Laravel changes created_at on update
Skatch - I think your solution above is not quite right, but is probaby fine in this case.
The issue is that you are getting the PHP date, not the default MYSQL timestamp for your default. When you run that migration you end up with a statement like this:
alter table alter column created_at default '2016:02:01 12:00:00';
Notice the string for your date. When you run your migration THAT date will always be used for your created_at, not the current date when a record is added days later.
Instead of doing "date('Y:m:d H:i:s')", you can do DB::raw('current_timestamp') to address this issue.
(sry, couldn't just add a comment above - my reputation is not high enough yet...)
If you're on Laravel 5.2 and using MySQL, there was a bit of a "bug" introduced with the timestamps. You can read all about the issue on github here. It has to do with the timestamp defaults, and MySQL automatically assigning DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP or ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP attributes under certain conditions.
Basically, you have three options.
- Update MySQL variable:
If you set the explicit_defaults_for_timestamp variable to TRUE, no timestamp column will be assigned the DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP or ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP attributes automatically. You can read more about the variable here.
- Use nullable timestamps:
Change $table->timestamps() to $table->nullableTimestamps(). By default, the $table->timestamps() command creates timestamp fields that are not nullable. By using $table->nullableTimestamps(), your timestamp fields will be nullable, and MySQL will not automatically assign the first one the DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP or ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP attributes.
- Define the timestamps yourself:
Instead of using $table->timestamps, use $table->timestamp('updated_at'); $table->timestamp('created_at'); yourself. Make sure your 'updated_at' field is the first timestamp in the table, so that it will be the one that is automatically assign the DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP or ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP attributes.