Connecting Laravel to Databases (MySQL, SQLite, PostgreSQL)
Almost every Laravel application needs to store and retrieve data, and that starts with a working database connection. Laravel ships with support for several database systems out of the box, and switching between them is largely a matter of configuration rather than code changes.
How Laravel Manages Connections
Database connections are configured in config/database.php, but the actual values are pulled from the .env file so each environment can point to a different database without touching code. A single application can even define multiple named connections if it needs to talk to more than one database.
Supported Drivers
Laravel supports several database drivers natively, each suited to different project needs. The choice mostly comes down to hosting environment, expected scale, and team familiarity.
| Driver | Best For |
|---|---|
| MySQL | Most shared hosting and traditional production setups |
| PostgreSQL | Applications needing advanced data types and strict data integrity |
| SQLite | Local development, testing, and small, single-file applications |
| SQL Server | Enterprise environments already standardized on Microsoft infrastructure |
Key .env Variables for a Connection
DB_CONNECTION— selects the driver, such asmysqlorpgsqlDB_HOSTandDB_PORT— where the database server can be reachedDB_DATABASE— the specific database name to useDB_USERNAMEandDB_PASSWORD— credentials for authenticating the connection
With a connection in place, writing raw SQL for every query would quickly get repetitive — which is exactly the problem Laravel's Eloquent ORM was built to solve.
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