So, you've built an amazing Laravel application and now you're itching to share it with the world. But the thought of complex server configurations and hefty hosting costs might be holding you back. Fear not! You can absolutely deploy your Laravel app on shared hosting, a budget-friendly option perfect for many projects. This guide will walk you through the process, making it as smooth and straightforward as possible.
Understanding Shared Hosting and Laravel
Shared hosting, as the name suggests, means your website shares server resources with other websites. This makes it significantly cheaper than dedicated or VPS hosting. While it has some limitations, it's perfectly viable for many Laravel applications, especially those not expecting massive traffic from day one.
Laravel, on the other hand, is a powerful PHP framework known for its elegant syntax and robust features. Deploying a Laravel application involves more than just copying files; it requires setting up the environment correctly and configuring the application to run in its new home. Let's dive into the steps.
Preparing Your Laravel Application for Deployment
Before you even think about uploading files, you need to prepare your Laravel application for its new environment. This involves several key steps:
1. Setting the Application Key
Your application key is crucial for security. If you haven't already, generate one using the following command:
php artisan key:generate
This command will update the APP_KEY variable in your .env file. Ensure this key is unique and securely stored.
2. Configuring the Database Connection
Update your .env file with the correct database credentials for your shared hosting environment. You'll need the database host, database name, username, and password. Your hosting provider will typically provide this information.
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=your_database_host
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=your_database_name
DB_USERNAME=your_database_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_database_password
Double-check these settings to avoid connection errors later on. Using a local database configuration is a common mistake, so take your time to verify that the data is correct.
3. Setting the Application Environment
The APP_ENV variable in your .env file should be set to production for a live deployment. This tells Laravel to optimize for performance and disable debugging features that are useful in development but can expose sensitive information in production.
APP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=false
4. Optimizing for Production Performance
Run the following commands to optimize your application for production:
php artisan config:cache
php artisan route:cache
php artisan view:cache
These commands cache your configuration, routes, and views, significantly improving performance. Remember to run these commands every time you make changes to your configuration, routes, or views.
5. Managing Dependencies with Composer
Make sure you have all the necessary dependencies installed. Run the following command in your project directory:
composer install --optimize-autoloader --no-dev
The --optimize-autoloader flag optimizes the autoloader for production, and the --no-dev flag excludes development dependencies, reducing the size of your vendor directory.
Uploading Your Laravel Application to Shared Hosting
Now comes the exciting part: getting your application onto the server. You'll typically use FTP or cPanel's file manager for this.
1. Choosing an FTP Client
FileZilla is a popular and free FTP client. Configure it with your FTP credentials provided by your hosting provider. These usually include the host, username, password, and port (usually 21).
2. Uploading the Files
Generally, you will want to upload your Laravel project files to the public_html or www directory. However, it's crucial to keep the core Laravel application files outside of the public directory. This enhances security by preventing direct access to sensitive files.
Create a directory outside of public_html (e.g., laravel-app) and upload all the Laravel files there except the contents of the public folder. Then, move the contents of your Laravel project's public directory into your hosting account's public_html directory.
3. Modifying the index.php File
After moving the contents of your Laravel projects public directory to the shared hostings public_html directory, you’ll need to modify the index.php file located in public_html to point to the correct autoload and application paths.
Change these lines:
require __DIR__.'/../vendor/autoload.php';
$app = require_once __DIR__.'/../bootstrap/app.php';
To this (adjust ../laravel-app/ to match the name of your app directory):
require __DIR__.'/../laravel-app/vendor/autoload.php';
$app = require_once __DIR__.'/../laravel-app/bootstrap/app.php';
This ensures that the index.php file correctly loads the Laravel application from its hidden location.
Configuring Your Shared Hosting Environment
Shared hosting often requires some manual configuration to get Laravel running smoothly.
1. Setting the PHP Version
Laravel requires a specific PHP version. Check your hosting control panel (usually cPanel) to ensure you're using a compatible version (e.g., PHP 8.1 or higher). You can typically change the PHP version in the
