Symfony Local Web Server

You can run Symfony applications with any web server (Apache, nginx, the

internal PHP web server, etc.) However, Symfony provides its own web server to

make you more productive while developing your apps.

This server is not intended for production use and it supports HTTP/2, TLS/SSL,

automatic generation of security certificates, local domains, and many other

features that sooner or later you'll need when developing web projects.

Installation

The Symfony server is distributed as a free installable binary without any

dependency and support for Linux, macOS and Windows. Go to `symfony.com/download`_

and follow the instructions for your operating system.

Getting Started

The Symfony web server is started once per project, so you may end up with

several instances (each of them listening to a different port). This is the

common workflow to serve a Symfony project:

.. code-block:: terminal

Running the server this way makes it display the log messages in the console, so

you can't run other commands. If you prefer, you can run the Symfony server in

the background:

.. code-block:: terminal

Enabling TLS

Browsing the secure version of your apps locally is important to early detect

problems with mixed content and to run libraries that only run in HTTPS.

Traditionally this has been painful and complicated to set up, but the Symfony

server automates everything. First, run this command:

.. code-block:: terminal

This command creates a local certificate authority, registers it in your system

trust store, registers it in Firefox (this is required only for that browser)

and creates a default certificate for ``localhost`` and ``127.0.0.1``. In other

words, it does everything for you. You can now browse your local app using

HTTPS instead of HTTP.

Different PHP Settings Per Project

Selecting a Different PHP Version

If you have multiple PHP versions installed in your computer, you can tell

Symfony which one to use creating a file called ``.php-version`` at the project

root dir:

.. code-block:: terminal

This other command is useful if you don't remember all the PHP versions

installed in your computer:

.. code-block:: terminal

Overriding PHP Config Options Per Project

You can change the value of any PHP runtime config option per project creating a

file called ``php.ini`` at the project root dir. Add only the options you want

to override:

.. code-block:: terminal

Running Commands with Different PHP Versions

When running different PHP versions, it's useful to use the main ``symfony``

command as a wrapper of the ``php`` command to always select the most

appropriate PHP version according to the project which is running the commands:

.. code-block:: terminal

If you are using this wrapper frequently, consider aliasing the ``php`` command

to it:

.. code-block:: terminal

Local Domain Names

By default, projects are accessible at some random port of the ``12.7.0.0.1``

local IP. However, sometimes is preferable to associate a domain name to them:

* It's more convenient when you work continuously on the same project because

port numbers can change but domains don't;

* The behavior of some apps depend on their domains/subdomains;

* To have stable endpoints, such as the local redirection URL of Oauth2.

Setting up the Local Proxy

Local domains are possible thanks to a local proxy provided by the Symfony

server. First, start the proxy:

.. code-block:: terminal

If this is the first time you run the proxy, you must follow these additional steps:

* Open the **network configuration** of your operating system;

* Find the **proxy settings** and select the **"Automatic Proxy Configuration"**;

* Set the following URL as its value: ``https://127.0.0.1:7080/proxy.pac``

Defining the Local Domain

By default, Symfony proposes ``.wip`` (for *Work in Progress*) as the local

domains (but you can choose any other domain and TLD you like). Define a local

domain for a project as follows:

.. code-block:: terminal

If you have installed the local proxy as explained in the previous section, you

can now browse ``https://my-domain.wip`` to access to your local project with

the new custom domain.

.. tip::

Browse the https://127.0.0.1:7080 URL to get the full list of local project

directories, their custom domains, and port numbers.

When running console commands, add the ``HTTPS_PROXY`` env var to make custom

domains work:

.. code-block:: terminal

Long-Running Commands

Long-running commands, such as the ones related to compiling front-end web

assets, block the terminal and you can't run other commands. The Symfony server

provides a ``run`` command to wrap them as follows:

.. code-block:: terminal

Bonus Features

The Symfony server is much more than a local web server and it includes other

useful features.

Looking for Security Vulnerabilities

Instead of installing the :doc:`Symfony Security Checker </security/security_checker>`

as a dependency of your projects, you can use this command from the Symfony server:

.. code-block:: terminal

This command uses the same vulnerability database as the Symfony Security

Checker but it also caches that information to keep checking security when

it's not possible to access to that public database.

Creating Symfony Projects

In addition to the `different ways to install Symfony`_, you can use this

command from the Symfony server:

.. code-block:: terminal

SymfonyCloud Integration

The local Symfony server provides full, but optional, integration with

`SymfonyCloud`_, a service optimized to run your Symfony apps on the cloud.

It provides features such as creating environments, backups/snapshots, and

even access to a copy of the production data in your local machine to help

you debug any issues.

`Read SymfonyCloud technical docs`_.

.. _`symfony.com/download`: https://symfony.com/download

.. _`different ways to install Symfony`: https://symfony.com/download

.. _`SymfonyCloud`: https://symfony.com/cloud/

.. _`Read SymfonyCloud technical docs`: https://symfony.com/doc/master/cloud/intro.html