Installation Guide

Learn how to install Appy on your web hosting. The process takes about 5 minutes.

Server Requirements

Before installing Appy, make sure your web hosting meets the following requirements:

Required PHP Extensions

The following PHP extensions must be enabled (most hosts have these by default):

• BCMath, Ctype, cURL, DOM
• Fileinfo, Filter, GD, Hash
• JSON, Mbstring, OpenSSL
• PDO, PDO MySQL, Session, Tokenizer, XML, Zip

⚠️ REQUIRED PHP Functions (CRITICAL)

How to Enable These Functions

Hosting Control Panels (cPanel, aaPanel, Plesk, etc.):

1. Go to your hosting panel's PHP Settings or PHP Configuration
2. Find the disable_functions or Disabled Functions option
3. Remove readlink, symlink, link, and exec from the list
4. Save changes and restart PHP service

Shared Hosting (No Control Panel Access):

Contact your hosting provider and request that readlink, symlink, link, and exec be enabled in PHP's disable_functions. These functions are required for Laravel's storage symlink functionality and system commands.

VPS / Dedicated Server:

1. Find your php.ini file (run php --ini to locate it)
2. Edit the file and find the disable_functions directive
3. Remove readlink, symlink, link, and exec from the list
4. Restart PHP-FPM or Apache: sudo systemctl restart php-fpm or sudo systemctl restart apache2

Uploading Files

Follow these steps to upload Appy to your web hosting:

Server Configuration

Appy is built with Laravel, which requires the web server's document root to point to the /public folder. This is a critical security and functionality requirement.

Directory Structure

After uploading the contents of Install/ to public_html, your server should look like this:

/home/yourusername/
└── public_html/             ← Upload Install/ contents here
    ├── app/
    ├── bootstrap/
    ├── config/
    ├── database/
    ├── public/              ← Document root must point HERE
    │   ├── index.php
    │   ├── .htaccess
    │   └── ...
    ├── resources/
    ├── routes/
    ├── storage/
    ├── vendor/
    ├── .env
    └── ...

Your domain's document root must be changed from public_html to public_html/public.

Option A: Shared Hosting (cPanel)

Most shared hosting providers use cPanel. Here's how to configure the document root:

/home/yourusername/public_html

/home/yourusername/public_html/public

# Backup and remove public_html
mv public_html public_html_app
mkdir public_html

# Create symlink
ln -s /home/yourusername/public_html_app/public/* /home/yourusername/public_html/

Option B: Apache VirtualHost (VPS/Dedicated)

If you have full server access, configure your Apache virtual host:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName yourdomain.com
    ServerAlias www.yourdomain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/public

    <Directory /var/www/html/public>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/appy_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/appy_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

After editing, enable the site and restart Apache:

sudo a2ensite yourdomain.conf
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Option C: Nginx (VPS/Dedicated)

For Nginx servers, configure your server block:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;
    root /var/www/html/public;

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

    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 ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.2-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $realpath_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_hide_header X-Powered-By;
    }

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

After editing, test and reload Nginx:

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Running the Installer

Once the files are uploaded, visit your domain in a web browser. You will be automatically redirected to the installation wizard.

Step 1: Welcome Screen

The welcome screen shows you an overview of Appy's features. Click the Get Started button to begin.

Step 2: Requirements Check

The installer checks if your server meets all the requirements. If everything passes (shown with green checkmarks), click Next to continue.

If any requirement fails, you will need to contact your hosting provider to enable the missing features.

Step 3: Permissions Check

This step verifies that certain folders are writable. If all items show green checkmarks, click Next.

If any permission fails, you may need to set folder permissions to 755 using your hosting's file manager or FTP client.

Step 4: Database Configuration

Choose your database type and enter the connection details:

Option A: SQLite (Easiest)

Select SQLite if you want the simplest setup. No additional configuration is needed - the database file is created automatically.

Option B: MySQL (Recommended for Larger Sites)

Select MySQL and enter:

• Database Host: Usually localhost
• Database Port: Usually 3306
• Database Name: The name of your MySQL database
• Username: Your MySQL username
• Password: Your MySQL password

Step 5: Admin Account

Create your administrator account:

• Site Name: The name of your platform (shown to users)
• Purchase Code: Your CodeCanyon purchase code (optional)
• Full Name: Your name
• Email: Your email address (used for login)
• Password: Choose a strong password (minimum 8 characters)

Installation Complete

Once all steps are completed, you will see a success message. Click Go to Login to access your new Appy installation.

First Login

After installation, log in with the email and password you created during setup. You will be taken to your dashboard where you can:

• Create your first app
• Configure system settings
• Set up payment gateways
• Manage subscription plans