Learn how to integrate PlanetScale with a sample Symfony application

This sample application demonstrates how to connect to a PlanetScale MySQL database, create and run migrations, seed the database, and display the data.

For the full tutorial, see the Symfony PlanetScale documentation.

Set up the Symfony app

Clone the starter Symfony application:

git clone git@github.com:planetscale/symfony-example.git

Navigate into the folder and install the dependencies:

cd symfony-example
composer install

Copy the .env file into .env.local:

cp .env .env.local

Start the application:

symfony serve

View the application at http://localhost:8000.

Set up the database

Authenticate the CLI with the following command:

pscale auth login

Create a new database with a default main branch with the following command:

pscale database create <DATABASE_NAME> --region <REGION_SLUG>

This tutorial uses symfony_example for DATABASE_NAME, but you can use any name with lowercase, alphanumeric characters, or underscores. You can also uses dashes, but we don't recommend them, as they may need to be escaped in some instances.

For REGION_SLUG, choose a region closest to you from the available regions or leave it blank.

Connect to the Symfony app

There are two ways to connect to PlanetScale:

Using client certificates with the CLI
With an auto-generated username and password

Both options are covered below.

Connect with username and password

Create a username and password with the PlanetScale CLI by running:

pscale password create <DATABASE_NAME> <BRANCH_NAME> <PASSWORD_NAME>

Note: PASSWORD_NAME represents the name of the username and password being generated.

Take note of the values returned to you, as you won't be able to see them again.

Open the .env.local file in your Symfony app, find the database connection string shown below and replace it with:

DATABASE_URL="mysql://<USERNAME>:<PASSWORD>@<ACCESS_HOST_URL>:3306/<DATABASE_NAME>?serverVersion=8.0"

Don't forget to replace the placeholders <USERNAME>, <PASSWORD>, <ACCESS HOST URL> and <DATABASE_NAME> with the appropriate values from the output above.

Connect with client certificates

To connect with client certificates, you'll need the PlanetScale CLI.

Open a connection by running the following:

pscale connect <DATABASE_NAME> <BRANCH_NAME>

The default branch is main.

A secure connection to your database will be established, and you'll see a local address you can use to connect to your application.
Open the .env.local file in your Symfony app and update it as follows:

DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_NAME=
DATABASE_URL=${DB_HOST}:${DB_PORT}/${DB_NAME}?serverVersion=8.0

The connection uses port 3306 by default, but if that's being used, it will pick a random port. Make sure you paste in whatever port is returned in the terminal. You can leave DB_USERNAME and DB_PASSWORD blank.

Refresh your Symfony homepage and you should see the message that you're connected to your database!

Run migrations and seeder

Make sure your database connection has been established. You'll see the message "You are connected to your-database-name" on the Symfony app homepage if everything is configured properly.
In the root of the Symfony project, run the following to run migrations:

symfony console doctrine:migrations:migrate

You will get a message to confirm your action, just type "yes" and hit enter to proceed.

Seed the database by running:

symfony console doctrine:fixtures:load

This will purge your database and load the random data into it.

Refresh your Symfony homepage, and you'll see a list of Ecommerce products and their category printed out.

Need help?

If you need further assistance, you can reach out to PlanetScale's support team, or join our GitHub Discussion board to see how others are using PlanetScale.