All of the configuration files for the Laravel framework are stored in the app/config directory. Each option in every file is documented, so feel free to look through the files and get familiar with the options available to you.
Sometimes you may need to access configuration values at run-time. You may do so using the Config class:
Accessing A Configuration Value
Config::get('app.timezone');
Notice that "dot" style syntax may be used to access values in the various files. You may also set configuration values at run-time:
Setting A Configuration Value
Config::set('database.default', 'sqlite');
It is often helpful to have different configuration values based on the environment the application is running in. For example, you may wish to use a different cache driver on your local development machine than on the production server. It is easy to accomplish this using environment based configuration.
Simply create a folder within the config directory that matches your environment name, such as local. Next, create the configuration files you wish to override and specify the options for that environment. For example, to override the cache driver for the local environment, you would create a cache.php file in app/config/local with the following content:
<?php
return array(
'driver' => 'file',
);
Note: Do not use 'testing' as an environment name. This is reserved for unit testing.
Notice that you do not have to specify every option that is in the base configuration file, but only the options you wish to override. The environment configuration files will "cascade" over the base files.
Next, we need to instruct the framework how to determine which environment it is running in. The default environment is always production. However, you may setup other environments within the start.php file at the root of your installation. In this file you will find an $app->detectEnvironment call. The array passed to this method is used to determine the current environment. You may add other environments and machine names to the array as needed.