Setting Up Laravel Queue Workers on Ubuntu with PHP 8.3: A Step-by-Step Guide

To set up php artisan queue:work --queue on Ubuntu, follow these steps:

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Step 1: Ensure Your Environment is Ready

1. Install PHP and Composer (if not already installed):

    sudo apt update
    sudo apt install php-cli php-mbstring unzip curl
    curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
    sudo mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer
   

2. Install Supervisor (for managing background processes):

    sudo apt install supervisor
   

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Step 2: Set Up the Laravel Queue Worker

1. Navigate to Your Laravel Project Directory:

    cd /path/to/your/laravel/project
   

2. Run the Queue Worker Command to Test:

    php artisan queue:work --queue=high,default,low
   

   Replace high,default,low with your specific queue names.

3. If Successful, Configure Supervisor for Continuous Running.

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Step 3: Configure Supervisor

1. Create a Configuration File for Supervisor:

    sudo nano /etc/supervisor/conf.d/laravel-worker.conf
   

2. Add the Following Configuration:

    [program:laravel-worker]
    process_name=%(program_name)s_%(process_num)02d
    command=/usr/bin/php8.1 /path/to/your/laravel/project/artisan queue:work --queue=high,default,low --sleep=3 --tries=3
    autostart=true
    autorestart=true
    user=www-data
    numprocs=1
    redirect_stderr=true
    stdout_logfile=/path/to/your/laravel/project/storage/logs/worker.log
   

3. Save and Exit.

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Step 4: Enable and Start Supervisor

1. Reload Supervisor to Apply Changes:

    sudo supervisorctl reread
    sudo supervisorctl update
   

2. Start the Laravel Worker:

    sudo supervisorctl start laravel-worker:*
   

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Step 5: Monitor and Debug

1. Check the Logs:

    tail -f /path/to/your/laravel/project/storage/logs/worker.log
   

2. View Supervisor Status:

    sudo supervisorctl status
   

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This setup ensures that your Laravel queues are always processed in the background, even after server restarts.