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# Server Storage Setup Guide

Complete guide to setting up static storage access for blog images on your production server.

## Quick Start

### On Linux/Mac (SSH)

Run this command on your server to create the storage symlink:

```bash
cd /path/to/your/laravel/app
php artisan storage:link
```

That's it! Your images will now be accessible at `https://yourdomain.com/storage/blog-posts/filename.jpg`

---

## Server-Specific Instructions

### 1. **Linux/Mac Servers (Recommended)**

#### Via SSH/Terminal:

```bash
# SSH into your server
ssh user@your-server.com

# Navigate to your Laravel app directory
cd /var/www/html/smart_link
# or wherever your Laravel app is installed

# Create the storage symlink
php artisan storage:link

# Verify it was created
ls -la public/ | grep storage
```

**Output should show:**
```
lrwxrwxrwx  1 user user  46 Jan 26 10:30 storage -> /var/www/html/smart_link/storage/app/public
```

#### Via Hosting Control Panel (cPanel/Plesk):

1. **Log in to cPanel/Plesk**
2. Go to **File Manager**
3. Navigate to your Laravel app's root directory
4. Open **Terminal** (or use SSH from control panel)
5. Run:
   ```bash
   php artisan storage:link
   ```

#### Troubleshooting Linux:

If you get permission errors:

```bash
# Fix permissions
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/smart_link
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/smart_link
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/smart_link/storage
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/smart_link/public

# Then create the symlink
php artisan storage:link
```

---

### 2. **Windows Server (IIS)**

#### Option A: Using PowerShell (Recommended)

1. **Open PowerShell as Administrator**
2. Navigate to your Laravel app:
   ```powershell
   cd "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\smart_link"
   ```
3. Create the symlink:
   ```powershell
   php artisan storage:link
   ```

#### Option B: Manual Symlink Creation

If `artisan storage:link` doesn't work:

1. **Open PowerShell as Administrator**
2. Run:
   ```powershell
   New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\smart_link\public\storage" -Target "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\smart_link\storage\app\public"
   ```

#### Option C: Using Command Prompt

1. **Open Command Prompt as Administrator**
2. Run:
   ```cmd
   mklink /D "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\smart_link\public\storage" "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\smart_link\storage\app\public"
   ```

#### IIS Configuration

Make sure IIS has proper permissions:

1. Open **Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager**
2. Find your website
3. Right-click → **Edit Permissions**
4. Go to **Security** tab
5. Ensure **IUSR** and **IIS_IUSRS** have **Read** and **Read & Execute** permissions
6. Click **Apply**

---

### 3. **Shared Hosting (GoDaddy, NameCheap, Bluehost, etc.)**

#### Via File Manager:

**NOT RECOMMENDED** - Most shared hosting doesn't support symlinks via File Manager

#### Via SSH Terminal:

1. Log in to your hosting control panel
2. Go to **File Manager** or **SSH Terminal**
3. Navigate to your app:
   ```bash
   cd ~/public_html/smart_link
   # or
   cd ~/domains/yourdomain.com
   ```
4. Run:
   ```bash
   php artisan storage:link
   ```

#### If Symlinks Don't Work (Fallback):

Some shared hosts disable symlinks. Use this fallback:

1. Create a **symbolic link manually** via FTP:
   - Create directory: `/public_html/storage`
   - Upload files from `/storage/app/public` to `/public_html/storage`

2. **OR** update your `.htaccess` to redirect:
   ```apache
   RewriteRule ^storage/(.*)$ storage/app/public/$1 [L]
   ```

3. **OR** use this PHP redirect in `public/storage/index.php`:
   ```php
   <?php
   $file = __DIR__ . '/../storage/app/public/' . $_REQUEST['file'] ?? '';
   if (file_exists($file)) {
       header('Content-Type: ' . mime_content_type($file));
       readfile($file);
   } else {
       header('HTTP/1.0 404 Not Found');
       echo 'File not found';
   }
   ```

---

### 4. **Docker Deployment**

#### In Your Dockerfile:

```dockerfile
FROM php:8.2-fpm

# ... other setup ...

# Create storage symlink
RUN php artisan storage:link

EXPOSE 9000
CMD ["php-fpm"]
```

#### In Docker Compose:

```yaml
version: '3.8'

services:
  app:
    build: .
    volumes:
      - ./:/var/www/html
      - ./storage/app/public:/var/www/html/public/storage
    environment:
      - APP_ENV=production

nginx:
    image: nginx:latest
    ports:
      - "80:80"
    volumes:
      - ./public:/var/www/html/public
      - ./storage/app/public:/var/www/html/public/storage
```

#### After Deploying:

```bash
# SSH into the container
docker exec -it container_name bash

# Create symlink
php artisan storage:link
```

---

### 5. **Heroku**

**Heroku has ephemeral storage**, so symlinks won't persist between deployments.

#### Solution A: Use Cloud Storage (Recommended)

1. Set up AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, or DigitalOcean Spaces
2. Update `.env`:
   ```
   FILESYSTEM_DRIVER=s3
   AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your_key
   AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your_secret
   AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
   AWS_BUCKET=your-bucket
   ```

#### Solution B: Create Symlink in Procfile

1. Create/edit `Procfile`:
   ```
   release: php artisan storage:link
   web: vendor/bin/heroku-php-apache2 public/
   ```

2. Deploy:
   ```bash
   git push heroku main
   ```

---

### 6. **DigitalOcean / Linode / Vultr**

#### Via SSH:

```bash
# SSH into your server
ssh root@your-server-ip

# Navigate to app
cd /var/www/smart_link

# Create symlink
php artisan storage:link

# Fix permissions
chmod -R 775 storage/
chmod -R 775 public/storage
chown -R www-data:www-data storage/
chown -R www-data:www-data public/storage
```

#### Using DigitalOcean App Platform:

1. Add to your `app.yaml`:
   ```yaml
   services:
     - name: laravel
       github:
         repo: your-repo
       build_command: composer install && php artisan migrate && php artisan storage:link
   ```

---

### 7. **AWS EC2**

```bash
# SSH into instance
ssh -i your-key.pem ubuntu@your-instance-ip

# Navigate to app
cd /var/www/smart_link

# Create symlink
php artisan storage:link

# Fix permissions
sudo chown -R ubuntu:ubuntu /var/www/smart_link
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/smart_link/storage
```

---

### 8. **Laravel Forge**

Forge handles symlinks automatically! Just deploy your app normally:

1. Log in to **Laravel Forge**
2. Create a new server (or use existing)
3. Create a new site
4. In **Quick Deploy** section, paste your GitHub repo URL
5. Forge automatically runs:
   - `composer install`
   - `php artisan migrate`
   - `php artisan storage:link`

If for some reason it doesn't:

1. Go to your site
2. Click **SSH**
3. Run:
   ```bash
   php artisan storage:link
   ```

---

### 9. **Laravel Sail (Local Development)**

For Docker-based local development:

```bash
# Build containers
./vendor/bin/sail up -d

# Run storage:link inside container
./vendor/bin/sail artisan storage:link

# Or access the container directly
docker exec -it sail-app php artisan storage:link
```

---

## Verify Storage Symlink

### Check if Symlink Exists

**On Linux/Mac:**
```bash
ls -la public/ | grep storage
# Should show: storage -> /path/to/storage/app/public
```

**On Windows (PowerShell):**
```powershell
Get-Item "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\smart_link\public\storage" | Select-Object -Property FullName, Target
```

### Test File Access

1. Upload a test image via your dashboard
2. Check the response to get the filename
3. Visit the URL directly:
   ```
   https://yourdomain.com/storage/blog-posts/test-filename.jpg
   ```
4. Should show the image, not redirect to home

---

## Troubleshooting

### Symlink Not Working

#### On Linux:

```bash
# Check if symlink was created
ls -la public/

# If not, manually create it
ln -s /var/www/html/smart_link/storage/app/public /var/www/html/smart_link/public/storage

# Verify
ls -la public/storage
```

#### On Windows:

```powershell
# Check if symlink exists
dir C:\inetpub\wwwroot\smart_link\public | findstr storage

# If not, create it manually
New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\smart_link\public\storage" -Target "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\smart_link\storage\app\public" -Force
```

### Images Still Redirecting to Home

**Cause:** Web server isn't serving the file directly

**Solution:**

1. **Check file permissions:**
   ```bash
   chmod 644 storage/app/public/blog-posts/*
   chmod 755 storage/app/public/blog-posts/
   ```

2. **Check web server configuration:**
   - Make sure `public/storage` is being served as a static directory
   - Not being rewritten by any routes

3. **Check `.htaccess`:**
   ```apache
   # In public/.htaccess
   <IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
       RewriteEngine On
       RewriteRule ^index\.html$ - [L]
       RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
       RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
       RewriteRule . index.php [L]
   </IfModule>
   ```

The `!-f` and `!-d` rules should prevent rewriting actual files/directories.

4. **Check nginx configuration** (if using nginx):
   ```nginx
   location ~ /storage/(.*)$ {
       try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
   }
   ```

### 403 Forbidden Error

**Cause:** Web server doesn't have read permissions

**Solution:**
```bash
# Fix ownership
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/smart_link/storage
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/smart_link/public/storage

# Fix permissions
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/smart_link/storage
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/smart_link/public/storage
```

### 404 Not Found Error

**Cause:** Storage directory doesn't exist or symlink is broken

**Solution:**
```bash
# Check if storage/app/public exists
ls -la storage/app/public/

# Check if symlink is valid
readlink public/storage

# If broken, recreate
php artisan storage:link
```

---

## After Setup

### Verify in Your App

1. **Create a test blog post with an image**
2. **Check the database** for the featured_image filename
3. **Test the API response**:
   ```bash
   curl https://yourdomain.com/api/v1/blogs/recent
   ```
4. **Visit the image URL directly**:
   ```
   https://yourdomain.com/storage/blog-posts/filename.jpg
   ```

### Monitor Storage Growth

```bash
# Check storage usage
du -sh storage/app/public/

# List all blog post images
ls -lh storage/app/public/blog-posts/

# Count total files
find storage/app/public/blog-posts -type f | wc -l
```

---

## Security Considerations

### Restrict File Types

Update `app/Livewire/Apps/Tabs/Blog.php`:

```php
'featured_image' => 'nullable|image|max:2048|mimes:jpeg,png,webp,gif',
```

### Prevent Direct Access to Sensitive Files

Only allow serving from specific subdirectories. Add to `.htaccess`:

```apache
<FilesMatch "\.(php|sh|pl|py)$">
    Order Deny,Allow
    Deny from all
</FilesMatch>
```

### Enable CORS for CDN

If using a CDN or external domain:

```php
// In your route or middleware
header('Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *');
header('Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, HEAD, OPTIONS');
```

---

## Production Checklist

- [ ] Create storage symlink: `php artisan storage:link`
- [ ] Verify symlink exists: `ls -la public/storage`
- [ ] Test image upload via dashboard
- [ ] Test API response contains correct image URL
- [ ] Test direct image access via browser
- [ ] Check file permissions (644 for files, 755 for directories)
- [ ] Check web server is serving static files correctly
- [ ] Set up automated backups for `storage/app/public/`
- [ ] Monitor storage disk usage
- [ ] Set up image cleanup policy for deleted posts