# InterServer / cPanel Deployment End-to-end deployment on a standard InterServer shared or VPS cPanel account. --- ## Step 1 — Verify PHP version **cPanel → Software → Select PHP Version** Set to **PHP 8.1 or newer** (8.2 recommended). Then under **Extensions**, confirm these are checked: - `pdo_mysql` - `openssl` - `mbstring` - `curl` - `json` - `fileinfo` - `gd` *(for image handling)* Save. --- ## Step 2 — Create the database **cPanel → Databases → MySQL® Database Wizard** 1. **Database name:** `paddlers` → becomes `cpuser_paddlers` 2. **Username:** `pcapp` → becomes `cpuser_pcapp` 3. **Password:** generate a long one; save it 4. **Privileges:** check **ALL PRIVILEGES** → Next Step > **Why MySQL and not PostgreSQL?** You already know MySQL, InterServer's cPanel tooling (phpMyAdmin, backups, remote access) is built around it, and nothing in this application needs anything MySQL 8 can't do. The schema uses InnoDB with foreign keys, JSON columns, and FULLTEXT indexes — all fully supported. PostgreSQL would be a better engine in the abstract and a worse choice here, because the first time something breaks at 11 PM you want to be debugging in a tool you know cold. --- ## Step 3 — Upload the application ### Option A — Git (recommended) **cPanel → Git™ Version Control** → Create → clone your repo to `/home/USER/paddlerscove` ### Option B — File Manager 1. Zip the project locally 2. **File Manager** → navigate to `/home/USER/` 3. Upload, then **Extract** into `/home/USER/paddlerscove` **Do not put the app inside `public_html`.** Only `public/` should be web-reachable. Target layout: ``` /home/USER/ ├── paddlerscove/ ← application (not web accessible) │ ├── config/keys/ ← Apple .p8, Google service account JSON │ ├── src/ views/ database/ bin/ storage/ │ ├── vendor/ │ ├── .env │ └── public/ ← this is the web root └── public_html/ ← see Step 5 ``` --- ## Step 4 — Install Composer dependencies **cPanel → Terminal** (or SSH): ```bash cd ~/paddlerscove # Install Composer locally if it isn't available curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php php composer.phar install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader ``` If Terminal is disabled on your plan, run `composer install` locally and upload the resulting `vendor/` directory. --- ## Step 5 — Point the domain at `public/` ### Best: change the document root **cPanel → Domains** → find your domain → **Manage** → set **Document Root** to: ``` /home/USER/paddlerscove/public ``` ### Fallback: symlink If your plan won't let you change the docroot: ```bash rm -rf ~/public_html ln -s ~/paddlerscove/public ~/public_html ``` ### Last resort Copy everything to `public_html` and rely on the root `.htaccess` included in the project, which rewrites into `public/`. Functional, but it leaves `.env` one misconfiguration away from being served. Use one of the first two options if at all possible. --- ## Step 6 — Create `.env` ```bash cd ~/paddlerscove cp .env.example .env php -r "echo bin2hex(random_bytes(32)) . PHP_EOL;" # paste into APP_KEY nano .env ``` Fill in at minimum: ```ini APP_URL="https://paddlerscove.org" APP_KEY= DB_NAME=cpuser_paddlers DB_USER=cpuser_pcapp DB_PASS= ADMIN_EMAILS="your.email@gmail.com" NOTIFY_EMAIL="your.email@gmail.com" ``` > `ADMIN_EMAILS` is the bootstrap. The first time you sign in with a federated account whose email is on that list, you're created as an approved admin automatically. No chicken-and-egg problem, no manual SQL. Lock it down: ```bash chmod 600 .env ``` --- ## Step 7 — Load the schema **cPanel → phpMyAdmin** → select the database → **Import** → upload `database/schema.sql` → **Go**. Repeat for `database/seed.sql`. Or from Terminal: ```bash cd ~/paddlerscove mysql -u cpuser_pcapp -p cpuser_paddlers < database/schema.sql mysql -u cpuser_pcapp -p cpuser_paddlers < database/seed.sql ``` Edit the admin email in `seed.sql` before running it, or just rely on `ADMIN_EMAILS` — either works. --- ## Step 8 — Permissions ```bash cd ~/paddlerscove chmod 755 public chmod -R 755 public/assets mkdir -p public/uploads/library storage/logs chmod -R 775 public/uploads storage/logs chmod 600 .env chmod 700 config/keys chmod 600 config/keys/* 2>/dev/null ``` --- ## Step 9 — SSL **cPanel → Security → SSL/TLS Status** → select the domain → **Run AutoSSL** InterServer provisions a free Let's Encrypt certificate. Every OAuth provider in this project **requires HTTPS** for redirect URIs, so this isn't optional. The `.htaccess` already forces HTTPS once the cert is live. --- ## Step 10 — Email **cPanel → Email Accounts** → Create `no-reply@paddlerscove.org` ```ini MAIL_HOST=mail.paddlerscove.org MAIL_PORT=587 MAIL_USER=no-reply@paddlerscove.org MAIL_PASS= MAIL_FROM=no-reply@paddlerscove.org ``` Then add SPF and DKIM: **cPanel → Email Deliverability** → **Repair** on the domain. Without these, your approval emails go straight to Gmail's spam folder and neighbors will assume the site is broken. --- ## Step 11 — Cron for calendar sync **cPanel → Advanced → Cron Jobs** → Once per hour: ``` /usr/local/bin/php /home/USER/paddlerscove/bin/sync-events.php >/dev/null 2>&1 ``` Verify the PHP binary path with `which php` in Terminal — on some InterServer builds it's `/opt/alt/php82/usr/bin/php`. --- ## Step 12 — Smoke test 1. `https://paddlerscove.org` → homepage renders with the logo and four cards 2. `/login` → the configured provider buttons appear 3. Sign in with your admin email → you should land on `/register/address` 4. Submit your address → you're approved automatically (admin bootstrap) 5. `/admin` → dashboard loads 6. `/library/new` → add a test item 7. `/directory` → search for your own name --- ## Backups **cPanel → Backup Wizard** for full account backups. For the database specifically, a nightly cron: ``` 0 2 * * * /usr/bin/mysqldump -u cpuser_pcapp -p'PASSWORD' cpuser_paddlers | gzip > /home/USER/backups/pc-$(date +\%F).sql.gz ``` Prune with a second job so it doesn't quietly eat your disk quota: ``` 0 3 * * * find /home/USER/backups -name "pc-*.sql.gz" -mtime +30 -delete ``` --- ## Troubleshooting | Symptom | Cause | Fix | |---|---|---| | 500 on every page | Missing `vendor/` or bad `.env` | Set `APP_DEBUG=true` temporarily; check `storage/logs/php-error.log` | | Blank white page | PHP fatal with display_errors off | Same as above | | CSS not loading | `APP_URL` wrong | Must match the actual scheme + host exactly | | "Access denied for user" | DB user not attached to the DB | cPanel → MySQL Databases → Add User To Database → ALL PRIVILEGES | | Redirect loop | HTTPS forced before the cert is live | Run AutoSSL first | | Uploads fail | Directory not writable | `chmod 775 public/uploads/library` |