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 file composer.json 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.

For more information, refer to the Composer documentation at
https://getcomposer.org/doc/.

Plesk offers two ways to use Composer:

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

  Note: Use normal environment (not chrooted).

• Through Websites & Domains > Applications. See the
  instructions below.

Using the UI for Managing PHP Project Dependencies with Composer

To find all applications that have composer.json, so that you can
manage dependencies, click Scan in Websites & Domains >
Applications. The applications will appear in the list in the
Applications section. The commands described below are available
only for applications with the composer.json file.

Installing Dependencies

To install all modules necessary for your project, in Websites &
Domains > Applications > Manage My Applications > click the
application name in the list > Install Dependencies.

Updating Dependencies

To update module dependencies, run Websites & Domains >
Applications > Manage My Applications > click the application
name > Update Dependencies.

Editing Dependencies

The Edit Configuration button opens composer.json in Plesk’s
Code Editor for manual editing.

Removing Dependencies Management from Your App

When you click Remove, the application no longer appears in the list
of applications in My Apps. However, the composer.json and
composer.lock files remain in the application directory, so you can
add the application to the list by clicking Scan.