In Laravel Forge, pm max_children is a configuration directive within the PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) settings. At Bobcares, we assist our customers with several Laravel queries on a daily basis as part of our Laravel Support Services.

The pm.max_children in Laravel Forge

pm.max_children is a setting in PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) that controls the maximum number of child processes to handle web requests for the Laravel app. Here’s a simplified guide to set it up using Laravel Forge:

1. Access Laravel Forge and log in with the login details.

2. From the dashboard, choose the server we want to configure.

3. Go to the “Sites” section and select the site.

4. Click on the “Meta” tab or similar to find PHP-FPM settings.

5. Find the php-fpm.d configuration file, usually in /etc/php//fpm/pool.d/.

6. Laravel Forge often allows direct web interface editing of these settings.

7. Add or update the pm.max_children setting in the configuration file:

pm = dynamic
pm.max_children = 20
pm.start_servers = 5
pm.min_spare_servers = 5
pm.max_spare_servers = 10

Here, pm.max_children is set to 20, allowing up to 20 child processes.

8. Save the changes.

9. Restart PHP-FPM to apply the new settings. We can do this through Laravel Forge or via SSH:

sudo service php-fpm restart

Replace with the PHP version number, like 7.4 or 8.0.

10. Keep an eye on server performance to ensure it’s handling the load well. Use tools like top, htop, or Laravel Forge’s monitoring features.

By following these steps, we can effectively manage the server’s PHP-FPM child processes to optimize performance.

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Conclusion

To sum up, our Support team went over the Laravel Forge pm.max_children directive details.