Overview
This guide covers deploying the Restaurant Management System built with Laravel 11. Follow these steps to prepare your application for production.
Prerequisites
Before deploying, ensure you have:
- PHP 8.1 or higher
- Composer installed
- Node.js 18.x or higher
- MySQL database server
- Web server (Apache/Nginx)
Production Deployment Steps
Prepare Environment File
Copy the example environment file and configure it for production:Update the following critical variables:APP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=false
APP_URL=https://yourdomain.com
# Database Configuration
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=your-db-host
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=restaurante
DB_USERNAME=your-db-user
DB_PASSWORD=your-secure-password
Never set APP_DEBUG=true in production. This exposes sensitive application details.
Install Dependencies
Install PHP and Node.js dependencies:# Install PHP dependencies (production only)
composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
# Install Node.js dependencies
npm install
# Build frontend assets
npm run build
--no-dev flag excludes development packages, reducing the deployment size. Generate Application Key
Generate a unique application key for encryption:This updates the APP_KEY in your .env file. Run Database Migrations
Set up the database schema:php artisan migrate --force
--force flag is required in production environments.For detailed information about migrations, see the Database Setup guide. Optimize Performance
Run Laravel optimization commands:# Cache configuration
php artisan config:cache
# Cache routes
php artisan route:cache
# Cache views
php artisan view:cache
# Optimize autoloader
composer dump-autoload --optimize
Set File Permissions
Ensure proper permissions for storage and cache:chmod -R 775 storage bootstrap/cache
chown -R www-data:www-data storage bootstrap/cache
www-data with your web server user if different. Configure Web Server
Point your web server document root to the public directory.Apache Example:<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName yourdomain.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/public
<Directory /var/www/html/public>
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
server {
listen 80;
server_name yourdomain.com;
root /var/www/html/public;
index index.php;
location / {
try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
}
location ~ \.php$ {
fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.2-fpm.sock;
fastcgi_index index.php;
fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $realpath_root$fastcgi_script_name;
include fastcgi_params;
}
}
Railway Deployment
The application is configured for Railway deployment with the included Dockerfile:
# Railway will automatically detect and use the Dockerfile
# Ensure these environment variables are set in Railway:
APP_KEY=your-app-key
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=railway-db-host
DB_DATABASE=railway
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=railway-db-password
The Dockerfile exposes port 8080, which is Railway’s default port.
Docker Deployment
For Docker deployments, see the Docker Guide for detailed instructions.
Post-Deployment Tasks
Set Up SSL Certificate
Enable HTTPS using Let’s Encrypt:# Using Certbot
sudo certbot --apache -d yourdomain.com
# or for Nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com
Configure Queue Workers
If using queues, set up a supervisor configuration:/etc/supervisor/conf.d/laravel-worker.conf
[program:laravel-worker]
process_name=%(program_name)s_%(process_num)02d
command=php /var/www/html/artisan queue:work --sleep=3 --tries=3
autostart=true
autorestart=true
user=www-data
numprocs=1
redirect_stderr=true
stdout_logfile=/var/www/html/storage/logs/worker.log
Set Up Scheduled Tasks
Add Laravel’s scheduler to cron:# Edit crontab
crontab -e
# Add this line:
* * * * * cd /var/www/html && php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1
Create Admin User
Create an admin user for the system:php artisan tinker
# In Tinker:
$user = new App\Models\User();
$user->name = 'Admin';
$user->email = 'admin@yourdomain.com';
$user->usertype = 'admin';
$user->password = bcrypt('secure-password');
$user->save();
Environment Variables Reference
Key production environment variables:
| Variable | Description | Production Value |
|---|
APP_ENV | Application environment | production |
APP_DEBUG | Debug mode | false |
APP_URL | Application URL | Your domain |
SESSION_DRIVER | Session storage | database or redis |
CACHE_DRIVER | Cache storage | redis or memcached |
QUEUE_CONNECTION | Queue driver | redis or database |
Always use strong, randomly generated passwords for database and application keys in production.
Monitoring and Maintenance
Log Management
Laravel logs are stored in storage/logs/. Monitor these regularly:
# View recent errors
tail -f storage/logs/laravel.log
# Clear old logs periodically
php artisan log:clear
Backup Strategy
Implement regular backups:
# Database backup
mysqldump -u username -p restaurante > backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql
# Application files backup
tar -czf app-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /var/www/html
Troubleshooting
Permission Issues
If you encounter permission errors:
php artisan cache:clear
php artisan config:clear
chmod -R 775 storage bootstrap/cache
500 Internal Server Error
Check these common causes:
.env file is missing or misconfigured- File permissions are incorrect
APP_KEY is not set- Web server configuration points to wrong directory
Database Connection Issues
Verify database credentials:
php artisan tinker
# Test connection
DB::connection()->getPdo();
Security Best Practices
Follow these security practices:
- Keep Laravel and dependencies updated
- Use strong passwords and rotate them regularly
- Enable HTTPS/SSL certificates
- Set
APP_DEBUG=false in production
- Restrict database user permissions
- Implement rate limiting
- Regular security audits
Next Steps
