Installation

Install the LaraOwl server with Docker or Composer.

There are two supported ways to run the LaraOwl server. Choose the one that fits your infrastructure.

Docker

The fastest path to production. Ships PHP, PostgreSQL, Redis, Reverb, and automatic SSL.

Composer

Full control on your own PHP/database stack. You manage the supporting services.

Before you begin, confirm your environment meets the server requirements.

Docker

The repository includes a production-ready docker/Dockerfile and docker-compose.yaml. The Compose stack runs every service LaraOwl needs: the web app, a Horizon queue worker, a schedule worker, the Reverb WebSocket server, PostgreSQL, Redis, and a Caddy reverse proxy that provisions and renews SSL certificates automatically.

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/laraowl/laraowl.git
   cd laraowl
   
2. Create the environment file

   Copy the production template and edit it:

   cp .env.prod .env
   

   Update at least the following values in .env:

   APP_URL=https://your-production-domain.com
   APP_HOSTNAME=your-production-domain.com
   
   # Generate a random 6-digit ID and 20-character key/secret
   REVERB_APP_ID=000000
   REVERB_APP_KEY=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
   REVERB_APP_SECRET=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
   
   # Change the default database and Redis passwords
   DB_PASSWORD=your-secure-password
   REDIS_PASSWORD=your-secure-password
   

   The Compose file already wires the internal service hostnames (db, redis, reverb). You only need to change these if you customize the stack.

3. Point your DNS

   LaraOwl serves the dashboard and the WebSocket endpoint on separate hostnames. Create DNS A records for both:

   • your-production-domain.com — the dashboard
   • ws.your-production-domain.com — the Reverb WebSocket server

   Caddy fetches and renews SSL certificates for both automatically.

4. Build and start the stack

   docker compose up -d --build
   

   The application key is generated and migrations run on first boot. Your server will be available at https://your-production-domain.com.

5. Create the first admin user

   Registration is disabled by default. Open a shell in the app container and create an admin account via Tinker:

   docker compose exec -ti app /bin/bash
   php artisan tinker
   

   App\Models\User::updateOrCreate(
       ['email' => '[e-mail]'],
       ['name' => 'Admin', 'password' => bcrypt('changeme')]
   );
   

   Change the password immediately after your first login.

Composer

Install LaraOwl directly onto your own PHP and database stack. With this method you are responsible for running the queue worker, Reverb, and the scheduler yourself.

1. Create the project

   composer create-project laraowl/laraowl laraowl
   cd laraowl
   
2. Install frontend dependencies

   npm install
   
3. Set up the environment

   cp .env.example .env
   php artisan key:generate
   

   Configure your database connection in .env. See Configuration for the full list of variables.

4. Run migrations

   php artisan migrate
   
5. Build frontend assets

   npm run build
   
6. Serve the application

   php artisan serve
   

Required background processes

LaraOwl needs these processes running alongside the web server. In production, manage them with a supervisor such as Supervisor rather than running them manually.

# Process queued telemetry records (required)
php artisan queue:work

# WebSocket server for real-time updates (required)
php artisan reverb:start

# Scheduler for uptime checks & data pruning (required)
php artisan schedule:work

LaraOwl ships with Laravel Horizon. If you use Redis for your queue, run php artisan horizon instead of queue:work to get a managed worker pool and the Horizon dashboard.

Scheduler cron entry

For production, register Laravel’s scheduler with cron instead of running schedule:work:

* * * * * cd /path/to/laraowl && php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

This drives uptime checks (every 30 seconds) and the daily data-pruning job.

Supervisor example

An example Supervisor configuration for the queue worker and Reverb:

[program:laraowl-queue]
process_name=%(program_name)s_%(process_num)02d
command=php /path/to/laraowl/artisan queue:work --sleep=3 --tries=3 --max-time=3600
autostart=true
autorestart=true
stopasgroup=true
killasgroup=true
numprocs=2
redirect_stderr=true
stdout_logfile=/var/log/laraowl/queue.log

[program:laraowl-reverb]
command=php /path/to/laraowl/artisan reverb:start
autostart=true
autorestart=true
redirect_stderr=true
stdout_logfile=/var/log/laraowl/reverb.log

Next steps

Configuration

Fine-tune your environment variables and services.

Getting started

Create your first project and connect an application.