Installation Guide

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have the following:

A fresh Ubuntu 24.04 server with root or sudo access.
A registered domain name with an A record pointing to your server’s public IP address.
An SSH client (e.g., Terminal, PuTTY) and an SFTP client (e.g., FileZilla).
A secure password for the database user.
Your application’s source code and database SQL file.

Back up your server before proceeding.
Obtain your server’s IP address from your hosting provider (e.g., AWS, DigitalOcean).

Connect to the Server
Install and Configure Dependencies
Upload Source Code
Configure Application
Enable HTTPS
Set Up Firewall
Troubleshooting

Step 1: Connect to the Server

Connect to your server via SSH to begin the setup process.

Connect via SSH

Obtain your server’s IP address from your hosting provider.
Open a terminal and connect: ssh root@<your-server-ip>
If using a key-based connection: ssh -i yourkey.pem root@<your-server-ip>
Verify SSH Service
sudo systemctl status ssh
- If you can’t connect, ensure port 22 is open: sudo ufw allow 22.
- Contact your hosting provider if SSH issues persist.

Step 2: Install and Configure Dependencies

Install the necessary software packages for your Aleuto application, including Nginx, PHP 8.4, PostgreSQL, Node.js, Redis, Memcached, Supervisor, and Certbot.

Update and Install Basic Packages

Update Package List

sudo apt update

Upgrade Packages

sudo apt upgrade -y

Install Basic Packages

sudo apt-get install -y software-properties-common curl gnupg debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https \
ca-certificates build-essential dos2unix gcc git git-lfs libmcrypt4 libpcre3-dev libpng-dev chrony make pv \
python3-pip re2c supervisor unattended-upgrades whois vim cifs-utils bash-completion zsh zip unzip expect

Verify Installation

git --version

Create Swap Space

sudo fallocate -l "$(free -m | awk '/Mem:/ {print $2}')M" /swapfile && \
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile && \
sudo mkswap /swapfile && \
sudo swapon /swapfile && \
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

Verify Swap

swapon --show

Swap space prevents memory issues on low-RAM servers.
Adjust the size based on your server’s needs.

Install Nginx

sudo apt install -y nginx

Remove Default Site

sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default

Verify Nginx

nginx -v
sudo systemctl status nginx

Install PHP 8.4

Add PHP Repository

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ondrej/php -y

Update Package Lists

sudo apt-get update -y

Install Generic PHP Packages

sudo apt-get install -y --allow-change-held-packages \
php-imagick php-memcached php-redis php-xdebug php-dev imagemagick mcrypt

Install PHP 8.4

sudo apt-get install -y --allow-change-held-packages \
php8.4 php8.4-bcmath php8.4-bz2 php8.4-cgi php8.4-cli php8.4-common php8.4-curl php8.4-dba php8.4-dev \
php8.4-enchant php8.4-fpm php8.4-gd php8.4-gmp php8.4-imap php8.4-interbase php8.4-intl php8.4-ldap \
php8.4-mbstring php8.4-mysql php8.4-odbc php8.4-opcache php8.4-pgsql php8.4-phpdbg php8.4-pspell php8.4-readline \
php8.4-snmp php8.4-soap php8.4-sqlite3 php8.4-sybase php8.4-tidy php8.4-xdebug php8.4-xml php8.4-xmlrpc php8.4-xsl \
php8.4-zip php8.4-memcached php8.4-redis

Configure PHP for Secure Connections

sudo printf "[openssl]\nopenssl.cainfo = /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt\n" | sudo tee -a /etc/php/8.4/fpm/php.ini
sudo printf "[curl]\ncurl.cainfo = /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt\n" | sudo tee -a /etc/php/8.4/fpm/php.ini

Restart PHP-FPM

sudo systemctl restart php8.4-fpm

Verify PHP

php -v

Optionally, tune PHP-FPM settings in /etc/php/8.4/fpm/pool.d/www.conf (e.g., pm.max_children) based on server resources.

Install Composer

Download Composer

curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | sudo php

Move Composer

sudo mv composer.phar /usr/bin/composer

Verify Composer

composer --version

Install Node.js and NPM

Add Node.js Repository

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_21.x | sudo -E bash -

Update Package Lists

sudo apt-get update -y

Install Node.js and Tools

sudo apt install -y nodejs
sudo npm install -g npm gulp-cli bower yarn grunt-cli

Verify Node.js and NPM

node -v
npm -v

Install Redis

sudo apt install -y redis-server

Enable and Start Redis

sudo systemctl enable redis-server
sudo service redis-server start

Verify Redis

redis-cli ping

Expected output: PONG

Install PostgreSQL

sudo apt-get install -y postgresql-17 postgresql-server-dev-17 postgresql-17-postgis-3 postgresql-17-postgis-3-scripts

Configure PostgreSQL Users

sudo -u postgres psql -c "CREATE ROLE aleuto_user LOGIN PASSWORD 'secure_password_here' SUPERUSER INHERIT NOCREATEDB NOCREATEROLE NOREPLICATION;"

Configure Remote Access

sudo sed -i "s/#listen_addresses = 'localhost'/listen_addresses = '*'/g" /etc/postgresql/17/main/postgresql.conf
sudo echo "host all all 0.0.0.0/0 scram-sha-256" | sudo tee -a /etc/postgresql/17/main/pg_hba.conf

Create Database

sudo -u postgres createdb --echo --owner=aleuto aleuto

Restart PostgreSQL

sudo service postgresql restart

Verify PostgreSQL

sudo -u postgres psql -c "\l"

Replace secure_password_here with a strong, unique password.
For better security, restrict remote access to specific IPs (e.g., host all all <your-ip>/32 scram-sha-256).

Install Memcached

sudo apt-get install -y memcached

Enable and Start Memcached

sudo systemctl enable memcached
sudo service memcached start

Verify Memcached

sudo systemctl status memcached

Install Supervisor

sudo apt install -y supervisor

Enable and Start Supervisor

sudo systemctl enable supervisor
sudo service supervisor start

Verify Supervisor

sudo systemctl status supervisor

Configure Supervisor for Horizon and Reverb

Create Horizon Configuration

sudo nano /etc/supervisor/conf.d/horizon.conf

Horizon Configuration

[program:horizon]
process_name=%(program_name)s
command=php /var/www/aleuto/artisan horizon
autostart=true
autorestart=true
stopasgroup=true
killasgroup=true
user=aleuto
redirect_stderr=true
stdout_logfile=/var/www/aleuto/storage/logs/horizon.log
stopwaitsecs=3600

Create Reverb Configuration

sudo nano /etc/supervisor/conf.d/reverb.conf

Reverb Configuration

[program:reverb]
process_name=%(program_name)s
command=php /var/www/aleuto/artisan reverb:start
autostart=true
autorestart=true
stopasgroup=true
killasgroup=true
user=aleuto
redirect_stderr=true
stdout_logfile=/var/www/aleuto/storage/logs/reverb.log
stopwaitsecs=3600

Update Supervisor

sudo supervisorctl reread
sudo supervisorctl update
sudo supervisorctl start horizon
sudo supervisorctl start reverb

Verify Supervisor Processes

sudo supervisorctl status

Ensure Laravel Horizon and Reverb are installed in your project: composer require laravel/horizon laravel/reverb.
Check logs (/var/www/aleuto/storage/logs/horizon.log, /var/www/aleuto/storage/logs/reverb.log) if processes fail to start.

Install Certbot

sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Verify Certbot

certbot --version

Clean Up

Upgrade Check

sudo apt upgrade -y

Clean Up

sudo apt autoremove -y
sudo apt clean

Step 3: Upload Source Code

Upload your Aleuto application’s source code and database to the server.

Upload Source Code

Download FileZilla Client.
Download your application’s source code.
Upload the source code to /var/www/aleuto.

Set Permissions

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/aleuto
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/aleuto

Verify the directory structure matches your application’s requirements.

Import Database

Import SQL File

psql -U aleuto_user -d aleuto_db -h 127.0.0.1 -p 5432 < /var/www/aleuto/database.sql

Verify Database Import

sudo -u postgres psql -d aleuto_db -c "\dt"

Ensure database credentials are set in the .env file before importing.
If the import fails, check the SQL file for errors or verify PostgreSQL is running: sudo systemctl status postgresql.

Step 4: Configure Application

Configure Nginx and Laravel to serve your application.

Configure Nginx

Create Nginx Configuration

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/aleuto

Nginx Configuration

server {
listen 80;
listen [::]:80;
server_name your-domain.com www.your-domain.com;
root /var/www/aleuto/public;

add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN";
add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff";

client_max_body_size 1024M;

index index.php;

charset utf-8;

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

location = /favicon.ico { access_log off; log_not_found off; }
location = /robots.txt  { access_log off; log_not_found off; }

error_page 404 /index.php;

location /app {
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
proxy_set_header Scheme $scheme;
proxy_set_header SERVER_PORT $server_port;
proxy_set_header REMOTE_ADDR $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection "Upgrade";
proxy_pass http://0.0.0.0:8080;
}

location ~ \.php$ {
fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.4-fpm.sock;
fastcgi_index index.php;
fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $realpath_root$fastcgi_script_name;
include fastcgi_params;
}

location ~ /\.(?!well-known).* {
deny all;
}
}

Enable Site

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/aleuto /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/aleuto

Test Nginx Configuration

sudo nginx -t

Restart Nginx

sudo service nginx restart

Replace your-domain.com with your actual domain.
Check /var/log/nginx/error.log if Nginx fails to start.

Configure Laravel

Navigate to Project Directory

cd /var/www/aleuto

Copy .env.example

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env File

nano .env

Example .env Configuration

APP_URL=https://your-domain.com
DB_CONNECTION=pgsql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=5432
DB_DATABASE=aleuto_db
DB_USERNAME=aleuto_user
DB_PASSWORD=secure_password_here

Install Composer Dependencies

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

Install NPM Dependencies

npm install

Build Frontend Assets

npm run build

Generate Application Key

php artisan key:generate

Set Permissions

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data storage bootstrap/cache
sudo chmod -R 775 storage bootstrap/cache

Add User to www-data Group

sudo usermod -a -G www-data aleuto

Create Storage Link

php artisan storage:link

Set Up Laravel Scheduler

crontab -e

Add Cron Job

* * * * * cd /var/www/aleuto && php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

Verify Laravel

php artisan --version

Test your application by visiting https://your-domain.com in a browser.
Ensure all .env values match your database and server setup.
Verify Horizon and Reverb: sudo supervisorctl status.

Step 5: Enable HTTPS

Secure your application with an SSL certificate using Certbot.

Enable HTTPS

Configure DNS

# Set up an A record for your-domain.com and www.your-domain.com pointing to your server’s IP via your DNS provider.

Obtain SSL Certificate

sudo certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com -d www.your-domain.com

Test SSL Renewal

sudo certbot renew --dry-run

Restart Nginx

sudo service nginx restart

Verify SSL

openssl s_client -connect your-domain.com:443 -servername your-domain.com

Ensure DNS is fully propagated before running Certbot.
Certbot automatically configures Nginx for HTTPS.

Step 6: Set Up Firewall

Configure the firewall to allow necessary traffic.

Configure Firewall

Allow SSH, HTTP, HTTPS, and Reverb

sudo ufw allow 22
sudo ufw allow 80
sudo ufw allow 443
sudo ufw allow 6001

Enable Firewall

sudo ufw enable

Verify Firewall Status

sudo ufw status

Port 6001 is the default for Laravel Reverb; adjust if using a different port in your Reverb configuration.
Disable root SSH access for better security: edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config and set PermitRootLogin no, then restart SSH: sudo systemctl restart sshd.

Step 7: Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions:

Nginx Fails to Start:
Check syntax: sudo nginx -t
View logs: cat /var/log/nginx/error.log
Database Connection Errors:
Verify .env credentials match the PostgreSQL user and database.
Test connection: psql -U aleuto_user -d aleuto_db -h 127.0.0.1
Permission Issues:
Ensure www-data owns files: sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/aleuto
Check permissions: ls -l /var/www/aleuto
Application Not Loading:
Verify Laravel logs: cat /var/www/aleuto/storage/logs/laravel.log
Ensure PHP-FPM is running: sudo systemctl status php8.4-fpm
Horizon or Reverb Not Running:
Check Supervisor status: sudo supervisorctl status
View logs: cat /var/www/aleuto/storage/logs/horizon.log or cat /var/www/aleuto/storage/logs/reverb.log
Ensure packages are installed: composer require laravel/horizon laravel/reverb

For persistent issues, check service logs (e.g., /var/log/php8.4-fpm.log, /var/log/postgresql/postgresql-17-main.log).
Contact your hosting provider or consult your application’s documentation for specific requirements.

Summary

You’ve successfully set up an Ubuntu 24.04 server with Nginx, PHP 8.4, PostgreSQL 17, Node.js, Redis, Memcached, Supervisor, and a Aleuto application with Horizon and Reverb, secured with an SSL certificate. Your application should now be accessible at https://your-domain.com.

Getting started

Admin

Prerequisites

Table of Contents

Step 1: Connect to the Server

Step 2: Install and Configure Dependencies

Step 3: Upload Source Code

Step 4: Configure Application

Step 5: Enable HTTPS

Step 6: Set Up Firewall

Step 7: Troubleshooting

Summary

​Prerequisites

​Table of Contents

​Step 1: Connect to the Server

​Step 2: Install and Configure Dependencies

​Step 3: Upload Source Code

​Step 4: Configure Application

​Step 5: Enable HTTPS

​Step 6: Set Up Firewall

​Step 7: Troubleshooting

​Summary

Prerequisites

Table of Contents

Step 1: Connect to the Server

Step 2: Install and Configure Dependencies

Step 3: Upload Source Code

Step 4: Configure Application

Step 5: Enable HTTPS

Step 6: Set Up Firewall

Step 7: Troubleshooting

Summary