Setting Up CodeIgniter Environment

Below is a step-by-step guide to setting up a CodeIgniter environment, focusing on CodeIgniter 4 (recommended for new projects).

1. System Requirements

Make sure your system has:

• PHP 7.4 or higher (PHP 8.x supported)

• Extensions enabled:

  • intl

  • mbstring

  • json

  • mysqlnd (for MySQL)

• Composer (recommended)

• Web server: Apache / Nginx / XAMPP / WAMP / Laragon

2. Install CodeIgniter 4

Option A: Using Composer (Recommended)

composer create-project codeigniter4/appstarter myproject

Then move into the project:

cd myproject

Option B: Manual Download

1. Download from the official CodeIgniter website

2. Extract the files

3. Rename the folder (e.g., myproject)

3. Configure Environment File

Rename .env file:

cp env .env

Open .env and set:

CI_ENVIRONMENT = development

4. Set Base URL

Edit:

app.baseURL = 'http://localhost:8080/'

5. Database Configuration

Edit .env:

database.default.hostname = localhost
database.default.database = mydb
database.default.username = root
database.default.password = 
database.default.DBDriver = MySQLi

6. Run Development Server

Use CodeIgniter’s built-in server:

php spark serve

Visit:

http://localhost:8080

You should see the CodeIgniter welcome page ????

7. Folder Permissions

Make sure these folders are writable:

writable/
 ├── cache
 ├── logs
 └── uploads

8. Enable Error Reporting (Development)

In .env:

CI_ENVIRONMENT = development

Errors will now be displayed clearly.

9. Apache Configuration (Optional)

Enable mod_rewrite and use .htaccess:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php/$1 [L]

10. Verify Installation

Create a test controller:

php spark make:controller Test

Edit:

public function index()
{
    return "CodeIgniter is working!";
}

Visit:

http://localhost:8080/test

Common Issues & Fixes