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Hosting a Laravel website manually using cPanel provides you with control and flexibility over the deployment process. In this guide, we will walk you through the step-by-step process of hosting a Laravel website using cPanel hosting. This method allows you to upload your Laravel project using cPanel’s file manager and manage your website’s settings easily.
Step 1: Choose a cPanel Web Hosting Provider
Start by selecting a web hosting provider that offers cPanel hosting. Sign up for a hosting plan that meets your requirements and provides support for Laravel’s requirements.
Step 2: Configure Your Domain
After signing up for a cPanel hosting plan, configure your domain to point to the hosting provider’s nameservers. This allows your domain to be associated with your hosting account.
Step 3: Access cPanel and Create a Database
Once your domain is configured, you can access cPanel. Login to your cPanel account using the credentials provided by your hosting provider. Follow these steps to create a MySQL database for your Laravel project:
- Locate the “Databases” section in cPanel and click on “MySQL Databases.”
- Create a new database by entering a name for the database and clicking on the “Create Database” button.
- After creating the database, scroll down to the “MySQL Users” section and create a new user.
- Assign the user to the database by selecting the appropriate user and database from the dropdown menus.
- Make a note of the database name, username, and password for later use.
Step 4: Prepare Your Laravel Project for Deployment
Before uploading your Laravel project, ensure that it is ready for deployment:
- Remove any unnecessary files and directories, such as the
testsfolder. - Optimize your Laravel application by running the following commands from your project’s root directory:
composer install --optimize-autoloader --no-dev php artisan config:cache php artisan route:cache
These commands optimize the autoloader, cache the configuration, and cache the routes for improved performance.
Step 5: Upload Laravel Project Files via cPanel File Manager
Follow these steps to upload your Laravel project files using cPanel’s file manager:
- In cPanel, locate the “File Manager” icon and click on it to open the file manager interface.
- Navigate to the public_html directory or the document root of your domain.
- Click on the “Upload” button in the file manager and select your Laravel project’s ZIP file.
- Once the ZIP file is uploaded, select it and click on the “Extract” button to extract the contents.
- After extraction, ensure that all Laravel project files are present in the desired directory.
Step 6: Configure Environment Variables
Update the `.env` file in your Laravel project’s root directory with the appropriate environment variables. Use the MySQL database details obtained in Step 3. For example:
APP_URL=http://your_website_url DB_CONNECTION=mysql DB_HOST=localhost DB_PORT=3306 DB_DATABASE=your_database_name DB_USERNAME=your_username DB_PASSWORD=your_password
Replace “your_website_url,” “your_database_name,” “your_username,” and “your_password” with the actual values corresponding to your database setup.
Step 7: Set Folder Permissions
Ensure that the storage and bootstrap/cache directories have proper write permissions. You can set the permissions using the following commands from your Laravel project’s root directory:
chmod -R 775 storage chmod -R 775 bootstrap/cache
Step 8: Test Your Website
With your Laravel project uploaded and configured, you can test your website by visiting your domain in a web browser. If everything is set up correctly, you should see your Laravel website up and running.
Conclusion:
By following these steps, you can manually host your Laravel website using cPanel hosting. Remember to choose a hosting provider that supports Laravel’s requirements, create a database, upload your project files, configure environment variables, set folder permissions, and test your website to ensure everything is working as expected.