Installation Guide

LavaLust can be installed in two ways: by downloading the release zip or by cloning the repository with Git. Both methods result in the same working setup.

Requirements

Before installing, make sure your server meets the following requirements:

Requirement	Details
PHP	Version 7.4 or higher
Web Server	Apache 2.4+ or Nginx 1.18+ (or the built-in PHP server for local development)
Extensions	pdo, mbstring, json, openssl
Composer	Required for the Git installation method
Git	Required for the Git installation method only

Method 1: Download ZIP

This is the quickest way to get started without any extra tools.

Step 1 — Download the package

Download the latest release from GitHub and save the .zip file to your machine.

Step 2 — Extract the archive

Unzip the downloaded file. You should see the following top-level structure:

lavalust/
├── app/
├── scheme/
├── public/
│   └── index.php
├── lava
└── composer.json

Step 3 — Upload to your server

Copy the extracted folder contents to your server’s web root or the desired project directory. The index.php entry point should end up inside your public/ folder.

Tip

For Apache, point your virtual host DocumentRoot to the public/ folder. For Nginx, set the root directive to the public/ folder as well.

Step 4 — Start the development server

Open a terminal in the project root and run:

php lava run

Step 5 — Open in browser

http://localhost:3000

You should see the LavaLust welcome page. Installation is complete.

Method 2: Git Clone

Use this method if you want to track updates or contribute to the project.

Step 1 — Install prerequisites

Make sure both Git and Composer are installed and available in your terminal:

git --version
composer --version

Step 2 — Clone the repository

Navigate to your server or projects folder and run:

git clone https://github.com/ronmarasigan/LavaLust

This creates a LavaLust/ directory with all project files inside.

Step 3 — Install dependencies

cd LavaLust
composer install

Step 4 — Start the development server

php lava run

Step 5 — Open in browser

http://localhost:3000

You should see the LavaLust welcome page. Installation is complete.

Post-Installation

Once the welcome page loads, complete the following before building your application:

	Task	Details
☐	Set the base URL	Open app/config/config.php and set $config['base_url'] to your domain (e.g. https://yourdomain.com/).
☐	Configure the database	Open app/config/database.php and fill in your database credentials (hostname, username, password, database name).
☐	Set the encryption key	Set $config['encryption_key'] in app/config/config.php to a strong random string. Required for sessions and CSRF protection.
☐	Set environment	Set $config['environment'] to development locally and production on live servers to control error reporting.
☐	Configure .htaccess	If using Apache, ensure mod_rewrite is enabled and the provided .htaccess file is in the public/ folder.

Troubleshooting

Blank page or 500 error

Enable PHP error reporting temporarily by setting $config['environment'] to development in app/config/config.php. Check your server’s PHP error log for details.

404 on all routes except the homepage

Apache: confirm mod_rewrite is enabled and AllowOverride All is set on the public/ directory in your virtual host config. Nginx: make sure your server block includes a try_files directive pointing to index.php.

Port 3000 already in use

Run the development server on a different port:

php lava run 8080

Composer not found

Ensure Composer is installed globally and ~/.composer/vendor/bin (Linux/macOS) or %APPDATA%\Composer\vendor\bin (Windows) is on your PATH.