Configuration

Environment Configuration

MediaStream uses a .env file for environment-specific configuration. This file is created from .env.example during installation.

Create environment file

If you haven’t already, copy the example file:

cp .env.example .env

Generate application key

Generate a unique application key:

php artisan key:generate

This sets the APP_KEY value in your .env file.

Core Application Settings

Application Identity

.env

APP_NAME=Laravel
APP_ENV=local
APP_KEY=
APP_DEBUG=true
APP_URL=http://localhost

APP_NAME

string

default:"Laravel"

Your application name. This appears in:

Page titles
Email notifications
Default branding

APP_NAME="MediaStream"

APP_ENV

string

default:"local"

Application environment. Common values:

local - Development
staging - Pre-production
production - Live environment

Never use local or staging in production!

APP_KEY

string

required

Encryption key for securing session data and encrypted values.Generated automatically with php artisan key:generate.

APP_DEBUG

boolean

default:"true"

Enable detailed error messages and debugging tools.

ALWAYS set to false in production to prevent information disclosure.

# Development
APP_DEBUG=true

# Production
APP_DEBUG=false

APP_URL

string

default:"http://localhost"

The base URL of your application. Used for:

Generating links in emails
Asset URL generation
API responses

# Local development
APP_URL=http://localhost:8000

# Production
APP_URL=https://mediastream.example.com

Localization

.env

APP_LOCALE=en
APP_FALLBACK_LOCALE=en
APP_FAKER_LOCALE=en_US

APP_LOCALE

string

default:"en"

Default application language.

APP_FALLBACK_LOCALE

string

default:"en"

Language to use when the requested locale is unavailable.

APP_FAKER_LOCALE

string

default:"en_US"

Locale for generating fake data in tests and seeders.

Maintenance Mode

.env

APP_MAINTENANCE_DRIVER=file
# APP_MAINTENANCE_STORE=database

APP_MAINTENANCE_DRIVER

string

default:"file"

Storage driver for maintenance mode state:

file - Store in filesystem
database - Store in database
cache - Store in cache

Security Settings

Encryption

.env

BCRYPT_ROUNDS=12

BCRYPT_ROUNDS

integer

default:"12"

Number of rounds for bcrypt password hashing.Higher values = more secure but slower:

10 - Fast, less secure
12 - Balanced (recommended)
14+ - Slower, more secure

Database Configuration

MediaStream supports multiple database systems:

SQLite (Default)
MySQL
PostgreSQL

.env

DB_CONNECTION=sqlite
# DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
# DB_PORT=3306
# DB_DATABASE=laravel
# DB_USERNAME=root
# DB_PASSWORD=

SQLite requires no additional configuration. Just ensure the database file exists:

touch database/database.sqlite
php artisan migrate

SQLite is perfect for development but consider MySQL/PostgreSQL for production.

.env

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=mediastream
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=secret

Create database

CREATE DATABASE mediastream CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

Configure credentials

Update the .env file with your MySQL credentials.

Run migrations

php artisan migrate

.env

DB_CONNECTION=pgsql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=5432
DB_DATABASE=mediastream
DB_USERNAME=postgres
DB_PASSWORD=secret

Create database

CREATE DATABASE mediastream WITH ENCODING 'UTF8';

Configure credentials

Update the .env file with your PostgreSQL credentials.

Run migrations

php artisan migrate

Session Configuration

.env

SESSION_DRIVER=database
SESSION_LIFETIME=120
SESSION_ENCRYPT=false
SESSION_PATH=/
SESSION_DOMAIN=null

SESSION_DRIVER

string

default:"database"

Where to store session data:

file - Filesystem storage
cookie - Browser cookies
database - Database storage (recommended)
redis - Redis cache
memcached - Memcached cache

Database sessions require the sessions table. Run migrations if switching drivers:

php artisan migrate

SESSION_LIFETIME

integer

default:"120"

Session lifetime in minutes (2 hours by default).

# 2 hours
SESSION_LIFETIME=120

# 24 hours
SESSION_LIFETIME=1440

SESSION_ENCRYPT

boolean

default:"false"

Whether to encrypt session data.

Enable for sensitive applications, but increases overhead.

Queue Configuration

.env

QUEUE_CONNECTION=database

QUEUE_CONNECTION

string

default:"database"

Queue driver for background jobs:

sync - Process immediately (no queue)
database - Database-backed queue
redis - Redis queue (recommended for production)
sqs - Amazon SQS

# Development
QUEUE_CONNECTION=database

# Production
QUEUE_CONNECTION=redis

Queue workers must be running to process jobs:

php artisan queue:work

Cache Configuration

.env

CACHE_STORE=database
# CACHE_PREFIX=

CACHE_STORE

string

default:"database"

Cache driver for application caching:

file - File-based cache
database - Database cache
redis - Redis cache (recommended)
memcached - Memcached cache
array - Array cache (testing only)

# Development
CACHE_STORE=database

# Production with Redis
CACHE_STORE=redis

CACHE_PREFIX

string

Prefix for cache keys to avoid collisions when sharing cache storage.

CACHE_PREFIX=mediastream_

File Storage

.env

FILESYSTEM_DISK=local
BROADCAST_CONNECTION=log

FILESYSTEM_DISK

string

default:"local"

Default filesystem disk:

local - Local storage in storage/app
public - Public storage in storage/app/public
s3 - Amazon S3

# Local development
FILESYSTEM_DISK=local

# Production with S3
FILESYSTEM_DISK=s3

Amazon S3 Configuration

For cloud storage, configure AWS S3:

.env

AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
AWS_BUCKET=
AWS_USE_PATH_STYLE_ENDPOINT=false

Create S3 bucket

Create a bucket in AWS S3 console.

Generate access keys

Create IAM credentials with S3 access.

Configure environment

.env

FILESYSTEM_DISK=s3
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
AWS_BUCKET=your-bucket-name

Logging Configuration

.env

LOG_CHANNEL=stack
LOG_STACK=single
LOG_DEPRECATIONS_CHANNEL=null
LOG_LEVEL=debug

LOG_CHANNEL

string

default:"stack"

Logging channel:

stack - Multiple channels
single - Single log file
daily - Daily rotated logs
stderr - Standard error output
syslog - System log

LOG_LEVEL

string

default:"debug"

Minimum log level to record:

debug - All messages
info - Informational and above
warning - Warnings and errors
error - Errors only
critical - Critical errors only

# Development
LOG_LEVEL=debug

# Production
LOG_LEVEL=warning

Mail Configuration

.env

MAIL_MAILER=log
MAIL_SCHEME=null
MAIL_HOST=127.0.0.1
MAIL_PORT=2525
MAIL_USERNAME=null
MAIL_PASSWORD=null
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS="hello@example.com"
MAIL_FROM_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

Log (Development)
SMTP
Mailgun
Postmark

In development, emails are logged instead of sent:

.env

MAIL_MAILER=log

View emails in:

tail -f storage/logs/laravel.log

For production, configure SMTP:

.env

MAIL_MAILER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
MAIL_PORT=587
MAIL_USERNAME=your-email@gmail.com
MAIL_PASSWORD=your-app-password
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=tls
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS="noreply@mediastream.com"
MAIL_FROM_NAME="MediaStream"

.env

MAIL_MAILER=mailgun
MAILGUN_DOMAIN=your-domain.com
MAILGUN_SECRET=your-api-key
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS="noreply@mediastream.com"
MAIL_FROM_NAME="MediaStream"

.env

MAIL_MAILER=postmark
POSTMARK_TOKEN=your-token
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS="noreply@mediastream.com"
MAIL_FROM_NAME="MediaStream"

Redis Configuration

.env

REDIS_CLIENT=phpredis
REDIS_HOST=127.0.0.1
REDIS_PASSWORD=null
REDIS_PORT=6379

REDIS_CLIENT

string

default:"phpredis"

Redis client library:

phpredis - PHP extension (faster)
predis - Pure PHP client

Redis is optional but recommended for:

Caching
Queue management
Session storage
Real-time features

Memcached Configuration

.env

MEMCACHED_HOST=127.0.0.1

MEMCACHED_HOST

string

default:"127.0.0.1"

Memcached server hostname.

Frontend Configuration

Vite Environment Variables

.env

VITE_APP_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

All VITE_* variables are accessible in frontend code:

// resources/js/app.ts
const appName = import.meta.env.VITE_APP_NAME || 'Laravel';

Changes to .env variables require restarting the Vite dev server:

npm run dev

Additional Frontend Variables

Add custom variables for frontend use:

.env

VITE_API_URL="${APP_URL}/api"
VITE_PUSHER_KEY=your-pusher-key
VITE_GOOGLE_ANALYTICS_ID=G-XXXXXXXXXX

Performance Tuning

PHP Server Workers

.env

PHP_CLI_SERVER_WORKERS=4

PHP_CLI_SERVER_WORKERS

integer

default:"4"

Number of PHP workers for the built-in server.

# Development (low traffic)
PHP_CLI_SERVER_WORKERS=4

# Heavy development
PHP_CLI_SERVER_WORKERS=8

Only applies to php artisan serve. Production should use PHP-FPM or similar.

Production Checklist

Before deploying to production:

Environment

.env

APP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=false

Security

Use HTTPS (APP_URL=https://...)
Set strong APP_KEY
Secure database credentials
Enable session encryption if needed

Performance

# Use Redis for cache and queue
CACHE_STORE=redis
QUEUE_CONNECTION=redis
SESSION_DRIVER=redis

Mail

Configure a production mail service (SMTP, Mailgun, etc.)

Storage

Consider using S3 or similar for media files:

FILESYSTEM_DISK=s3

Optimize

# Cache configuration
php artisan config:cache

# Cache routes
php artisan route:cache

# Cache views
php artisan view:cache

# Build assets
npm run build

Configuration Caching

For better performance, cache configuration:

# Cache all config files
php artisan config:cache

# Clear cached config
php artisan config:clear

When configuration is cached, the .env file is no longer read. You must clear cache after environment changes:

php artisan config:clear

Next Steps

Series Management

Learn how to manage series, seasons, and episodes

User Authentication

Configure authentication and security features

Architecture

Understand the technical architecture

API Reference

Explore the REST API documentation

Overview

Getting Started

Core Features

User Guide

Development

Environment Configuration

Core Application Settings

Application Identity

Localization

Maintenance Mode

Security Settings

Encryption

Database Configuration

Session Configuration

Queue Configuration

Cache Configuration

File Storage

Amazon S3 Configuration

Logging Configuration

Mail Configuration

Redis Configuration

Memcached Configuration

Frontend Configuration

Vite Environment Variables

Additional Frontend Variables

Performance Tuning

PHP Server Workers

Production Checklist

Configuration Caching

Next Steps

Series Management

User Authentication

Architecture

API Reference

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Getting Started

Core Features

User Guide

Development

​Environment Configuration

​Core Application Settings

​Application Identity

​Localization

​Maintenance Mode

​Security Settings

​Encryption

​Database Configuration

​Session Configuration

​Queue Configuration

​Cache Configuration

​File Storage

​Amazon S3 Configuration

​Logging Configuration

​Mail Configuration

​Redis Configuration

​Memcached Configuration

​Frontend Configuration

​Vite Environment Variables

​Additional Frontend Variables

​Performance Tuning

​PHP Server Workers

​Production Checklist

​Configuration Caching

​Next Steps

Series Management

User Authentication

Architecture

API Reference

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Environment Configuration

Core Application Settings

Application Identity

Localization

Maintenance Mode

Security Settings

Encryption

Database Configuration

Session Configuration

Queue Configuration

Cache Configuration

File Storage

Amazon S3 Configuration

Logging Configuration

Mail Configuration

Redis Configuration

Memcached Configuration

Frontend Configuration

Vite Environment Variables

Additional Frontend Variables

Performance Tuning

PHP Server Workers

Production Checklist

Configuration Caching

Next Steps