Installation

This guide walks you through installing and configuring AnimeThemes Server on your local machine or server.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

PHP 8.5

Required PHP version with modern features

MySQL 8+

Relational database for data storage

Composer

PHP dependency manager

Web Server

Laravel Herd, Apache, or Nginx

A LAMP stack like XAMPP can provide Apache, MySQL, and PHP together. Alternatively, use Laravel Herd for a simpler setup.

PHP configuration

Before installing, verify your PHP configuration has the required extensions enabled in php.ini:

Enable required extensions

Open your php.ini file and ensure these extensions are enabled:

php.ini

extension=fileinfo  ; Needed to detect MIME types during seeding
extension=gd        ; Needed to process image files
extension=pdo_mysql ; Needed for MySQL database connection
extension=intl      ; Needed for internationalization

On Windows, uncomment the lines by removing the ; prefix. On Linux/Mac, these extensions are usually enabled by default.

Configure upload limits

To support video uploads, increase the upload size limits:

php.ini

post_max_size = 200M
upload_max_filesize = 200M

After modifying php.ini, restart your web server for changes to take effect.

Clone the repository

Clone the AnimeThemes Server repository from GitHub:

Terminal

git clone [email protected]:AnimeThemes/animethemes-server.git
cd animethemes-server

If you don’t have SSH keys set up with GitHub, use HTTPS instead:

git clone https://github.com/AnimeThemes/animethemes-server.git

Create the database

Create a MySQL database for AnimeThemes:

Terminal

mysql -h localhost -u root -p -e "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS \`animethemes\` CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;"

When prompted, enter your MySQL root password.

The database uses utf8mb4_unicode_ci collation to support international characters and emoji.

Install dependencies and set up

Run the automated setup command to install dependencies, configure the environment, and seed the database:

Terminal

composer setup

This command performs the following actions:

Installs PHP dependencies via Composer
Copies .env.example to .env if it doesn’t exist
Generates an application key
Runs database migrations
Seeds the database with initial data
Optimizes the application

The setup process may take several minutes depending on your system and internet connection.

Configure environment variables

Open the .env file and configure your environment:

.env

# Application
APP_NAME=AnimeThemes
APP_ENV=local
APP_DEBUG=true
APP_URL=http://animethemes.test

# Database
DB_CONNECTION=mysql_prod
DB_HOST_READ=127.0.0.1
DB_HOST_WRITE=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=animethemes
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=your_password_here

# API
API_PATH=/api
API_URL=http://animethemes.test/api

# GraphQL
GRAPHQL_PATH=/graphql
GRAPHQL_URL=http://animethemes.test/graphql
GRAPHIQL_ENABLED=true

# Admin Panel
FILAMENT_PATH=admin
FILAMENT_URL=http://animethemes.test/admin

Never commit your .env file to version control. It contains sensitive credentials.

Web server configuration

Choose your preferred web server setup:

Laravel Herd
Apache
Nginx

Laravel Herd provides the simplest setup experience:

Install Laravel Herd

Download and install Laravel Herd for your operating system.

Link the project

In your project directory, run:

Terminal

herd link animethemes.test

This creates a local domain for your application.

Access the application

Visit http://animethemes.test in your browser.

Herd automatically serves your application on port 80 and handles PHP execution.

Configure Apache to serve the application:

Create virtual host

Create a new virtual host configuration file:

/etc/apache2/sites-available/animethemes.conf

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName animethemes.test
    DocumentRoot /path/to/animethemes-server/public

    <Directory /path/to/animethemes-server/public>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/animethemes_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/animethemes_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Enable the site

Enable the virtual host and rewrite module:

Terminal

sudo a2ensite animethemes.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Add to hosts file

Add the domain to /etc/hosts:

/etc/hosts

127.0.0.1 animethemes.test

Configure Nginx to serve the application:

Create server block

Create an Nginx server block:

/etc/nginx/sites-available/animethemes

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name animethemes.test;
    root /path/to/animethemes-server/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/php8.5-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $realpath_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }

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

Enable the site

Enable the site and restart Nginx:

Terminal

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/animethemes /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Add to hosts file

Add the domain to /etc/hosts:

/etc/hosts

127.0.0.1 animethemes.test

Local storage configuration

By default, AnimeThemes stores media files locally. Configure local storage disks in your .env file:

.env

# Audio storage
AUDIO_DISK_DEFAULT=audios_local
AUDIO_DISKS=audios_local
AUDIO_DISK_ROOT=  # Optional: specify custom directory

# Video storage
VIDEO_DISK_DEFAULT=videos_local
VIDEO_DISKS=videos_local
VIDEO_DISK_ROOT=  # Optional: specify custom directory

# Image storage
IMAGE_DISK=images_local
IMAGE_DISK_ROOT=  # Optional: specify custom directory

# Database dumps
DUMP_DISK=dumps_local
DUMP_DISK_ROOT=  # Optional: specify custom directory

# Scripts
SCRIPT_DISK=scripts_local
SCRIPT_DISK_ROOT=  # Optional: specify custom directory

Create symbolic links to make storage directories accessible:

Terminal

php artisan storage:link

If you store media files in an external directory, set the *_DISK_ROOT variables to the full path. Add a .gitignore file in the media directory to prevent Git from indexing large files.

Create an admin user

To access the admin panel, create a user with admin privileges:

Open Laravel Tinker

Terminal

php artisan tinker

Create the user

Tinker

$user = User::factory()->create([
    'name' => 'Admin User',
    'email' => '[email protected]',
    'password' => 'password',
    'email_verified_at' => now()
]);

Assign admin role

Tinker

$user->assignRole('Admin');

The Admin role grants full permissions to all resources and actions.

Exit Tinker

Press Ctrl+C or type exit to leave Tinker.

You can now log in to the admin panel at http://animethemes.test/admin with your credentials.

Optional: Elasticsearch setup

For advanced search capabilities, configure Elasticsearch:

Install Elasticsearch

Follow the Elasticsearch installation guide for your platform.

Configure connection

Update your .env file:

.env

SCOUT_DRIVER=elastic
ELASTIC_HOST=http://localhost:9200
ELASTIC_CONNECTION=default

Run migrations

Create Elasticsearch indices:

Terminal

php artisan elastic:migrate

Import models

Seed the indices with existing data:

Terminal

php artisan db:seed --class="Database\Seeders\Scout\ImportModelsSeeder"

This process may take several minutes for large datasets.

Verification

Verify your installation is working correctly:

Test the web interface

Visit http://animethemes.test in your browser. You should see the AnimeThemes homepage.

Test the REST API

Make a request to the API:

Terminal

curl http://animethemes.test/api/anime

You should receive a JSON response with anime data.

Test GraphQL

Visit http://animethemes.test/graphql to access GraphiQL, the GraphQL IDE.Try this query:

{
  anime(first: 5) {
    data {
      name
      year
    }
  }
}

Test the admin panel

Visit http://animethemes.test/admin and log in with your admin credentials.You should be able to access the resource management interface.

Troubleshooting

500 Internal Server Error

Check the Laravel logs:

Terminal

tail -f storage/logs/laravel.log

Common causes:

Missing .env file: Run cp .env.example .env
Missing application key: Run php artisan key:generate
Incorrect file permissions: Run chmod -R 775 storage bootstrap/cache

Database connection errors

Verify your database credentials in .env:

Check DB_HOST, DB_PORT, DB_DATABASE, DB_USERNAME, and DB_PASSWORD
Ensure MySQL is running: sudo systemctl status mysql
Test the connection: php artisan db:show

Composer errors

If Composer fails to install dependencies:

Update Composer: composer self-update
Clear Composer cache: composer clear-cache
Install with verbose output: composer install -vvv

Permission denied errors

Ensure the web server has write permissions:

Terminal

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data storage bootstrap/cache
sudo chmod -R 775 storage bootstrap/cache

Replace www-data with your web server user if different.

Next steps

Feature flags

Enable or disable features like video streaming and search

Environment configuration

Learn about all available environment variables

Admin panel

Explore the Filament admin interface

Contributing

Contribute to AnimeThemes Server development

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Authentication

Installation

Prerequisites

PHP 8.5

MySQL 8+

Composer

Web Server

PHP configuration

Installation

Web server configuration

Local storage configuration

Create an admin user

Optional: Elasticsearch setup

Verification

Troubleshooting

Next steps

Feature flags

Environment configuration

Admin panel

Contributing

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Authentication

​Prerequisites

PHP 8.5

MySQL 8+

Composer

Web Server

​PHP configuration

​Installation

​Web server configuration

​Local storage configuration

​Create an admin user

​Optional: Elasticsearch setup

​Verification

​Troubleshooting

​Next steps

Feature flags

Environment configuration

Admin panel

Contributing

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Prerequisites

PHP configuration

Installation

Web server configuration

Local storage configuration

Create an admin user

Optional: Elasticsearch setup

Verification

Troubleshooting

Next steps