Web Applications – Managing PHP Project Dependencies with Composer

Composer is a tool that helps find, install, and update library packages
that your PHP project depends on. Libraries are installed in the
project’s root directory. The Composer utility is available as part of
Plesk. You do not need to install Composer in your project manually.
Plesk installs the updates for Composer once a week.

Composer uses two files for storing the list of modules necessary for
the project:

• composer.json - lists libraries on which your project depends
  directly.

  Add the composer.json file to the root directory of your project and
  specify packages. You can use the composer init command to
  create composer.json.

• composer.lock - lists all libraries on which the libraries in
  composer.json depend directly and indirectly, thus containing all
  libraries necessary for your project.

You can use Composer in two ways:

• Via the command line. Refer to the Composer documentation for instructions.

  Note: Use normal environment (not the chroot one).

• Via the Plesk interface (Websites & Domains > the domain > PHP Composer).

  To start working with Composer via the Plesk interface, you need to locate the composer.json file first.
  To do so, go to Websites & Domains > the subscription whose root directory
  contains composer.json you put earlier > PHP Composer and then click Scan.

  Once composer.json is located, you can perform the following actions:

  • To install dependencies, click Install next to Package Dependencies.
  • To update dependencies, click Update next to Package Dependencies.

  Note: Before updating dependencies, we recommend that you click “How update works” to see what updates are available and
  how they can affect your application. Dependencies updates vary: they can be major, minor, or patch. Major updates can break your application,
  while minor and patch ones are usually safe. “How update works” helps you see a possible outcome and assess the risk of updates.

  • To edit dependencies, click Edit composer.json, edit the file in the opened pane,
    and then click Update.