Blog

Deploying and running Laravel, PHP, Node and Swift applications on servers you own: the commands, the configuration, and what goes wrong.

21 October 2026
Security
Patch PHP for CVE-2026-109618 on Ubuntu
Two CVSS 9.2 PHP flaws allow remote code execution. The fixed builds on Ubuntu 24.04 and 26.04, and why PPA PHP never updates itself.
20 October 2026
Operations
Harden a new Ubuntu 24.04 or 26.04 server
A deploy user, SSH keys only, UFW, fail2ban and unattended security upgrades, in the order that cannot lock you out. Tested on Ubuntu 24.04 and 26.04.
20 October 2026
Laravel
Laravel queue workers and Horizon with systemd
Run queue:work and Horizon as systemd services instead of Supervisor: template units, restarts on deploy, journalctl logs and memory limits.
20 October 2026
Laravel
Deploy Laravel to a Hetzner Cloud server
Server types and locations, Cloud Firewall and UFW, cloud-init for PHP-FPM and Nginx, the database, Object Storage backups, snapshots and volumes.
20 October 2026
Laravel
Zero-downtime Laravel deploys with a symlink
Build each release in its own directory, share storage and .env, swap one symlink, health-check the site and roll back on failure. A complete script.
20 October 2026
Laravel
Laravel scheduler cron: setup and fixes
The one crontab line Laravel needs, which user and PHP binary it must use, why it runs by hand but not from cron, and how it fits a release layout.
20 October 2026
Databases
Back up MySQL and Postgres to S3 or R2
A cron script that dumps MySQL or PostgreSQL and uploads it to S3, Cloudflare R2 or Hetzner Object Storage, with retention and a tested restore.
20 October 2026
Laravel
Deploy Laravel to Ubuntu 24.04 or 26.04
Nginx, PHP-FPM, MySQL or Postgres, Composer, permissions, .env, SSL, queue workers and the scheduler: a production Laravel server, step by step.
20 October 2026
Laravel
Nginx config for Laravel, explained
A complete Nginx server block for Laravel with PHP-FPM, explained line by line, with fixes for 404s, "File not found", subdirectories and Reverb.
20 October 2026
Swift
Deploy Vapor or Hummingbird to Ubuntu
Install Swift with swiftly, build Vapor or Hummingbird in release mode, and run it under systemd behind Nginx with TLS and zero-downtime releases.
20 October 2026
Node
Deploy a Node.js app to a VPS with systemd
Run Next.js, Nuxt or any Node server on Ubuntu as a systemd service behind Nginx, with per-project Node versions, restarts, logs and TLS. No PM2.
20 October 2026
Operations
Let's Encrypt with Nginx on Ubuntu 26.04
Install certbot, issue a certificate for Nginx, confirm the renewal timer, and avoid the two-certbots trap. For Ubuntu 26.04 and 24.04.
20 October 2026
Migration
Leaving Heroku for your own server
What Heroku's 2026 change means, and how to move a Laravel or Node app to a VPS: Postgres, Redis, workers, scheduler, config vars and DNS, in order.

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