How to Install CakePHP 5 on XAMPP (Beginner-Friendly 2025 Guide + Fix URL Rewriting)

This guide is written in very simple English for beginners and junior developers. We will set up CakePHP 5 on XAMPP with PHP 8.2+. We will also fix the common error “URL rewriting is not properly configured on your server.” We will enable the intl extension (ext-intl), and we will connect to a MySQL database. At the end, you will see the CakePHP welcome page running on your computer.

What You Need Before You Start

• XAMPP (latest, with PHP 8.2+). You can install it in C:\xampp (Windows default).
• Composer (PHP dependency manager). During install, point it to C:\xampp\php\php.exe.
• Basic knowledge: start/stop Apache and MySQL from the XAMPP Control Panel.

Step 1 — Install and Start XAMPP

1. Install XAMPP to C:\xampp.
2. Open XAMPP Control Panel.
3. Click Start for Apache and MySQL. The status should turn green.

If Apache does not start, another app may use port 80 or 443. Close Skype/Teams/IIS, or change Apache ports in XAMPP Config.

Step 2 — Install Composer

1. Run the Composer installer.
2. When asked for PHP path, choose C:\xampp\php\php.exe.
3. Open Command Prompt and type:

composer -V

If you see a version number, Composer is ready.

Step 3 — Create a New CakePHP 5 Project

1. Go to C:\xampp\htdocs.
2. Open Command Prompt here (Shift + Right Click → “Open PowerShell window here”).
3. Run the command below to create a new project folder called my_cake_app:

composer create-project --prefer-dist cakephp/app:5.* my_cake_app

This downloads CakePHP 5 and sets everything inside htdocs\my_cake_app.

Now access the URL, http://localhost/my_cake_app and you can see the welcome page of the project.

Step 4 — (Optional) Create a Virtual Host

This makes clean URLs like http://mycake.local and helps with URL rewriting.

1. Open C:\xampp\apache\conf\extra\httpd-vhosts.conf.
2. Add this to the end:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName mycake.local
    DocumentRoot "C:/xampp/htdocs/my_cake_app/webroot"
    <Directory "C:/xampp/htdocs/my_cake_app/webroot">
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

3. Edit C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts and add:

127.0.0.1   mycake.local

4. Restart Apache from XAMPP.

Now try http://mycake.local. You will see the project is loading with the new URL as well.

Step 5 — Enable Apache mod_rewrite

CakePHP needs URL rewriting. Turn on mod_rewrite:

1. Open C:\xampp\apache\conf\httpd.conf.
2. Find this line and remove the # at the start:

#LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so

Change to:

LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so

3. Save the file and restart Apache.

Step 6 — Allow .htaccess to Work

Apache must allow overrides, or your .htaccess files will not run.

1. Open C:\xampp\apache\conf\httpd.conf.
2. Find the <Directory "C:/xampp/htdocs"> block. Change AllowOverride None to AllowOverride All:

<Directory "C:/xampp/htdocs">
    Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes ExecCGI
    AllowOverride All
    Require all granted
</Directory>

3. Save and restart Apache.

Step 7 — Open the CakePHP Welcome Page

Open your browser:

• If you created a virtual host: http://mycake.local
• Else: http://localhost/my_cake_app

You should see the CakePHP 5 welcome page. If not, see the troubleshooting below.

Step 8 — Create and Connect to a MySQL Database

'Datasources' => [
    'default' => [
        'className' => 'Cake\Database\Connection',
        'driver' => 'Cake\Database\Driver\Mysql',
        'persistent' => false,
        'host' => 'localhost',
        'username' => 'root',
        'password' => '', // XAMPP default is empty
        'database' => 'cakephp_app',
        'encoding' => 'utf8mb4',
        'timezone' => 'UTC',
        'cacheMetadata' => true,
    ],
],

Fix: Missing ext-intl (Enable PHP intl)

When installing CakePHP 5, you may see this error:

Problem 1
  - Root composer.json requires cakephp/cakephp 5.2.* -> satisfiable by cakephp/cakephp[5.2.0, ..., 5.2.6].
  - cakephp/cakephp[5.2.0, ..., 5.2.6] require ext-intl * -> it is missing from your system. Install or enable PHP's intl extension.

This means the intl extension is not enabled. To enable it in XAMPP:

1. Open C:\xampp\php\php.ini.
2. Find this line and remove the leading ;:

;extension=intl

Change to:

extension=intl

3. Save the file and restart Apache.
4. To confirm, create a phpinfo.php in htdocs with:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Open http://localhost/phpinfo.php and search for “intl”. If you see it, you are done.

More Troubleshooting

Quick Example: Check Clean URL

To see that rewriting works, try going to a non-existing page like:

http://mycake.local/cakes

If rewriting works, CakePHP will show a helpful missing route/controller message instead of exposing index.php in the URL. Later, when you add a real CakesController, this URL will load your page cleanly.

FAQs

Wrap Up

You installed CakePHP 5 on XAMPP (PHP 8.2+), fixed URL rewriting, enabled the intl extension, and connected your project to a MySQL database. Your setup is now ready for real development.

Next step idea: create a simple controller and view (Hello World) to see MVC in action. Add routes, build a table, and try CakePHP’s Bake tool later.