How to update MySQL on Laragon

Laragon is a great tool for developing with Laravel on Windows. However, it comes with a really old MySQL version. Fortunately, it is really easy to use Laragon with a newer MySQL version. All you need to do is to follow these steps:

Step 1: Download MySQL 8 ZIP Archive here.

Step 2: Extract MySQL 8 in largon\bin\mysql

Step 3: run mysqld --initialize (a random root password will be set) or mysqld --initialize-insecure (no root password)

Step 4: Select the new MySQL version in laragon

Step 5: start mysql trough laragon

Now, you are good to go and can use the new MySQL version for development purposes