How to Upload File and Generate UUID in Laravel

Hello Dev,

In this tutorial, I will show you step-by-step how to upload files in Laravel 9 and automatically generate a UUID for each uploaded file. This is very useful when you want to uniquely identify uploaded files instead of only using their original names.

We’ll build a simple File Upload form in Laravel 9 where every file gets stored with a UUID in the database.

Step 1: Create a Fresh Laravel Project

First, create a new Laravel 9 project or use an existing one.


composer create-project laravel/laravel laravel-file-upload-uuid
cd laravel-file-upload-uuid
php artisan serve

Step 2: Create Migration for File Uploads

Run the following command to create a migration file:


php artisan make:migration create_file_uploads_table

Now, open the migration file and update it as follows:


<?php

use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;

return new class extends Migration
{
    public function up(): void
    {
        Schema::create('file_uploads', function (Blueprint $table) {
            $table->id();
            $table->string('upload_by')->nullable();
            $table->string('date_time')->nullable();
            $table->string('file_name')->nullable();
            $table->uuid('uuid')->unique();
            $table->timestamps();
        });
    }

    public function down(): void
    {
        Schema::dropIfExists('file_uploads');
    }
};

Run migration:


php artisan migrate

Step 3: Create Model

Generate a model for file uploads:


php artisan make:model FileUpload

Step 4: Create Controller

Generate a controller:


php artisan make:controller FormController

Update app/Http/Controllers/FormController.php:


<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Storage;
use Illuminate\Support\Str;
use Carbon\Carbon;
use App\Models\FileUpload;
use Brian2694\Toastr\Facades\Toastr;

class FormController extends Controller
{
    /** Show upload form */
    public function formUploadIndex()
    {
        return view('form.form-upload-file');
    }

    /** Handle file upload */
    public function formFileUpdate(Request $request) 
    {
        $request->validate([
            'upload_by' => 'required|string|max:255',
            'file_name' => 'required',
        ]);

        DB::beginTransaction();
        try {
            $dt = Carbon::now();
            $date_time = $dt->toDayDateTimeString();
            $folder_name = "file_store";

            Storage::disk('local')->makeDirectory($folder_name, 0775, true);

            if ($request->hasFile('file_name')) {
                foreach ($request->file_name as $photos) {
                    $file_name = $photos->getClientOriginalName();
                    
                    $saveRecord = new FileUpload;
                    $saveRecord->upload_by = $request->upload_by;
                    $saveRecord->date_time = $date_time;
                    $saveRecord->file_name = $file_name;
                    $saveRecord->uuid = Str::uuid(); // Generate UUID
                    Storage::disk('local')->put($folder_name.'/'.$file_name, file_get_contents($photos->getRealPath()));
                    $saveRecord->save();
                }

                DB::commit();
                Toastr::success('File uploaded successfully :)','Success');
                return redirect()->back();
            }
        } catch(\Exception $e) {
            DB::rollback();
            Toastr::error('File upload failed :)','Error');
            return redirect()->back();
        }
    }
}

Step 5: Define Routes

Open routes/web.php:


use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;
use App\Http\Controllers\FormController;

Route::get('form/upload', [FormController::class, 'formUploadIndex'])->name('form/upload');
Route::post('form/upload/file', [FormController::class, 'formFileUpdate'])->name('form/upload/file');

Step 6: Create Blade View

Create a file at:
resources/views/form/form-upload-file.blade.php


@extends('layouts.master')

@section('content')
    {!! Toastr::message() !!}
    <div class="container mt-5">
        <h3 class="text-center">File Upload with UUID</h3>
        <form action="{{ route('form/upload/file') }}" method="POST" enctype="multipart/form-data">
            @csrf
            <div class="mb-3">
                <input type="text" name="upload_by" class="form-control" placeholder="Upload by" required>
            </div>
            <div class="mb-3">
                <input type="file" name="file_name[]" class="form-control" multiple required>
            </div>
            <button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary">Upload</button>
        </form>
    </div>
@endsection

Step 7: Run the Application

Start your Laravel server:


php artisan serve

Visit:
👉 http://127.0.0.1:8000/form/upload

Upload a file, and each record will be saved in the database with a unique UUID. 🎉

Souy Soeng