PDOException with message 'could not find driver' Error for Laravel and Postgresql

Question

First of all, the problem is about Laravel not postgresql or PHP. I can connect postgresql with a simple PHP file. But Laravel can't do it somehow.

When I try to connect postgresql server in my computer with laravel I get "PDOException with message 'could not find driver'" error. I am getting this error when I run DB::connection()->getPdo(); command at artisan tinker.

If I run php artisan migrate command, the error is Illuminate\Database\QueryException : could not find driver (SQL: select * from information_schema.tables where table_schema = public and table_name = migrations and table_type = 'BASE TABLE')

My configuration is below:

• Windows 10
• Wamp Server 3.1.4
• Apache 2.4.35
• PHP 7.2.10
• Laravel Framework 6.0.3

Related lines of Laravel .env file:

DB_CONNECTION=pgsql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=5432
DB_DATABASE=laravel_dnm1
DB_USERNAME=postgres
DB_PASSWORD=mrd.BE.265

Related lines of Laravel database.php file:

'default' => env('DB_CONNECTION', 'pgsql'),

...

    'pgsql' => [
        'driver' => 'pgsql',
        'url' => env('DATABASE_URL'),
        'host' => env('DB_HOST', '127.0.0.1'),
        'port' => env('DB_PORT', '5432'),
        'database' => env('DB_DATABASE', 'forge'),
        'username' => env('DB_USERNAME', 'forge'),
        'password' => env('DB_PASSWORD', ''),
        'charset' => 'utf8',
        'prefix' => '',
        'prefix_indexes' => true,
        'schema' => 'public',
        'sslmode' => 'prefer',
    ],

When I run print_r(PDO::getAvailableDrivers()); at my server I get below output:

Array ( [0] => mysql [1] => pgsql [2] => sqlite )

Related lines of php info is below:

NOTE: There is no problem when I use mysql instead of postgresql.

NOTE2: I can connect the DB when I use regular PHP. Only Laravel gives this error.

Answer 1

install postgresql

sudo apt-get install php-pgsql

then uncomment pgsql and pdo-pgsql extensions in etc/php/$PHP_VERSION/apache2/php.ini file

then restart apache2

Answer 2

Verify your PHP version with php -v

Install php7.2-pgsql when needed.