How to Set Up PHP Composer in Plesk

How to Set Up PHP Composer in Plesk

Composer is a dependency manager for PHP. Plesk provides built-in Composer support, making it easy to run composer install, update, and other commands from the control panel.

Step 1: Log in to Plesk

Visit:

https://your-server-ip:8443

Log in with your credentials.

Step 2: Check if Composer is Installed

• Go to Tools & Settings

• Click Updates & Upgrades

• In the list of available components, look for PHP Composer

• If it’s not installed, click Add/Remove Components and install Composer support under the Plesk Hosting Features section

Alternatively, install Composer manually via terminal or use the Composer CLI tool if enabled by your hosting provider.

Step 3: Open the Application Root Folder

• Go to Websites & Domains

• Choose your domain

• Click File Manager

• Navigate to the folder where your PHP app is located (where composer.json exists)

Tip: If you don't have a composer.json yet, you can create one directly inside File Manager.

Step 4: Use the Composer Tool in Plesk

Once inside the folder:

• If Composer is detected, you’ll see a Composer tab or button in the top menu

• Click Composer

• You’ll be able to:

  • Run composer install

  • Run composer update

  • Set environment variables

  • See installed dependencies

Step 5: Run Composer Commands

If needed, you can also run custom commands:

• Click the Composer tab

• Enter custom commands like:

  composer dump-autoload
  composer require vendor/package-name
  

Step 6: (Optional) Use SSH for Advanced Usage

If you prefer command line access:

• Log in to your server via SSH

• Navigate to your project directory

• Run Composer commands manually

Example:

cd /var/www/vhosts/yourdomain.com/httpdocs
composer install

Make sure your server has Composer globally installed and available in the $PATH.

Summary