Deploy updates without breaking the site

The routine

1. 1

   Back up the database in phpMyAdmin (Export), and download anything you are about to replace.

2. 2

   Build locally: npm run build, and composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader if composer.lock changed.

3. 3

   Zip only what changed. Smaller uploads mean fewer mistakes.

4. 4

   Turn on maintenance mode if the update changes the database: php artisan down.

5. 5

   Extract the code zip in laravel-app, and the public zip in public_html.

6. 6

   Run new migrations, or import their SQL in phpMyAdmin.

7. 7

   Clear caches, turn the site back on, and check the pages you changed.

php artisan migrate --force
php artisan optimize:clear
php artisan up

Never overwrite these

• .env on the server: your production settings.
• public_html/.htaccess: it can hold cPanel's PHP handler.
• public_html/index.php: it has your custom paths.
• storage/: uploads, sessions and logs.
• Uploaded files in public_html.

Clearing caches without a Terminal

Delete the .php files in bootstrap/cache/. Laravel rebuilds them on the next visit. Do this after uploading new routes, config or packages, or you may get errors about classes that no longer exist.

Writing migrations for a live site

Add new columns as nullable or with a default, and don't drop or rename anything the old code still reads. Then the site keeps working in the moments between uploading code and running migrations.