In this post, I list the components of my dev environment. This list can be useful when initializing a new project or starting a new job.

Make use of a cool virtualisation solution

I choose Vagrant. Take the time to create cool provisioning scripts. In case of problem, you will be able to set up quickly your env! VERSION your provisioning scripts!

Reproduce the exact same stack than the prod env

• OS
• php version
• php.ini conf: /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini & /etc/php5/cli/php.ini
• apache version
• apache VHOST
• db version
• system permission

Keep one VM/project do not host several projects under the same VM. If you need a laboratory VM, create a dedicated one!

Turn on debug mode and error printing

Edit in php.ini files:

    error_reporting = E_ALL ^ E_NOTICE ^ E_WARNING
    display_errors = on        

Restart apache:

    sudo service apache2 restart

Make use of a cool source control

I use gitlab: git+wiki+tracker. When you commit, do not forget to make link between commit and ticket reference.

Make use of a cool PHP IDE

I use PHPSTORM because of:

• debugger integration
• completion
• external tools integration
• framework integration
• database integration
• live templates
• source control integration

Set up a cool debugger

I use XDEBUG embed in vagrant VM with PHPSTORM on host machine which is very very very nice.

Look at this article to setup xdebug/vagrant/phpstorm.

Set up a mailer

Setting up sendMail is quiet complicated whereas setting up ssmtp is easy.

Follow that tutorial to install ssmtp.

Do not forget to edit google lesssecureappsoption

Set up a cool build tool

I use Phing to build and deploy.

wget -q http://www.phing.info/get/phing-latest.phar
sudo mv phing-latest.phar /usr/local/lib/phing.phar
chmod +x /usr/local/lib/phing.phar
sudo ln -s /usr/local/lib/phing.phar /usr/local/bin/phing

pear install VersionControl_Git-alpha

Things that must be under source control

• Provisioning script
• Source code
• Build job
• VM configuration (alias, conf file) can also be versioned.

With that you should be able to automate deployment and rebuild solution from scratch!