How to Install Shopware 6.7 on XAMPP: A Complete Local Development Guide

Setting up a local development environment is one of the most critical steps when working with modern e‑commerce platforms. Shopware 6.7 continues the evolution of Symfony‑based architecture, introducing performance optimizations, improved storefront rendering, and tighter developer tooling. While official documentation emphasizes cloud or production‑grade servers for live stores, XAMPP remains a reliable, all‑in‑one solution for local testing, plugin development, and feature prototyping.

This guide walks you through installing Shopware 6.7 on XAMPP step by step. We will cover environment preparation, Composer‑based project setup, virtual host configuration, database initialization, and critical PHP adjustments that ensure smooth operation on your machine. Although XAMPP is not recommended for production deployments, it provides a lightweight, familiar workflow for developers who need to validate themes, test API integrations, or debug custom plugins before pushing changes to staging or live environments.

Prerequisites: Preparing Your XAMPP Environment#

Before downloading Shopware 6.7, your local stack must meet specific requirements. Shopware 6.7 drops support for older PHP versions and relies heavily on modern Symfony components. Ensure you are running at least XAMPP 8.2 or newer, which includes PHP 8.2 or 8.3. You will also need MySQL/MariaDB (version 8.0+), Composer installed globally, Node.js 18+, npm, and Git.

Open the XAMPP Control Panel and enable Apache and MySQL. Navigate to your PHP configuration file (php.ini) in the xampp/php directory. Uncomment or add the following extensions, which Shopware 6.7 requires out of the box:

extension=pdo_mysql
extension=mbstring
extension=json
extension=gd
extension=zip
extension=curl
extension=fileinfo

Restart Apache after saving changes. Next, configure MySQL by creating a dedicated database for Shopware. Open phpMyAdmin (usually at http://localhost/phpmyadmin), click “New”, name it shopware67, set the collation to utf8mb4_unicode_ci, and leave the rest as default. Note these credentials—they will be requested during installation.

Install Composer via your terminal or command prompt by downloading the installer from getcomposer.org. Verify it with composer --version. Similarly, confirm Node.js and npm are active using node -v and npm -v. Git should also be installed; verify with git --version. Once all tools report their versions correctly, your foundation is ready.

Downloading and Initializing Shopware 6.7#

Shopware 6.7 is distributed via Composer or as a ZIP archive. Using Composer ensures you receive the correct dependencies and simplifies future updates. Open your terminal, navigate to your XAMPP htdocs folder, and run:

composer create-project shopware/platform ./shopware-67

This command fetches the latest Shopware 6.7 release along with its PHP dependencies. The process may take several minutes depending on your internet speed. Once complete, a new shopware-67 directory will appear in htdocs. Navigate into it:

cd shopware-67

At this stage, Shopware requires a virtual host to resolve correctly without path conflicts. Open XAMPP’s Apache configuration file (apache/conf/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf) and append the following block:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName shopware.local
    DocumentRoot "C:/xampp/htdocs/shopware-67"
    <Directory "C:/xampp/htdocs/shopware-67">
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Replace the path with your actual XAMPP installation directory. Save the file, restart Apache, and edit your system’s hosts file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts on Windows or /etc/hosts on macOS/Linux). Add this line at the end:

127.0.0.1 shopware.local

These configurations ensure that http://shopware.local points directly to your Shopware installation without URL ambiguities.

Running the Installation Wizard#

With the codebase in place and the virtual host active, you can now execute Shopware 6.7’s CLI installer. Open a terminal inside the project directory and run:

bin/build-install.sh

The script will prompt you for database credentials. Enter the shopware67 username (typically root) and password, then confirm the database name. The installer automatically creates required tables, configures cache directories, and generates infrastructure files.

Next, provide an administrator email and password. These credentials grant access to the Shopware Administration panel. You will also be asked to define storefront URLs and base locales. Accept the defaults if you are testing locally. The script then initializes the asset pipeline:

bin/build-js.sh

This command compiles Vue components, bundles JavaScript assets, and prepares the storefront for development mode. If you encounter permission errors on Linux/macOS, prefix commands with sudo or adjust directory ownership with chown -R $USER:$USER ..

Configuration Tweaks for XAMPP Compatibility#

Local environments often require minor adjustments to avoid runtime warnings. Open config/packages/framework.yaml and ensure the timezone matches your system:

framework:
    php_timezone: "UTC"

In php.ini, increase memory limits if you experience timeout during asset compilation:

memory_limit = 512M
max_execution_time = 300

MySQL strict mode can occasionally trigger SQL warnings during migrations. Temporarily disable it by editing C:/xampp/mysql/bin/my.ini and adding:

sql_mode=STRICT_TRANS_TABLES,NO_ZERO_IN_DATE,NO_ZERO_DATE,ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO,NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION

Restart MySQL after changes. Finally, verify that APCu is disabled in php.ini for development caching stability.

Verifying the Installation and Next Steps#

Navigate to http://shopware.local in your browser. You should see the Shopware storefront or a setup confirmation screen. Access the administration panel at http://shopware.local/admin. Log in with the credentials created during installation. Run bin/watch-js.sh to enable live reloading for theme development.

XAMPP provides a convenient sandbox for testing Shopware 6.7 features, but remember that production deployments require dedicated servers, Redis/Memcached for caching, Elasticsearch or OpenSearch, and proper SSL/TLS configuration. Use this local setup to validate plugin compatibility, experiment with Symfony workflows, and benchmark storefront performance before scaling.

By following these steps, you now have a fully functional Shopware 6.7 environment tailored for development. Happy coding, and feel free to iterate on themes or build custom storefront extensions using the same pipeline.