Install Joomla, Drupal, PrestaShop, OpenCart, Moodle or Laravel on web hosting

Most PHP applications install the same way on Linux web hosting: choose the PHP version, create a database, put the files in the right folder and run the application's web installer. This guide gives those steps for any control panel, such as cPanel or Plesk (your package shows which one), and the extra steps Joomla, Drupal, PrestaShop, OpenCart, Moodle and Laravel need.

Before you start

• Your domain points at your hosting account and opens over HTTPS: free SSL and HTTPS on web hosting.
• The application's download from its official website, and its requirements page.
• A way to upload files: the panel's File Manager, or FTP / SFTP: upload files with FTP or SFTP.
• Replacing an existing site? Take a backup first: back up and restore your hosting account.

Step 1: Choose the folder the site runs from

The document root is the folder a domain serves. Use the main domain's folder, or a subdomain such as shop.example.com with a folder of its own.

Two applications serve only a subfolder:

• Moodle 5.1 and newer serve their public folder. Upload Moodle to a folder of its own, for example moodle, and set the domain's document root to moodle/public.
• Laravel serves its public folder. Set the document root to the project's public folder.

If your panel only accepts document roots inside public_html, give the application its own folder there and serve that folder from this domain only.

Step 2: Set the PHP version and extensions

Set the version for the domain and turn on the extensions the application lists: change the PHP version and PHP limits.

Step 3: Create the database

Create a database and a database user with all privileges on it, and note the database name, the user name, the password and the host: databases and phpMyAdmin on web hosting.

The host is the one the panel shows, usually localhost.

Step 4: Upload the files

Upload the application's ZIP file to the folder from Step 1 and unpack it with the File Manager's Extract action, or unpack it on your computer and upload the files over SFTP.

• OpenCart: upload the contents of the package's upload folder, not the folder itself. Rename config-dist.php to config.php, and admin/config-dist.php to admin/config.php.
• Drupal: upload the release archive from drupal.org, or install it with Composer if your plan has SSH access.
• Laravel: follow the Laravel section below instead.

Verify: the folder contains the application's files directly (for example index.php), not one more folder with the package name.

Step 5: Run the web installer

Open your domain in the browser. The installer checks the PHP version and extensions, then asks for the database details from Step 3 and an administrator account.

Moodle also asks for the data directory (moodledata). Create it in your home directory, next to the Moodle folder and never inside a folder a domain serves.

Step 6: Finish and lock it down

The Drupal setting looks like this, with your own domain:

$settings['trusted_host_patterns'] = [
  '^example\.com$',
  '^www\.example\.com$',
];

Step 7: Add cron jobs

Many applications run tasks on a schedule: emails, indexes, cleanups. Add the command the application documents:

Laravel on web hosting

1. Build the project with production packages, on the server over SSH or on your computer: composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader. Upload the whole project, including the vendor folder.
2. Point the domain's document root at the project's public folder (Step 1).
3. Create the .env file from .env.example. Set APP_ENV=production, APP_DEBUG=false, APP_URL and the database details from Step 3.
4. Over SSH, create the application key, run the migrations and cache the configuration:

php artisan key:generate
php artisan migrate --force
php artisan optimize

5. Make sure storage and bootstrap/cache are writable by your account.
6. Add the scheduler as a cron job that runs every minute (Step 7), with the path to your project:

cd /home/account/myapp && php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

Queue workers are long-running processes. On web hosting, process the queue from the scheduler with php artisan queue:work --stop-when-empty, or use the sync queue driver. For workers that run all the time, under Supervisor, use a VPS.

Troubleshooting

The installer stops at a missing PHP extension. Turn it on for the domain's PHP version, then reload the installer: change the PHP version and PHP limits.

Allowed memory size of … bytes exhausted. Raise memory_limit within your plan's limits (Step 2).

The installer cannot connect to the database. Use the full database and user names, including any account prefix, the host the panel shows and the user's password. Check that the user has privileges on the database.

A 500 error after the installation. See hosting 500 and 403 errors. In Laravel, check storage/logs/laravel.log.

Moodle 5.1 or newer shows an error about its public directory. The document root points at the Moodle folder instead of moodle/public. Change it as in Step 1.

Next steps

• Keep copies of the files and the database: back up and restore your hosting account.
• Moving a site from another host: move a website without downtime.