nubbyninja's avatar

Expressing Frustration With Getting Started

TLDR: It would be nice if someone created a "how to troubleshoot common problems when getting started with Docker/Php/Laravel/MySQL etc" and presented it like other Laracasts.

So I'm trying to get started with Laravel, and to get there, I need to ensure PHP is installed properly. Unfortunately I'm getting DLL errors trying to run the initial commands listed in the docs for Laravel.

Trying to install Sail for example, using composer require laravel/sail --dev

Presents me with errors:

PHP Warning:  PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library 'php_xmlrpc.dll' (tried: C:\Program Files\PHP\v8.0\ext\php_xmlrpc.dll (The specified module could not be found), C:\Program Files\PHP\v8.0\ext\php_php_xmlrpc.dll.dll (The specified module could not be found)) in Unknown on line 0

I'm not new to computing, but I'm extremely new to Laravel, PHP, Sail, and I'm not proficient with CLI, that being said I've spent most of 2 nights trying to get to the bottom of it.

I've dug into 3 different PHP.ini files and all 3 appear to be mostly blank. The vast majority of solutions seem to indicate there's a gd2.dll file that needs to be specified with extension=php_gd2.dll and while I've tried to do this, every attempt I've made seems ineffective. It seems that there are many smaller steps I need to take to troubleshoot these kinds of issues, and that information does not seem readily available via the training here, or answers I've queried online. I've gathered bits and pieces, but much of the information seems outdated, disjointed, and incomplete.

And this is just the start of it, I'm sure. I would be delighted to find a series dedicated to tackling these gaps in knowledge specifically to help noobs like me troubleshoot the "getting started" phase, so we don't spend weeks just trying to set up our php environment, like I have. I've literally been trying to get started with this Laravel course for 3 weeks, but no matter how I start, I run into some bizarre roadblock where the information is not forthcoming, and I'm in the "getting-started" phase, meaning I don't even know what I don't even know.

I would be delighted to find content, presented like the other Laracasts content, to cover these kinds of issues at - length and explain why they occur, how to fix them, and how to resource the answers to solve them ourselves.

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3 replies
bugsysha's avatar

Have you tried moving to Linux? I see that there is a bunch of issues on Windows reported here. Maybe you should consider some other OS.

nubbyninja's avatar

@bugsysha Sorry I didn't see this... or rather, didn't see a notification for it.

Yes I'm using the WSL 2 but I also have the docker container using sail...

There are still a plethora of little tidbits that the videos do not tell you, that you have to spend hours digging through google searches and forums to find answers for.

I haven't kept a tally but the list is quite long. I've actually had to rely on YouTube to fill in some of the knowledge gaps, quite a lot. That's not something I would expect to have to do when I'm already paying for course material.

That being said, I'm making progress, but I'm still 110% certain that a course to cover some of the common setup troubleshooting would be enlightening to many users who start learning, but give up when they can't make headway with a bug or setup issue.

sr57's avatar

@nubbyninja

IT is like that, one tool (language) depends of other tools (language).

I (well) know php for very long but decide to use Laravel one year ago. Since Vue3 exists I decided to use Laravel + Vue3 but never succeed after more than one month ... for many reason mainly because most of the examples was Vue2 and I was not able to distinct !

So I gave up with Vue and worked only with 'pure' Laravel and really love it, for some months I am able to work with Vue ... Vue2, not Vue3 for now!, and I love it too.

WSL2, Sail, Docker are tools aver the OS, except if you know them they add complexity, you'll have to setup a server, and linux is far better that windows, in fact I use also Linux for my laptop.

So, as @bugsysha told, I suggest you to begin with Linux ... but that does not mean that everything will' be clear tomorrow, you only progress step after step as you wrote and of course you can follow other ways

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