Access to Laravel 5 app locally from an external device
Stefan Izdrail
Founder & Senior Architect · 2026-06-29
Title: Accessing Laravel 5 App Locally from External Devices - A Developer's Guide
Introduction
Developing web applications using Laravel 5 is an incredible experience, but sometimes it can be a challenge to access your app locally from devices other than your local computer. This article will guide you through the process of making your Laravel app accessible from external sources such as iPhones or any internet-connected device.
Prerequisites
Before we begin, ensure that the following requirements are in place:
- You have a development environment set up for Laravel 5.
- Your local computer and the external devices you're looking to access your app from are connected to the same network.
- Both your local computer and the external device(s) have internet connectivity.
Steps to Access Laravel App Locally from External Devices
1. Configure your application's virtual host on your local development machine:
- Open your hosting file, usually found in /etc/apache2/sites-available/ or /etc/httpd/conf.d/, depending on your OS (for Windows users, it is typically located at C:\xampp\apache\conf\extra).
- Create a new section with the following content:
```
ServerName local.dev
DocumentRoot /path/to/your/laravel-app
```
- Replace '/path/to/your/laravel-app' with the correct path to your Laravel application in your local computer.
2. Enable virtual host by running the following commands:
- For Linux users: `sudo a2ensite /etc/apache2/sites-available/local.dev.conf` and then `sudo service apache2 restart`.
- For Windows users: Open https://localhost:8000/index.php?r=/articles/create in your browser, which redirects to localhost:8000, where you can update the VirtualHost configuration. Make sure 'Enable Site' is checked and save changes. After that, restart Apache.
3. Test your web application locally on your computer:
- Open a new web browser window and visit http://local.dev in the address bar. If all goes well, you should see your Laravel app running correctly.
4. Configure your network router to forward port 8000 (if using xampp) or the correct port number for your Apache server (the default being 80) to the local IP of your development machine. This ensures that external devices can reach your application via a known port. Consult your router's documentation for specific instructions on how to do this.
5. Test your app from an external device:
- Ensure that you have your network's internet connection details, such as the local IP address range and any required proxy settings. For instance, if your internal network range is 192.168.0.x, use http://192.168.0.xxx:port_number (replacing x with an available number in the range) to access your Laravel app from your iPhone or other external devices.
- If you're using a proxy server, update the URL accordingly by configuring your web browser on your external device to use that proxy, and change the port number if necessary.
Conclusion
With these steps, you will be able to access your Laravel 5 application from any external device connected to your network. Remember to keep your development environment secure by not sharing your network details with unauthorized users. Feel free to explore additional security measures like VPN, encryption, and firewall controls for heightened protection of your work. For more comprehensive tutorials on Laravel development, visit https://laravelcompany.com/blog/.