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Configuration

This guide covers the essential environment variables and configuration options for Open Core Business Suite.

Environment File​

All configuration is managed through the .env file in your application root. Copy the example file if you haven't already:

cp .env.example .env

Application Settings​

Core Settings​

# Application name (displayed in browser title and emails)
APP_NAME="Open Core BS"

# Environment: local, staging, production
APP_ENV=production

# Application encryption key (generated by php artisan key:generate)
APP_KEY=

# Debug mode - set to false in production
APP_DEBUG=false

# Default timezone for the application
APP_TIMEZONE="Asia/Kolkata"

# Your application URL (no trailing slash)
APP_URL=https://yourdomain.com

# Demo mode - displays purchase/addon links banner
APP_DEMO=false
Production Settings

For production environments:

  • Set APP_ENV=production
  • Set APP_DEBUG=false
  • Set APP_DEMO=false

Localization​

# Default locale
APP_LOCALE=en

# Fallback locale when translation is missing
APP_FALLBACK_LOCALE=en

# Faker locale for seeding test data
APP_FAKER_LOCALE=en_US

Database Configuration​

# Database connection type
DB_CONNECTION=mysql

# Database host
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1

# Database port
DB_PORT=3306

# Database name
DB_DATABASE=opencorebs

# Database username
DB_USERNAME=root

# Database password
DB_PASSWORD=your_secure_password

MySQL Dump Path (For Backups)​

If you're using the backup module, specify the path to MySQL binaries:

# Windows example
DB_MYSQL_DUMP_PATH="C:/laragon/bin/mysql/mysql-8.0.30-winx64/bin"

# Linux (usually not needed, uses system PATH)
# DB_MYSQL_DUMP_PATH="/usr/bin"

Authentication​

JWT Configuration​

JWT (JSON Web Token) is used for API authentication:

# JWT secret key (generated by php artisan jwt:secret)
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_here

Generate the JWT secret with:

php artisan jwt:secret

Email Configuration​

Email/SMTP settings are configured through the admin panel Settings page, not the .env file. After logging in as an administrator:

  1. Navigate to Settings (accessible at /settings)
  2. Scroll to the Mail Settings section
  3. Configure your SMTP details (driver, host, port, username, password, encryption, from address, from name)
  4. Click Save to apply
  5. Use the Send Test Email button to verify delivery

See the Settings guide for full details on available mail options.

note

While the .env file contains MAIL_* variables, these serve only as initial defaults. The admin panel Settings page is the primary and recommended way to configure email delivery. Changes made in the Settings page are stored in the database and take precedence over .env values.

Queue Configuration​

Queues handle background jobs like sending emails and processing exports:

# Queue driver: sync, database, redis
QUEUE_CONNECTION=database
DriverDescriptionUse Case
syncImmediate executionDevelopment, small deployments
databaseDatabase-backed queueMost production environments
redisRedis-backed queueHigh-performance, large scale

For database or redis queues, you need to run the queue worker:

# Start queue worker
php artisan queue:work

# For production (with supervisor)
php artisan queue:work --sleep=3 --tries=3

Cache Configuration​

# Cache driver: array, file, database, redis
CACHE_STORE=database

# Cache key prefix (useful for shared Redis instances)
CACHE_PREFIX=opencorebs_
DriverDescriptionUse Case
arrayIn-memory (lost on request end)Testing only
fileFile-based cacheSmall deployments
databaseDatabase-backed cacheStandard production
redisRedis-backed cacheHigh-performance

Redis Configuration​

If using Redis for cache, queue, or sessions:

# Redis client: predis (pure PHP) or phpredis (requires extension)
REDIS_CLIENT=predis

# Redis server host
REDIS_HOST=127.0.0.1

# Redis password (null if not set)
REDIS_PASSWORD=null

# Redis port
REDIS_PORT=6379

To use Redis for all services:

CACHE_STORE=redis
QUEUE_CONNECTION=redis
SESSION_DRIVER=redis

Session Configuration​

# Session driver: file, cookie, database, redis
SESSION_DRIVER=file

# Session lifetime in minutes
SESSION_LIFETIME=120

# Encrypt session data
SESSION_ENCRYPT=false

# Session cookie path
SESSION_PATH=/

# Session cookie domain (null for current domain)
SESSION_DOMAIN=null

WebSocket Configuration (Laravel Reverb)​

For real-time features like chat and notifications:

# Reverb application credentials
REVERB_APP_ID=your_app_id
REVERB_APP_KEY=your_app_key
REVERB_APP_SECRET=your_app_secret

# Reverb server settings
REVERB_HOST="0.0.0.0"
REVERB_PORT=8080
REVERB_SCHEME=http

# Vite settings (for frontend)
VITE_REVERB_APP_KEY="${REVERB_APP_KEY}"
VITE_REVERB_HOST="${REVERB_HOST}"
VITE_REVERB_PORT="${REVERB_PORT}"
VITE_REVERB_SCHEME="${REVERB_SCHEME}"

Start the Reverb server:

# Development
php artisan reverb:start --debug

# Production
php artisan reverb:start

External Services​

Google Maps​

The Google Maps API key for location-based features (geofencing, client visits, live tracking) is configured through the admin panel Settings page:

  1. Navigate to Settings (accessible at /settings)
  2. Scroll to the Map Settings section
  3. Enter your API key, map provider, zoom level, and center coordinates
  4. Click Save to apply

See the Settings guide for full details.

note

While the .env file contains a GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY variable, this serves only as an initial default. The admin panel Settings page is the primary and recommended way to configure the Maps API key.

Logging Configuration​

# Log channel: stack, single, daily, slack, etc.
LOG_CHANNEL=stack

# Log stack channels
LOG_STACK=single

# Deprecation logging channel
LOG_DEPRECATIONS_CHANNEL=null

# Minimum log level: debug, info, notice, warning, error, critical
LOG_LEVEL=debug

For production, consider using daily logging:

LOG_CHANNEL=daily
LOG_LEVEL=warning

Laravel Telescope (Development)​

Telescope provides debugging and monitoring:

# Enable/disable Telescope
TELESCOPE_ENABLED=true
Production

Disable Telescope in production or restrict access using middleware.

Security Settings​

# Bcrypt rounds for password hashing (higher = more secure but slower)
BCRYPT_ROUNDS=12

Production Checklist​

Before going live, verify these settings:

APP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=false
APP_DEMO=false
TELESCOPE_ENABLED=false

# Use proper cache and queue drivers
CACHE_STORE=database    # or redis
QUEUE_CONNECTION=database    # or redis

# Set secure session settings
SESSION_DRIVER=file
SESSION_ENCRYPT=true

Clear Configuration Cache​

After changing .env values, clear the configuration cache:

php artisan config:clear
php artisan config:cache

Next Steps​

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