How to use multiple databases in Laravel
PhpMysqlLaravelDatabasePhp Problem Overview
I want to combine multiple databases in my system. Most of the time the database is MySQL; but it may differ in future i.e. Admin can generate such a reports which is use source of heterogeneous database system.
So my question is does Laravel provide any Facade to deal with such situations? Or any other framework have more suitable capabilities for problem is?
Php Solutions
Solution 1 - Php
Using .env
>= 5.0 (Tested on 5.5) (Works on 8)
In .env
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=database1
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=secret
DB_CONNECTION_SECOND=mysql
DB_HOST_SECOND=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT_SECOND=3306
DB_DATABASE_SECOND=database2
DB_USERNAME_SECOND=root
DB_PASSWORD_SECOND=secret
In config/database.php
'mysql' => [
'driver' => env('DB_CONNECTION'),
'host' => env('DB_HOST'),
'port' => env('DB_PORT'),
'database' => env('DB_DATABASE'),
'username' => env('DB_USERNAME'),
'password' => env('DB_PASSWORD'),
],
'mysql2' => [
'driver' => env('DB_CONNECTION_SECOND'),
'host' => env('DB_HOST_SECOND'),
'port' => env('DB_PORT_SECOND'),
'database' => env('DB_DATABASE_SECOND'),
'username' => env('DB_USERNAME_SECOND'),
'password' => env('DB_PASSWORD_SECOND'),
],
>Note: In mysql2
if DB_username and DB_password is same, then you can use env('DB_USERNAME')
which is metioned in .env
first few lines.
Without .env
<5.0
Define Connections
>app/config/database.php
return array(
'default' => 'mysql',
'connections' => array(
# Primary/Default database connection
'mysql' => array(
'driver' => 'mysql',
'host' => '127.0.0.1',
'database' => 'database1',
'username' => 'root',
'password' => 'secret'
'charset' => 'utf8',
'collation' => 'utf8_unicode_ci',
'prefix' => '',
),
# Secondary database connection
'mysql2' => array(
'driver' => 'mysql',
'host' => '127.0.0.1',
'database' => 'database2',
'username' => 'root',
'password' => 'secret'
'charset' => 'utf8',
'collation' => 'utf8_unicode_ci',
'prefix' => '',
),
),
);
Schema
To specify which connection to use, simply run the connection()
method
Schema::connection('mysql2')->create('some_table', function($table)
{
$table->increments('id'):
});
Query Builder
$users = DB::connection('mysql2')->select(...);
Eloquent
Set the $connection
variable in your model
class SomeModel extends Eloquent {
protected $connection = 'mysql2';
}
You can also define the connection at runtime via the setConnection
method or the on
static method:
class SomeController extends BaseController {
public function someMethod()
{
$someModel = new SomeModel;
$someModel->setConnection('mysql2'); // non-static method
$something = $someModel->find(1);
$something = SomeModel::on('mysql2')->find(1); // static method
return $something;
}
}
>Note Be careful about attempting to build relationships with tables across databases! It is possible to do, but it can come with some caveats and depends on what database and/or database settings you have.
From Laravel Docs
Using Multiple Database Connections
When using multiple connections, you may access each connection
via the connection method on the DB
facade. The name
passed to the connection
method should correspond to one of the connections listed in your config/database.php
configuration file:
$users = DB::connection('foo')->select(...);
You may also access the raw, underlying PDO instance using the getPdo method on a connection instance:
$pdo = DB::connection()->getPdo();
Useful Links
Solution 2 - Php
In Laravel 5.1, you specify the connection:
$users = DB::connection('foo')->select(...);
Default, Laravel uses the default connection. It is simple, isn't it?
Read more here: http://laravel.com/docs/5.1/database#accessing-connections
Solution 3 - Php
Actually, DB::connection('name')->select(..)
doesnt work for me, because 'name' has to be in double quotes: "name"
Still, the select query is executed on my default connection. Still trying to figure out, how to convince Laravel to work the way it is intended: change the connection.
Edit: I figured it out. After debugging Laravels DatabaseManager it turned out my database.php (config file) (inside $this->app) was wrong. In the section "connections" I had stuff like "database" with values of the one i copied it from. In clear terms, instead of
env('DB_DATABASE', 'name')
I needed to place something like
'myNewName'
since all connections were listed with the same values for the database, username, password, etc. which of course makes little sense if I want to access at least another database name
Therefore, every time I wanted to select something from another database I always ended up in my default database
Solution 4 - Php
Laravel has inbuilt support for multiple database systems, you need to provide connection details in config/database.php file
return [
'default' => env('DB_CONNECTION', 'mysql'),
'connections' => [
'mysql' => [
'driver' => 'mysql',
'host' => env('DB_HOST', '127.0.0.1'),
'port' => env('DB_PORT', '3306'),
'database' => env('DB_DATABASE', 'forge'),
'username' => env('DB_USERNAME', 'forge'),
'password' => env('DB_PASSWORD', ''),
'charset' => 'utf8',
'collation' => 'utf8_unicode_ci',
'prefix' => '',
'strict' => false,
'engine' => null,
],
'mysqlOne' => [
'driver' => 'mysql',
'host' => env('DB_HOST_ONE', '127.0.0.1'),
'port' => env('DB_PORT', '3306'),
'database' => env('DB_DATABASE_ONE', 'forge'),
'username' => env('DB_USERNAME_ONE', 'forge'),
'password' => env('DB_PASSWORD_ONE', ''),
'charset' => 'utf8',
'collation' => 'utf8_unicode_ci',
'prefix' => '',
'strict' => false,
'engine' => null,
],
];
Once you have this you can create two base model class for each connection and define the connection name in those models
//BaseModel.php
protected $connection = 'mysql';
//BaseModelOne.php
protected $connection = 'mysqlOne';
You can extend these models to create more models for tables in each DB.
Solution 5 - Php
Also you can use postgres fdw system
https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.5/postgres-fdw.html
You will be able to connect different db in postgres. After that, in one query, you can access tables that are in different databases.
Solution 6 - Php
Not a good solution if you want to clone the existing system and to run the existing code on a new database for a new customer.
We would have to edit hundreds of eloquent calls to insert the DB::connection('foo')