A Step-by-Step Guide to Deploying a Laravel Application on a VPS

Introduction:

Deploying a Laravel application on a Virtual Private Server (VPS) can be an excellent choice for hosting your web application. A VPS offers better performance, scalability, and customization compared to shared hosting options. In this article, we will guide you through the process of deploying a Laravel application on a VPS, ensuring a smooth and secure deployment.

Prerequisites:

Before you begin the deployment process, ensure that you have the following prerequisites in place:

1. A VPS: Choose a VPS provider that suits your needs and budget. Popular options include DigitalOcean, Linode, AWS, and Vultr.
2. SSH Access: Ensure that you have SSH access to your VPS. SSH (Secure Shell) is used for secure remote access to the server.
3. Domain Name: Have a domain name registered and pointed to your VPS IP address.

Step 1: Prepare Your VPS

1. Connect to your VPS via SSH using your preferred terminal or SSH client.
2. Update the system packages using the package manager. For example, on Ubuntu, use the following command:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Step 2: Install Required Software

1. Install essential software packages required to run Laravel and serve your application:

   sudo apt install nginx mysql-server php php-fpm php-mysql composer

2. Configure PHP settings to meet Laravel’s requirements. Edit the php.ini file as needed.

Step 3: Configure Nginx

1. Create a new Nginx server block (virtual host) for your Laravel application. Create a new configuration file in the /etc/nginx/sites-available/ directory (e.g., your_domain.com) and symlink it to the sites-enabled directory:

   sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/your_domain.com

2. Add the following configuration to the file, adjusting paths and domain name as needed:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your_domain.com;
    root /var/www/your_laravel_project/public;

    index index.php index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock; // Adjust the PHP version if necessary
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
    }
}

3. Save the file and exit the text editor.
4. Create a symbolic link to enable the server block:

   sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/your_domain.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

5. Test the Nginx configuration for syntax errors:

   sudo nginx -t

6. If there are no errors, reload Nginx to apply the changes:

   sudo systemctl reload nginx

Step 4: Set Up the Database

1. Log in to MySQL as the root user:

   sudo mysql -u root

2. Create a new database and user for your Laravel application:

   CREATE DATABASE laravel_db;
   CREATE USER 'laravel_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password';
   GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON laravel_db.* TO 'laravel_user'@'localhost';
   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
   EXIT;

Step 5: Deploy Your Laravel Application

1. Upload your Laravel application files to the VPS, either manually or using version control (e.g., Git).
2. Install Composer

sudo apt update

sudo apt install php-cli unzip

cd ~

curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer -o /tmp/composer-setup.php

HASH=`curl -sS https://composer.github.io/installer.sig`

echo $HASH

php -r "if (hash_file('SHA384', '/tmp/composer-setup.php') === '$HASH') { echo 'Installer verified'; } else { echo 'Installer corrupt'; unlink('composer-setup.php'); } echo PHP_EOL;"

sudo php /tmp/composer-setup.php --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer

Navigate to the root directory of your Laravel project and install the dependencies using Composer:

   composer install --optimize-autoloader --no-dev

3. Configure the .env file with your database credentials and other necessary configurations.
4. Generate a new application key:

   php artisan key:generate

5. Set appropriate permissions for Laravel’s storage and bootstrap/cache directories:

   sudo chown -R www-data:www-data storage bootstrap/cache

6. Migrate the database and seed if needed:

   php artisan migrate --seed

Step 6: Set Up SSL Certificate (Optional)

To secure your website with SSL, consider obtaining a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt.

Conclusion:

Congratulations! You have successfully deployed your Laravel application on a VPS. Your web application should now be accessible at your domain name. By following these steps and best practices, you can ensure a secure and efficient deployment of your Laravel project on a VPS, offering the best performance and scalability for your users. Happy coding!