The SitePoint PHP blog has a new tutorial posted showing you the right way to start with PHP using Vagrant. Vagrant allows for the easy creation and management of local virtual machines that work as self-contained environments and make for easy reuse.

I often get asked to recommend beginner resources for people new to PHP. And, it’s true, we don’t have many truly newbie friendly ones. I’d like to change that by first talking about the basics of environment configuration. In this post, you’ll learn about the very first thing you should do before starting to work with PHP (or any other language, for that matter). We’ll be re-introducing Vagrant powered development.

He starts off by getting everyone on the same level with an introduction to what Vagrant is, how its set up and some of the advantages is brings to the table. He moves to the next piece of software needed, VirtualBox, that actually hosts the virtual machines. With that installed you'll then need Vagrant. With those both set up, he talks more about what makes this a perfect setup for PHP development and information about their preferred VM, the Homestead Improved image. He ends the post with some links to other resources and SitePoint's own posts with more information on this powerful setup.