pdoexecption sqlstate[hy000]

Hi there - this isn't my answer, but I searched for you and found this - hopefully it helps out!

Laravel 4: Change "host" in the app/config/database.php file from "localhost" to "127.0.0.1"

Laravel 5: Change "DB_HOST" in the .env file from "localhost" to "127.0.0.1"

Laravel w/ Homestead: Use the directions above for the Laravel version you are using BUT change "localhost" to the IP address specified in Homestead.yaml. The default is "192.168.10.10" instead of "127.0.0.1" I had the exact same problem. None of the above solutions worked for me. I solved the problem by changing the "host" in the /app/config/database.php file from "localhost" to "127.0.0.1".

Not sure why "localhost" doesn't work by default but I found this answer in a similar question solved in a symfony2 post. http://stackoverflow.com/a/9251924/1231563

Update: Some people have asked as to why this fix works so I have done a little bit of research into the topic. It seems as though they use different connection types as explained in this post http://stackoverflow.com/a/9715164/1231563

The issue that arose here is that "localhost" uses a UNIX socket and can not find the database in the standard directory. However "127.0.0.1" uses TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), which essentially means it runs through the "local internet" on your computer being much more reliable than the UNIX socket in this case.