate to the project directory and start the development server by running the following command:

php artisan serve

Step 2: Database Configuration

Next, you’ll need to configure your database connection in the .env file. Open the .env file and update the following variables with your database credentials:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql

DB_HOST=127.0.0.1

DB_PORT=3306

DB_DATABASE=database_name

DB_USERNAME=database_username

DB_PASSWORD=database_password

Save the changes and run the following command to create the migration for the users table:

php artisan make:migration create_users_table --create=users

Open the generated migration file and define the schema for the users table:

public function up()

{

    Schema::create('users', function (Blueprint $table) {

        $table->id();

        $table->string('name');

        $table->string('email')->unique();

        $table->timestamp('email_verified_at')->nullable();

        $table->string('password');

        $table->rememberToken();

        $table->timestamps();

    });

}

Run the migration to create the users table in your database:

php artisan migrate

Step 3: User Model

Next, you’ll need to create a User model which represents the users table in your application. Run the following command to generate the User model:

php artisan make:model User

Once the model is generated, you can define the fillable attributes and any relationships in the model file. By default, the User model’s fillable property will include the name, email, password, and remember_token attributes.

Step 4: Authentication Scaffolding

Laravel provides an authentication scaffolding that includes login, registration, and password reset functionality out of the box. Run the following command to generate the authentication scaffolding:

php artisan make:auth

This command will generate the necessary routes, controllers, and views for user authentication. You can customize the views and controllers as needed to fit the design and functionality of your application.

Step 5: Protecting Routes

Once the authentication scaffolding is generated, you can protect routes that require authentication by using the auth middleware. For example, to protect a route in your web.php file, use the following syntax:

Route::get('/dashboard', 'DashboardController@index')->middleware('auth');

This will ensure that only authenticated users can access the ‘/dashboard’ route.

Step 6: Conclusion

Congratulations! You’ve successfully built user authentication in your Laravel application. By following these steps, you’ve set up user registration, login, and password reset functionality, as well as protected routes that require authentication. With user authentication in place, you can now securely manage user access and interactions within your application.

FAQs

Q: What is Laravel?

A: Laravel is a PHP framework known for its elegant syntax and powerful features that make web development a breeze.

Q: Can I customize the authentication views in Laravel?

A: Yes, you can customize the authentication views by modifying the generated blade files in the resources/views/auth directory.

References

1. Laravel Documentation – https://laravel.com/docs/8.x/authentication

2. “Laravel 8 From Scratch” by Laracasts – https://laracasts.com/series/laravel-8-from-scratch