Laravel Authentication: Implementing User Registration and Login
Authentication is a critical aspect of web application development, ensuring that users can securely access their accounts and personal data. Laravel, one of the most popular PHP frameworks, provides powerful tools for implementing authentication seamlessly. In this article, we’ll explore how to implement user registration and login functionality using Laravel’s built-in features.
Setting Up Laravel
Before diving into authentication, ensure you have Laravel installed on your system. You can install Laravel using Composer, a dependency manager for PHP. Once Composer is installed, you can create a new Laravel project by running the following command in your terminal:
composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel your-project-name
Navigate into your newly created project directory:
cd your-project-name
Database Configuration
Laravel uses Eloquent ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) to interact with databases. You’ll need to configure your database connection details in the .env file located at the root of your Laravel project. Update the following variables with your database credentials:
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=your_database_name
DB_USERNAME=your_database_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_database_password
Ensure that you create the specified database in your MySQL server before running migrations.
Migration and Model Creation
Laravel provides a convenient way to create database tables and manage their structure using migrations. Run the following command to create a migration for the users table:
php artisan make:migration create_users_table --create=users
This command will generate a new migration file in the database/migrations directory. Open the generated migration file and define the structure of the users table:
// database/migrations/xxxx_xx_xx_create_users_table.php
use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
class CreateUsersTable extends Migration
{
public function up()
{
Schema::create(‘users’, function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->id();
$table->string(‘name’);
$table->string(’email’)->unique();
$table->timestamp(’email_verified_at’)->nullable();
$table->string(‘password’);
$table->rememberToken();
$table->timestamps();
});
}
public function down()
{
Schema::dropIfExists(‘users’);
}
}
After defining the table structure, run the migration to create the users table in your database:
php artisan migrate
Next, let’s create a model for the User. Laravel’s Eloquent ORM makes it easy to interact with the database. Run the following command to create the User model:
php artisan make:model User
User Registration
With the database structure and model in place, we can now proceed to implement user registration functionality. In Laravel, this process typically involves creating a registration form, validating user input, and storing user records in the database.
Creating Routes
Define routes for user registration in the routes/web.php file:
// routes/web.php
use App\Http\Controllers\RegisterController;
Route::get(‘/register’, [RegisterController::class, ‘showRegistrationForm’]);
Route::post(‘/register’, [RegisterController::class, ‘register’]);
Creating the Controller
Generate a new controller for handling user registration:
php artisan make:controller RegisterController
Open the generated controller file (app/Http/Controllers/RegisterController.php) and define the methods for showing the registration form and handling the registration process:
// app/Http/Controllers/RegisterController.php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use App\Models\User;
class RegisterController extends Controller
{
public function showRegistrationForm()
{
return view(‘auth.register’);
}
public function register(Request $request)
{
$request->validate([
‘name’ => ‘required|string|max:255’,
’email’ => ‘required|string|email|max:255|unique:users’,
‘password’ => ‘required|string|min:8|confirmed’,
]);
$user = new User();
$user->name = $request->name;
$user->email = $request->email;
$user->password = bcrypt($request->password);
$user->save();
return redirect(‘/login’)->with(‘success’, ‘Registration successful. Please log in.’);
}
}
Creating the Registration Form View
Create a new Blade view file named register.blade.php in the resources/views/auth directory. This file will contain the HTML form for user registration:
<!-- resources/views/auth/register.blade.php -->
<form method=“POST” action=“{{ route(‘register’) }}”>
@csrf
<div>
<label for=“name”>Name</label>
<input id=“name” type=“text” name=“name” value=“{{ old(‘name’) }}” required autofocus>
</div>
<div>
<label for=“email”>E-Mail Address</label>
<input id=“email” type=“email” name=“email” value=“{{ old(’email’) }}” required>
</div>
<div>
<label for=“password”>Password</label>
<input id=“password” type=“password” name=“password” required autocomplete=“new-password”>
</div>
<div>
<label for=“password-confirm”>Confirm Password</label>
<input id=“password-confirm” type=“password” name=“password_confirmation” required>
</div>
<div>
<button type=“submit”>
Register
</button>
</div>
</form>
User Login
After implementing user registration, the next step is to enable users to log in to their accounts securely.
Creating Routes
Define routes for user login in the routes/web.php file:
// routes/web.php
use App\Http\Controllers\LoginController;
Route::get(‘/login’, [LoginController::class, ‘showLoginForm’])->name(‘login’);
Route::post(‘/login’, [LoginController::class, ‘login’]);
Creating the Controller
Generate a new controller for handling user login:
php artisan make:controller LoginController
Open the generated controller file (app/Http/Controllers/LoginController.php) and define the methods for showing the login form and handling the login process:
// app/Http/Controllers/LoginController.php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Auth;
class LoginController extends Controller
{
public function showLoginForm()
{
return view(‘auth.login’);
}
public function login(Request $request)
{
$credentials = $request->validate([
’email’ => ‘required|email’,
‘password’ => ‘required’,
]);
if (Auth::attempt($credentials)) {
$request->session()->regenerate();
return redirect()->intended(‘/’);
}
return back()->withErrors([
’email’ => ‘The provided credentials do not match our records.’,
]);
}
}
Creating the Login Form View
Create a new Blade view file named login.blade.php in the resources/views/auth directory. This file will contain the HTML form for user login:
<!-- resources/views/auth/login.blade.php -->
<form method=“POST” action=“{{ route(‘login’) }}”>
@csrf
<div>
<label for=“email”>E-Mail Address</label>
<input id=“email” type=“email” name=“email” value=“{{ old(’email’) }}” required autofocus>
</div>
<div>
<label for=“password”>Password</label>
<input id=“password” type=“password” name=“password” required autocomplete=“current-password”>
</div>
<div>
<button type=“submit”>
Login
</button>
</div>
</form>
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve covered the process of implementing user registration and login functionality in Laravel. By following Laravel’s conventions and utilizing its built-in features such as routing, controllers, and views, we’ve created a secure authentication system for our web application. With Laravel’s powerful tools and straightforward approach to authentication, you can easily customize and extend these features to meet the specific requirements of your project.