Installation — VPS with Docker

Traffic Exchange Script ships with a complete Docker setup — a Dockerfile for the application container and a docker-compose.yml that spins up the full stack (app, Nginx, MySQL, Redis, and a local mail catcher). This is the recommended approach for VPS deployments.

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What’s Included

File	Purpose
Dockerfile	Builds the PHP 8.3-FPM application image with all required extensions
docker-compose.yml	Defines the full stack: app, web (Nginx), db (MySQL 8), redis, mailpit
docker/nginx/default.conf	Nginx configuration for the web container

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Services in docker-compose.yml

Service	Image	Description
app	Built from Dockerfile	PHP 8.3-FPM application
web	nginx:1.27-alpine	Nginx web server, exposes port 80
db	mysql:8.0	MySQL database
redis	redis:7-alpine	Redis for cache, queues, sessions
mailpit	axllent/mailpit	Local email catcher for development (port 8025)

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Quick Start (Development)

# Clone or upload the script to your server
cd /path/to/traffic-exchange-script

# Copy and configure the environment file
cp .env.example .env
nano .env   # Fill in APP_KEY, DB_*, TE_LICENSE_KEY, etc.

# Build and start the containers
docker compose up -d --build

# Generate the app key
docker compose exec app php artisan key:generate

# Run migrations and seed
docker compose exec app php artisan migrate --seed

# Create the storage symlink
docker compose exec app php artisan storage:link

Your site will be available at http://localhost (or your server’s IP on port 80).

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Environment Variables for Docker

The docker-compose.yml passes several variables from your .env to the containers. When using Docker, set these in .env:

APP_PORT=80                  # Host port for the Nginx web container
DB_DATABASE=traffic_exchange
DB_USERNAME=te_user
DB_PASSWORD=secret
DB_ROOT_PASSWORD=rootsecret
REDIS_PORT=6379
MAILPIT_PORT=8025

# DB and Redis host names match service names in docker-compose.yml
DB_HOST=db
REDIS_HOST=redis

# Queue and cache use Redis in VPS mode
QUEUE_CONNECTION=redis
CACHE_STORE=redis
SESSION_DRIVER=redis

TE_HOSTING_MODE=vps

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Running Queue Workers in Docker

The docker-compose.yml does not include a dedicated queue worker container by default. You have two options:

Option A — Add a worker service to docker-compose.yml:

  worker:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    container_name: te_worker
    restart: unless-stopped
    working_dir: /var/www/html
    volumes:
      - .:/var/www/html
      - /var/www/html/vendor
    command: php artisan queue:work redis --sleep=3 --tries=3 --max-time=3600
    depends_on:
      - db
      - redis
    networks:
      - te_network

Option B — Run the worker directly in the app container:

docker compose exec -d app php artisan queue:work redis --sleep=3 --tries=3

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Scheduler in Docker

Add a cron job on the host system (not inside the container) to run the Laravel scheduler:

crontab -e

* * * * * docker exec te_app php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

Replace te_app with your app container name if it differs.

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Production Deployment on VPS

For production, extend this setup with:

1. SSL termination — Run Nginx (or Traefik/Caddy) on the host in front of the Docker Nginx container, or mount SSL certificates into the web container. Let’s Encrypt via Certbot works well on the host.

2. Reverb WebSocket — Add a Reverb service or run it inside the app container: bash docker compose exec -d app php artisan reverb:start --host=0.0.0.0 --port=8080

3. Persistent volumes — The docker-compose.yml already defines named volumes (te_db_data, te_redis_data). Ensure these are backed up regularly. Also mount ./storage as a volume to persist uploaded files.

4. Remove Mailpit — In production, remove the mailpit service and configure real SMTP credentials in .env.

5. Health checks — The MySQL service has a built-in health check. The app service starts only after db is healthy.

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PHP Extensions Included in the Dockerfile

The Dockerfile installs these extensions:

Extension	Purpose
bcmath	Arbitrary precision math
exif	Image metadata
gd	Image processing
intl	Internationalisation
mbstring	Multi-byte string handling
pdo_mysql	MySQL database driver
zip	Archive support
redis (PECL)	Redis client

If you require additional extensions, add them to the Dockerfile‘s docker-php-ext-install block and rebuild.

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Useful Docker Commands

# View running containers
docker compose ps

# View application logs
docker compose logs -f app

# Run an artisan command
docker compose exec app php artisan {command}

# Access the database
docker compose exec db mysql -u te_user -p traffic_exchange

# Rebuild after code changes
docker compose up -d --build

# Stop all containers
docker compose down

# Stop and remove volumes (DESTROYS DATA)
docker compose down -v

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Traditional VPS (Without Docker)

If you prefer a traditional setup without Docker, follow the VPS Installation guide. Docker is recommended but not required — the script runs on any standard PHP 8.3 + Nginx/Apache + MySQL stack.

Screenshots