Storage Configuration - AnimeThemes Server

AnimeThemes Server supports both local and S3-compatible storage for media files, including videos, audio, images, scripts, and database dumps.

Overview

Storage is configured in config/filesystems.php and controlled via environment variables. Each media type can use different storage disks, allowing you to:

Store files locally during development
Use S3 or S3-compatible services (DigitalOcean Spaces, Backblaze B2, etc.) in production
Distribute files across multiple regions for better performance

Storage Disks

Default Disks

Disk	Default Value	Purpose
`FILESYSTEM_DISK`	`local`	Default filesystem disk
`VIDEO_DISK_DEFAULT`	`videos_local`	Default video storage
`AUDIO_DISK_DEFAULT`	`audios_local`	Default audio storage
`IMAGE_DISK`	`images_local`	Image storage
`SCRIPT_DISK`	`scripts_local`	Video script storage
`DUMP_DISK`	`dumps_local`	Database dump storage

Local Storage

Local storage is ideal for development and testing. Files are stored in the public/ directory.

Configuration

Set up local storage by specifying disk roots:

# .env
VIDEO_DISK_DEFAULT=videos_local
VIDEO_DISK_ROOT=/path/to/videos

AUDIO_DISK_DEFAULT=audios_local
AUDIO_DISK_ROOT=/path/to/audios

IMAGE_DISK_ROOT=/path/to/images
DUMP_DISK_ROOT=/path/to/dumps
SCRIPT_DISK_ROOT=/path/to/scripts

If not specified, defaults to storage/app/{type}.

Symbolic Links

Create symbolic links to make files publicly accessible:

php artisan storage:link

This creates links from public/ to your storage directories:

public/videos → VIDEO_DISK_ROOT
public/audios → AUDIO_DISK_ROOT
public/images → IMAGE_DISK_ROOT
public/dumps → DUMP_DISK_ROOT
public/scripts → SCRIPT_DISK_ROOT

Local Disk Configuration

From config/filesystems.php:

'videos_local' => [
    'driver' => 'local',
    'root' => public_path('videos'),
    'url' => env('APP_URL').'/videos',
    'visibility' => 'public',
    'throw' => false,
],

'audios_local' => [
    'driver' => 'local',
    'root' => public_path('audios'),
    'url' => env('APP_URL').'/audios',
    'visibility' => 'public',
    'throw' => false,
],

S3 Storage

Use S3 or S3-compatible services for production deployments.

Video Storage (S3)

Configure S3 storage for videos:

# .env
VIDEO_DISK_DEFAULT=videos_nyc
VIDEO_DISKS=videos_nyc,videos_fra

# NYC Region
VIDEO_NYC_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
VIDEO_NYC_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
VIDEO_NYC_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
VIDEO_NYC_ENDPOINT=https://nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com
VIDEO_NYC_BUCKET=animethemes-videos-nyc
VIDEO_NYC_VISIBILITY=public

# FRA Region (optional)
VIDEO_FRA_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
VIDEO_FRA_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
VIDEO_FRA_DEFAULT_REGION=eu-central-1
VIDEO_FRA_ENDPOINT=https://fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com
VIDEO_FRA_BUCKET=animethemes-videos-fra
VIDEO_FRA_VISIBILITY=public

Audio Storage (S3)

Configure S3 storage for audio:

# .env
AUDIO_DISK_DEFAULT=audios_nyc
AUDIO_DISKS=audios_nyc,audios_fra

# NYC Region
AUDIO_NYC_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
AUDIO_NYC_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
AUDIO_NYC_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
AUDIO_NYC_ENDPOINT=https://nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com
AUDIO_NYC_BUCKET=animethemes-audio-nyc
AUDIO_NYC_VISIBILITY=public

# FRA Region (optional)
AUDIO_FRA_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
AUDIO_FRA_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
AUDIO_FRA_DEFAULT_REGION=eu-central-1
AUDIO_FRA_ENDPOINT=https://fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com
AUDIO_FRA_BUCKET=animethemes-audio-fra
AUDIO_FRA_VISIBILITY=public

Image Storage (S3)

Configure S3 storage for images:

# .env
IMAGE_DISK=images
IMAGE_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
IMAGE_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
IMAGE_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
IMAGE_ENDPOINT=https://nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com
IMAGE_BUCKET=animethemes-images
IMAGE_VISIBILITY=public
IMAGE_URL=https://animethemes-images.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com

Script Storage (S3)

Configure S3 storage for video encoding scripts:

# .env
SCRIPT_DISK=scripts
SCRIPT_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
SCRIPT_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
SCRIPT_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
SCRIPT_ENDPOINT=https://nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com
SCRIPT_BUCKET=animethemes-scripts
SCRIPT_VISIBILITY=public

Dump Storage (S3)

Configure S3 storage for database dumps:

# .env
DUMP_DISK=dumps
DUMP_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
DUMP_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
DUMP_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
DUMP_ENDPOINT=https://nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com
DUMP_BUCKET=animethemes-dumps
DUMP_VISIBILITY=public

S3 Configuration Options

Option	Description
`ACCESS_KEY_ID`	S3 access key
`SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`	S3 secret key
`DEFAULT_REGION`	S3 region (e.g., `us-east-1`)
`ENDPOINT`	S3 endpoint URL
`BUCKET`	S3 bucket name
`STREAM_READS`	Enable streaming for large files
`DISABLE_ASSERTS`	Disable S3 SDK assertions
`VISIBILITY`	Default file visibility: `public` or `private`

Multi-Disk Configuration

AnimeThemes supports using multiple disks for the same media type. This is useful for:

Geographic distribution: Serve files from the closest region
Load balancing: Distribute traffic across multiple buckets
Redundancy: Store copies in multiple locations

Example: Multiple Video Disks

# .env
VIDEO_DISK_DEFAULT=videos_nyc
VIDEO_DISKS=videos_nyc,videos_fra

The application will:

Use videos_nyc as the default for new uploads
Check both videos_nyc and videos_fra when retrieving files

Media URLs

Configure how media files are accessed:

Subdomain URLs

Serve media from a dedicated subdomain:

# .env
VIDEO_URL=https://v.animethemes.moe
AUDIO_URL=https://a.animethemes.moe

Leave VIDEO_PATH and AUDIO_PATH empty when using subdomain URLs.

Path-based URLs

Serve media from a path on your main domain:

# .env
VIDEO_PATH=/video
AUDIO_PATH=/audio

Leave VIDEO_URL and AUDIO_URL empty when using path-based URLs. Media will be accessible at:

https://animethemes.moe/video/{file}
https://animethemes.moe/audio/{file}

Streaming Methods

Response Streaming

Stream files through the application (default):

# .env
VIDEO_STREAMING_METHOD=response
AUDIO_STREAMING_METHOD=response

This method:

Works with any web server
Allows access control and rate limiting
Adds some overhead to the application server

Nginx Internal Redirect

Stream files directly from Nginx using internal redirects:

# .env
VIDEO_STREAMING_METHOD=nginx
VIDEO_NGINX_REDIRECT=/video_redirect/

AUDIO_STREAMING_METHOD=nginx
AUDIO_NGINX_REDIRECT=/audio_redirect/

Configure Nginx with an internal location:

location /video_redirect/ {
    internal;
    alias /path/to/videos/;
}

location /audio_redirect/ {
    internal;
    alias /path/to/audios/;
}

This method:

Reduces application server load
Requires Nginx configuration
May limit access control options

Storage Operations

Upload Files

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Storage;

// Upload to default video disk
Storage::disk(config('video.default_disk'))
    ->put('filename.webm', $fileContents);

// Upload to specific disk
Storage::disk('videos_nyc')
    ->put('filename.webm', $fileContents);

Retrieve Files

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Storage;

// Get file from default disk
$contents = Storage::disk(config('video.default_disk'))
    ->get('filename.webm');

// Check multiple disks
$disks = config('video.disks');
foreach ($disks as $disk) {
    if (Storage::disk($disk)->exists('filename.webm')) {
        $url = Storage::disk($disk)->url('filename.webm');
        break;
    }
}

Delete Files

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Storage;

// Delete from default disk
Storage::disk(config('video.default_disk'))
    ->delete('filename.webm');

// Delete from all disks
$disks = config('video.disks');
foreach ($disks as $disk) {
    Storage::disk($disk)->delete('filename.webm');
}

CDN Configuration

Use a CDN for better performance and reduced bandwidth costs:

# .env
IMAGE_URL=https://animethemes-images.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com

For DigitalOcean Spaces:

Enable CDN in the Spaces settings
Copy the CDN endpoint URL
Set it as the IMAGE_URL, VIDEO_URL, or AUDIO_URL

For CloudFront or other CDNs:

Create a distribution pointing to your S3 bucket
Set the distribution URL as the media URL

Disk Space Management

Monitor Disk Usage

# Check local storage usage
du -sh storage/app/videos
du -sh storage/app/audios

# Check S3 bucket size (AWS CLI)
aws s3 ls s3://your-bucket --recursive --human-readable --summarize

Clean Up Old Files

Implement a cleanup strategy for old or unused files:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Storage;
use Carbon\Carbon;

// Delete files older than 30 days
$files = Storage::disk('videos_local')->allFiles();
foreach ($files as $file) {
    $lastModified = Storage::disk('videos_local')->lastModified($file);
    if (Carbon::createFromTimestamp($lastModified)->diffInDays() > 30) {
        Storage::disk('videos_local')->delete($file);
    }
}

Troubleshooting

Files not accessible

Verify symbolic links exist:

ls -la public/videos
php artisan storage:link

Check file permissions:

chmod -R 755 storage/app
chmod -R 755 public/videos

Verify disk configuration in config/filesystems.php

S3 connection errors

Verify credentials:

php artisan tinker
Storage::disk('videos_nyc')->files();

Check endpoint and region settings
Verify bucket permissions and CORS settings

Slow file uploads/downloads

Enable STREAM_READS for large files
Use a CDN for downloads
Consider multi-region deployment
Increase PHP upload_max_filesize and post_max_size

Next Steps

Environment Variables

Complete environment variable reference

Media Streaming

Learn about media streaming

Video API

Work with video files

Audio API

Work with audio files

Configuration

Administration

Development

​Overview

​Storage Disks

​Default Disks

​Local Storage

​Configuration

​Symbolic Links

​Local Disk Configuration

​S3 Storage

​Video Storage (S3)

​Audio Storage (S3)

​Image Storage (S3)

​Script Storage (S3)

​Dump Storage (S3)

​S3 Configuration Options

​Multi-Disk Configuration

​Example: Multiple Video Disks

​Media URLs

​Subdomain URLs

​Path-based URLs

​Streaming Methods

​Response Streaming

​Nginx Internal Redirect

​Storage Operations

​Upload Files

​Retrieve Files

​Delete Files

​CDN Configuration

​Disk Space Management

​Monitor Disk Usage

​Clean Up Old Files

​Troubleshooting

​Files not accessible

​S3 connection errors

​Slow file uploads/downloads

​Next Steps

Environment Variables

Media Streaming

Video API

Audio API

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Storage Disks

Default Disks

Local Storage

Configuration

Symbolic Links

Local Disk Configuration

S3 Storage

Video Storage (S3)

Audio Storage (S3)

Image Storage (S3)

Script Storage (S3)

Dump Storage (S3)

S3 Configuration Options

Multi-Disk Configuration

Example: Multiple Video Disks

Media URLs

Subdomain URLs

Path-based URLs

Streaming Methods

Response Streaming

Nginx Internal Redirect

Storage Operations

Upload Files

Retrieve Files

Delete Files

CDN Configuration

Disk Space Management

Monitor Disk Usage

Clean Up Old Files

Troubleshooting

Files not accessible

S3 connection errors

Slow file uploads/downloads

Next Steps