You can install the Laravel Pest testing framework either on an existing or new Laravel project. If you are new to Laravel, read how to install Laravel 8 on Ubuntu. However, either way, make sure at least that you are using PHP 7.3 or a newer version. If everything looks ok, open a terminal window and go to your Laravel 8 project directory.

cd /path/to/laravel-project

Then, install the Laravel Pest testing framework plugin by running the following command. We use the --dev flag to make it installed as a development package.

composer require pestphp/pest-plugin-laravel --dev

Once the installation is completed, run the following command. It will create a file called Pest.php in Laravel tests directory.

php artisan pest:install

After that, you can create Pest tests with the following command.

php artisan pest:test HomeTest

Mainly, there are two types of tests in Laravel called “Feature tests” and “Unit tests”. By default, the pest:test command creates feature tests. But instead, if you need to create a unit test, you can mention the --unit to the pest:test command like below.

php artisan pest:test TransactionTest --unit

Additionally, you can create Laravel Dusk tests as well. Mention the --dusk flag when you create the test with pest:test like below.

php artisan pest:test CartTest --dusk

However, if you are planning to run Laravel Dusk tests, you need to install it.