How to install extensions in Magento with Composer

In addition to installing Magento extensions manually via SSH, you can also expand its capabilities by using the Adobe Commerce Marketplace as a repository to add them. For example, you can purchase a theme to change the appearance, a language pack, or a module to add different online payment options using Composer to install them.

In this article, we explain the first steps you need to take to install a module from the official repository using Composer, and we also describe various actions you can take to manage these extensions.

Obtaining and configuring keys

First, you will need to log in or register with Adobe Magento, so you can obtain the keys needed for Composer by clicking Access Keys in your Marketplace profile.

From there, you can generate or obtain the keys for the corresponding version of Magento.

You can find more information in the official documentation on obtaining the keys by clicking here.

Once you have obtained the keys, access the server via SSH and copy the sample authentication file for Composer:

# cp /var/www/html/magento2/auth.json.sample /var/www/html/magento2/auth.json

Then, edit the copied credentials file:

# nano /var/www/html/magento2/auth.json

And enter the public and private keys inside the quotation marks in each corresponding section:

"username": "<public-key>",
"password": "<private-key>"

Also add or check for the Magento repository in the Composer file:

# nano /var/www/html/magento2/composer.json

The file must contain the following lines; if it does not, you can add them after the first bracket:

"repositories": [
  {
    "type": "composer",
    "url": "https://repo.magento.com/"
  }
],

You can find more information in the official Composer documentation by clicking here.

Updating Composer

Before installing the extension, you may be prompted to update Composer, so run:

# composer update

However, if you installed Composer through the apt repository or a similar repository, the update will not be available and will return an error. Therefore, obtain the Composer installer:

# php -r "copy('https://getcomposer.org/installer', 'composer-setup.php');"

Before installing it, check the path of the current installation:

# which composer

It will display the path, for example /usr/bin/composer (the default in the preinstalled image). To install it in the same directory, run the following command, specifying the binary directory path:

# php composer-setup.php --install-dir=/usr/bin --filename=composer

Afterward, you can update Composer as usual:

# composer update 

Installing a module

Once you have completed all the previous steps, you can purchase the desired module from the Market. Once the process is complete, under My Purchases the available extension or extensions should appear:

You can then check the name under "Component name" and install the module using Composer:

# composer require stripe/stripe-payments

Next, you will need to register the extension in Magento by updating it:

# php bin/magento setup:upgrade

However, if this is a production environment, you will then need to run:

# php bin/magento setup:di:compile && php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy -f

Finally, we recommend clearing the Magento cache:

# php bin/magento cache:flush && php bin/magento cache:clean

With this final action, the module will be installed and active in Magento.

Below, we explain several actions that may be useful for managing modules.

Checking module status

Check the status of installed modules by querying the Magento database:

# mysql -u root -e "SELECT * from magento.setup_module"

Query module status using the Magento binary:

# bin/magento module:status

Query the status of a single module using the binary:

# bin/magento module:status nombre-modulo

Enable or disable a module

Enabling a module:

# bin/magento module:enable nombre-modulo --clear-static-content

Disabling a module:

# bin/magento module:disable nombre-modulo --clear-static-content

Updating or installing a specific version of a module

Updating a module:

# composer update vendedor/nombre-modulo

Installing a module with a specified version:

# composer require 'vendedor/nombre-modulo ^x.x.x'

Updating Magento to register a module installation or update:

# bin/magento setup:upgrade --keep-generated

Clear the Magento cache:

# bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy -f

# bin/magento cache:clean

Uninstalling a module:

Removing the module:

# composer remove stripe/stripe-payments

Register the module uninstallation in Magento:

# php bin/magento setup:upgrade

Reconfigure Magento:

# php bin/magento setup:di:compile

Clear the Magento cache:

# php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy -f

# php bin/magento cache:clean

We hope this article has been helpful. If you have questions about this or any other issue related to your servers on Clouding, feel free to contact soporte@clouding.io. We're here to help!