Configuration

Environment configuration

LaraCMS uses a .env file to store environment-specific configuration. This file is created from .env.example during installation and should never be committed to version control.

Never commit your .env file to version control. It contains sensitive information like API keys and database credentials.

Application settings

Basic configuration

These are the fundamental settings for your LaraCMS installation:

.env

APP_NAME="LaraCMS"
APP_ENV=local
APP_KEY=base64:your-generated-key
APP_DEBUG=true
APP_URL=http://localhost:8000

APP_NAME

string

default:"Laravel"

The name of your application, displayed in emails and the admin interface

APP_ENV

string

default:"local"

The environment your application is running in: local, staging, or production

APP_KEY

string

required

Application encryption key. Generate with php artisan key:generate

APP_DEBUG

boolean

default:"true"

Enable detailed error messages. Set to false in production

APP_URL

string

required

The base URL of your application. Used for generating links and sitemaps

Localization

.env

APP_LOCALE=en
APP_FALLBACK_LOCALE=en
APP_FAKER_LOCALE=en_US

APP_LOCALE

string

default:"en"

Default language for your application

APP_FALLBACK_LOCALE

string

default:"en"

Fallback language when translations are missing

APP_FAKER_LOCALE

string

default:"en_US"

Locale for generating fake data in development and testing

Database configuration

LaraCMS supports multiple database systems. Choose the one that best fits your needs.

SQLite
MySQL
PostgreSQL
SQL Server

SQLite is the default database, perfect for development and small deployments:

.env

DB_CONNECTION=sqlite

When using SQLite, other database variables (HOST, PORT, etc.) are ignored. Just ensure the database/database.sqlite file exists.

For MySQL databases:

.env

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=laracms
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=your-password

For PostgreSQL databases:

.env

DB_CONNECTION=pgsql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=5432
DB_DATABASE=laracms
DB_USERNAME=postgres
DB_PASSWORD=your-password

For Microsoft SQL Server:

.env

DB_CONNECTION=sqlsrv
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=1433
DB_DATABASE=laracms
DB_USERNAME=sa
DB_PASSWORD=your-password

Session and cache

Session configuration

.env

SESSION_DRIVER=database
SESSION_LIFETIME=120
SESSION_ENCRYPT=false
SESSION_PATH=/
SESSION_DOMAIN=null

SESSION_DRIVER

string

default:"database"

Where sessions are stored: file, cookie, database, memcached, redis

SESSION_LIFETIME

integer

default:"120"

Session lifetime in minutes

Using database for sessions is recommended for production as it’s more reliable and allows session management across multiple servers.

Cache configuration

.env

CACHE_STORE=database
QUEUE_CONNECTION=database

CACHE_STORE

string

default:"database"

Cache driver: file, database, memcached, redis

QUEUE_CONNECTION

string

default:"database"

Queue driver for background jobs: sync, database, redis, sqs

Mail configuration

Configure email sending for user notifications and password resets:

.env

MAIL_MAILER=log
MAIL_HOST=127.0.0.1
MAIL_PORT=2525
MAIL_USERNAME=null
MAIL_PASSWORD=null
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS="[email protected]"
MAIL_FROM_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

MAIL_MAILER

string

default:"log"

Mail driver: smtp, sendmail, mailgun, ses, postmark, log

The log driver is useful for development - emails are written to storage/logs/laravel.log instead of being sent.

SMTP
Mailgun
Amazon SES

For standard SMTP servers:

.env

MAIL_MAILER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=smtp.mailtrap.io
MAIL_PORT=2525
MAIL_USERNAME=your-username
MAIL_PASSWORD=your-password
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=tls
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS="[email protected]"
MAIL_FROM_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

For Mailgun:

.env

MAIL_MAILER=mailgun
MAILGUN_DOMAIN=your-domain.com
MAILGUN_SECRET=your-api-key
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS="[email protected]"
MAIL_FROM_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

For Amazon SES:

.env

MAIL_MAILER=ses
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-key-id
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS="[email protected]"
MAIL_FROM_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

Media library

Configure media storage and processing:

.env

FILESYSTEM_DISK=local
MEDIA_DISK=public

FILESYSTEM_DISK

string

default:"local"

Default filesystem disk: local, public, s3

MEDIA_DISK

string

default:"public"

Disk for media library files (uses Spatie Media Library)

The media library configuration is located in config/media-library.php:

config/media-library.php

'disk_name' => env('MEDIA_DISK', 'public'),
'max_file_size' => 1024 * 1024 * 10, // 10MB
'queue_conversions_by_default' => true,

The default maximum file size is 10MB. Increase this if you need to upload larger images:

'max_file_size' => 1024 * 1024 * 50, // 50MB

Amazon S3 storage

For cloud storage using Amazon S3:

.env

FILESYSTEM_DISK=s3
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-key-id
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
AWS_BUCKET=your-bucket-name
AWS_USE_PATH_STYLE_ENDPOINT=false

Security services

Laravel Nightwatch

Nightwatch provides application monitoring and error tracking:

.env

NIGHTWATCH_TOKEN=your-api-key

NIGHTWATCH_TOKEN

string

Your Nightwatch API token for application monitoring

Get your Nightwatch token from nightwatch.io after creating an account.

Cloudflare Turnstile

Turnstile provides bot protection for forms:

.env

TURNSTILE_SITE_KEY="your-site-key"
TURNSTILE_SECRET_KEY="your-secret-key"

TURNSTILE_SITE_KEY

string

Public site key from Cloudflare Turnstile dashboard

TURNSTILE_SECRET_KEY

string

Secret key from Cloudflare Turnstile dashboard

The default values (1x00000000000000000000AA and 2x0000000000000000000000000000000AA) are Cloudflare’s test keys that always pass validation. Replace them with real keys in production.

.env

COOKIEBOT_ID=your-cookiebot-id

COOKIEBOT_ID

string

Your Cookiebot domain group ID for GDPR cookie consent

Performance optimization

PHP configuration

.env

PHP_CLI_SERVER_WORKERS=4
BCRYPT_ROUNDS=12

PHP_CLI_SERVER_WORKERS

integer

default:"4"

Number of worker processes for PHP’s built-in server

BCRYPT_ROUNDS

integer

default:"12"

Password hashing complexity. Higher is more secure but slower

Logging

.env

LOG_CHANNEL=stack
LOG_STACK=single
LOG_DEPRECATIONS_CHANNEL=null
LOG_LEVEL=debug

LOG_LEVEL

string

default:"debug"

Minimum log level: debug, info, notice, warning, error, critical

In production, set LOG_LEVEL=error to reduce log file size and improve performance.

Queue workers

The queue system processes background jobs for media conversions and email sending:

.env

QUEUE_CONNECTION=database
MEDIA_QUEUE=

Start the queue worker:

php artisan queue:listen --tries=1

For production, use a process supervisor like Supervisor to keep the queue worker running.

Vite configuration

Frontend asset building is configured in vite.config.js:

vite.config.js

import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import laravel from 'laravel-vite-plugin';

export default defineConfig({
    plugins: [
        laravel({
            input: ['resources/css/app.css', 'resources/js/app.js'],
            refresh: true,
        }),
    ],
});

.env

VITE_APP_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

Getting Started

Core Features

User Management

Admin Panel

Advanced

Environment configuration

Application settings

Basic configuration

Localization

Database configuration

Session and cache

Session configuration

Cache configuration

Mail configuration

Media library

Amazon S3 storage

Security services

Laravel Nightwatch

Cloudflare Turnstile

Performance optimization

PHP configuration

Logging

Queue workers

Vite configuration

Next steps

First steps

Admin panel

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Getting Started

Core Features

User Management

Admin Panel

Advanced

​Environment configuration

​Application settings

​Basic configuration

​Localization

​Database configuration

​Session and cache

​Session configuration

​Cache configuration

​Mail configuration

​Media library

​Amazon S3 storage

​Security services

​Laravel Nightwatch

​Cloudflare Turnstile

​Cookie consent

​Performance optimization

​PHP configuration

​Logging

​Queue workers

​Vite configuration

​Next steps

First steps

Admin panel

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Environment configuration

Application settings

Basic configuration

Localization

Database configuration

Session and cache

Session configuration

Cache configuration

Mail configuration

Media library

Amazon S3 storage

Security services

Laravel Nightwatch

Cloudflare Turnstile

Cookie consent

Performance optimization

PHP configuration

Logging

Queue workers

Vite configuration

Next steps