Laracloak

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Quick Start Guide ​

Welcome to Laracloak, the platform for building secure interfaces over external automation services.

📋 Prerequisites ​

Ensure you have the following components installed on your server or local environment:

  • PHP 8.2+ (with extensions: bcmath, curl, openssl, mbstring, xml, zip, sqlite3)
  • Composer (PHP dependency manager)
  • Node.js 18+ & NPM (To compile static assets)
  • Web Server: Apache, Nginx, or Laragon (recommended on Windows)
  • Database: MySQL/MariaDB (Recommended for production), or SQLite

🚀 Step-by-Step Installation ​

1. Clone the repository ​

bash
git clone https://github.com/fuseprods/laracloak.git laracloak
cd laracloak

2. Install dependencies ​

Use Composer for the backend and NPM for the frontend:

bash
composer install
npm install
npm run build

3. Configure the environment ​

Copy the example file and generate the encryption key:

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

4. Prepare the Database ​

TIP

Recommendation: For production environments, we highly recommend using MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB. SQLite is excellent for testing or small local instances.

  1. Create a blank database (e.g., laracloak).
  2. Update your .env file with your credentials:
    env
    DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=laracloak
DB_USERNAME=your_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_password
  3. Run migrations and initial data (seeders):
    bash
    php artisan migrate --seed

Option B: SQLite ​

  1. Ensure your .env is set to SQLite: DB_CONNECTION=sqlite.
  2. Create the database file:
    • Windows: type nul > database/database.sqlite
    • Linux/Mac: touch database/database.sqlite
  3. Run migrations: php artisan migrate --seed

5. Start the application ​

If you are using the built-in PHP server:

bash
php artisan serve

After running the --seed command, a default admin user is created. You can customize these credentials in your .env file before seeding:

  • Initial Email: INITIAL_ADMIN_EMAIL (Default: admin@laracloak.com)
  • Initial Password: INITIAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD (Default: password)

IMPORTANT

Change these values in your .env before running php artisan migrate --seed for a more secure initial setup.

Placeholder: Login screen screenshot

🌐 Shared Hosting Installation ​

If you are installing Laracloak on a shared hosting (cPanel, Plesk, etc.), it is essential to correctly configure the Document Root.

1. Configure Document Root ​

Most shared hostings point to a folder named public_html, www, or httpdocs. Laravel requires the web server to point to the /public folder of the project for security.

Recommended Option: Change your domain or subdomain configuration in the control panel so that the Document Root is public (e.g., /home/user/laracloak/public).

2. Methods if you cannot change the Root ​

If your hosting does not allow changing the Document Root, you can use one of these methods (ordered from most to least recommended):

If you have SSH access, you can rename your public_html folder (after backing it up) and create a symbolic link pointing to Laracloak's public folder:

bash
ln -s /home/user/laracloak/public /home/user/public_html

Option B: Rename public folder to public_html ​

You can physically rename the public folder to public_html and tell Laravel to use this new path. To do this, edit the bootstrap/app.php file as follows:

php
return Application::configure(basePath: dirname(__DIR__))
    ->withRouting(...)
    ->withMiddleware(...)
    ->withExceptions(...)
    // Add this line:
    ->usePublicPath(realpath(base_path('../public_html'))) 
    ->create();

CAUTION

Security Risk: This method is the most dangerous. If the server is not perfectly configured, sensitive files like .env, error logs, or the SQLite database could be exposed to the public. Only use it as a last resort and ensure you protect hidden files.

Create an .htaccess file in the root of your project (outside public/) with the following content:

apache
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
   RewriteEngine On
   RewriteRule ^(.*)$ public/$1 [L]
</IfModule>

🛠️ Next Steps ​

  1. Configure Credentials for your upstream services (n8n, APIs).
  2. Create your first Page (Form or Dashboard).
  3. Organize your users by Groups and Categories.