How to Deploy a Laravel 8 Application on OzSpeed Using hPanel

Deploying a Laravel 8 application on OzSpeed’s hosting platform is straightforward when using hPanel. Laravel is a popular PHP framework known for its elegant syntax and robust features, making it an excellent choice for building web applications. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you successfully deploy your Laravel 8 application on OzSpeed.

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Prerequisites #

Before starting the deployment, ensure you have the following:

• An OzSpeed hosting plan with PHP 7.4 or higher.
• Access to hPanel (OzSpeed’s control panel).
• SSH access enabled (optional but recommended for command-line tasks).
• A Laravel 8 project ready for deployment on your local machine.

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Step 1: Prepare Your Laravel Application for Deployment #

1. On your local machine, open the Laravel project folder.
2. Run the following command to optimize the project:

bashCopy codephp artisan optimize

3. Generate the application key if you haven’t already:

bashCopy codephp artisan key:generate

4. Set the APP_ENV to production in the .env file:

bashCopy codeAPP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=false

Tip: #

• Ensure you have configured the database connection in the .env file before deployment.

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Step 2: Log in to hPanel and Access File Manager #

1. Go to ozspeed.com.au and log in to your hPanel Dashboard.
2. Navigate to Files > File Manager.

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Step 3: Upload Your Laravel Project #

1. Compress your Laravel project folder (excluding the node_modules and .git folders) into a ZIP file.
2. In the File Manager, navigate to the public_html directory or the folder where you want to deploy your Laravel app.
3. Click “Upload” and select the ZIP file.
4. Once the upload is complete, right-click the ZIP file and select “Extract”.

Tip: #

• Ensure all files are extracted correctly, and the Laravel project structure is preserved.

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Step 4: Set Up the Environment File #

1. In the File Manager, locate the .env file and open it for editing.
2. Update the following environment variables:

bashCopy codeAPP_NAME=YourAppName
APP_ENV=production
APP_KEY=base64:your_generated_key
APP_DEBUG=false
APP_URL=https://yourdomain.com

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=your_database_name
DB_USERNAME=your_database_user
DB_PASSWORD=your_database_password

Tip: #

• Ensure the database credentials match the database you will create in the next step.

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Step 5: Create a Database in hPanel #

1. Go to Databases > MySQL Databases in hPanel.
2. Click “Create New Database”.
3. Enter the database name, username, and password.
4. Note down the database credentials, as you will need them for the .env configuration.

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Step 6: Configure PHP Settings #

1. In hPanel, go to Advanced > PHP Configuration.
2. Set the PHP version to 7.4 or higher (Laravel 8 requires PHP 7.4 or later).
3. Enable the following PHP extensions:
   • mysqli
   • pdo_mysql
   • mbstring
   • openssl
   • tokenizer
   • xml
4. Click “Save” to apply the changes.

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Step 7: Install Composer Dependencies #

1. Enable SSH access in hPanel if you haven’t already.
2. Connect to your server via SSH using a terminal or SSH client (e.g., PuTTY):

bashCopy codessh your_username@yourdomain.com

3. Navigate to the Laravel project directory:

bashCopy codecd public_html/your_laravel_project

4. Install the project dependencies using Composer:

bashCopy codecomposer install --optimize-autoloader --no-dev

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Step 8: Set Up File Permissions #

Ensure the correct file permissions for Laravel to function properly:

bashCopy codechmod -R 755 storage
chmod -R 755 bootstrap/cache

Tip: #

• These permissions allow the web server to read and write to the necessary directories.

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Step 9: Run Laravel Migrations #

1. Run the database migrations to create the necessary tables:

bashCopy codephp artisan migrate --force

2. Seed the database (optional but recommended if you have seed data):

bashCopy codephp artisan db:seed --force

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Step 10: Set the Document Root for the Laravel Application #

1. In hPanel, go to Domains > Redirects or Manage Website Settings.
2. Set the document root to point to the public folder of your Laravel project (e.g., /public_html/your_laravel_project/public).

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Step 11: Enable SSL for Your Laravel Site #

1. Go to Domains > SSL in hPanel.
2. Click “Install Let’s Encrypt SSL” for your domain.
3. Enable HTTPS redirection to ensure secure connections.

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Step 12: Optimize the Laravel Application #

Run the following commands to optimize your Laravel app for production:

bashCopy codephp artisan config:cache
php artisan route:cache
php artisan view:cache

Tip: #

• These commands cache the configuration, routes, and views, improving performance.

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Step 13: Test Your Laravel Application #

1. Open a browser and go to https://yourdomain.com.
2. Verify that your Laravel application is loading correctly.
3. Check the logs in the storage/logs folder if you encounter any errors.

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Additional Tips: #

• Enable Debug Mode Temporarily: If you face issues, temporarily set APP_DEBUG=true in the .env file for error reporting.
• Regular Backups: Use the Backup tool in hPanel to create regular backups of your Laravel application.
• Keep Dependencies Updated: Regularly update your Composer packages to ensure security and compatibility.