Modern PHP

Chapter 7. Provisioning

After you choose a host for your application, it’s time to configure and provision the server for your PHP application. I’ll be honest—provisioning a server is an art, not a science. How you provision your server depends entirely on your application’s needs.

Note

If you use a PaaS, your server infrastructure is managed by the PaaS provider. All you have to do is follow the provider’s instructions to move your PHP application onto their platform, and you’re ready to go.

If you don’t use a PaaS, you must provision either a VPS or dedicated server to run your PHP application. Provisioning a server is not as hard as it sounds (stop laughing), but it does require familiarity with the command line. If the command line is alien to you, you’re better off with a PaaS like Engine Yard or Heroku.

I don’t consider myself a system administrator. However, basic system adminstration is an incredibly valuable skill for application developers that enables more flexible and robust application development. In this chapter, I’ll share my system administration knowledge so you can feel comfortable opening a terminal to provision a server for your PHP application. Afterward, I’ll suggest a few additional resources for you to continue improving your system administration skills.

Note

In this chapter, I assume you know how to edit a text file using a command-line editor like nano or vim (these are available on most Linux distributions). Otherwise, you’ll ...