Deploying Laratine Template to Fly.io: A Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

One afternoon, while waiting for my wife to finish shopping, I found myself in a coffee shop contemplating how to streamline my development workflow. My goal was simple: create a template for deploying Laravel applications to Fly.io that would accelerate future product launches.

Why Fly.io? The platform’s simplicity in deployment allows developers to minimize DevOps overhead and focus more on application development. Their straightforward approach to cloud deployment has made it my go-to choice for hosting. You can learn more about their services in their official documentation.

During my exploration, I discovered Laratine—a Laravel template that integrates React through Inertia.js. This combination particularly appealed to me as it leverages React for the frontend, a technology I’m deeply familiar with, while maintaining Laravel’s robust backend capabilities. The result is a perfect stack for rapid application development. This guide documents my process of deploying the Laratine template to Fly.io, transforming what started as a coffee shop experiment into a reusable deployment workflow.

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Prerequisites

Fly CLI installed and configured
Git installed
Basic knowledge of Laravel and React
Familiarity with command line operations

Deployment Steps

1. Create PostgreSQL Database

First, create a PostgreSQL database instance that will be used by your Laravel application:

fly postgres create

Important: Take note of the database credentials provided after creation. You’ll need these for the environment configuration.

2. Clone the Laratine Template

Clone the Laratine repository and navigate to the project directory:

git clone https://github.com/itamarack/laratine
cd laratine

3. Configure Fly.toml

Initialize your Fly.io configuration without deploying:

fly launch

When prompted, choose not to deploy immediately. Instead, update the generated fly.toml file with your PostgreSQL credentials. Add the following configuration under the [env] section:

[env]
  APP_ENV = 'production'
  LOG_CHANNEL = 'stderr'
  LOG_LEVEL = 'info'
  LOG_STDERR_FORMATTER = 'Monolog\Formatter\JsonFormatter'
  SESSION_DRIVER = 'cookie'
  SESSION_SECURE_COOKIE = 'true'
  DB_CONNECTION = 'pgsql'
  DB_HOST = 'devpostgres.internal'
  DB_PORT = 5433
  DB_DATABASE = 'postgres'
  DB_USERNAME = 'postgres'
  DB_PASSWORD = 'your_password'

Note: The default PostgreSQL database name is postgres. Use this value for DB_DATABASE unless you’ve specifically created a different database.

4. Deploy the Application

Deploy your application using:

fly deploy

Follow the prompts, accepting the default options unless you have specific configuration requirements.

5. Run Migrations and Seeders

After successful deployment, connect to your application instance and run migrations and seeders:

fly ssh console

Once connected, execute:

php artisan migrate
php artisan db:seed

6. Verify Deployment

Access your deployed application using the URL provided by Fly.io (typically https://your-app-name.fly.dev).

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues:

Verify your PostgreSQL credentials in the fly.toml file
Check the application logs using fly logs
Ensure all environment variables are properly set
Confirm that the database migration completed successfully

Conclusion

You now have a fully deployed Laratine application running on Fly.io. This setup provides a solid foundation for rapid development, combining Laravel’s backend capabilities with React’s frontend flexibility.

For more information about Fly.io features and configuration options, visit their official documentation.

Deploying Laratine Template to Fly.io - A Step-by-Step Guide