Deploy Laravel with Queues, Scheduler and Redis (No Extra Servers)

A real Laravel app is more than PHP-FPM. You need a queue worker for emails and jobs, the scheduler for schedule:run, Redis for cache and queues, and a database.

On shared hosting you usually get PHP-FPM and nothing else. On a VPS you write Supervisor configs and crontabs yourself and look after the server. This guide shows how to get all four pieces from one deploy.

What a deploy does for Laravel#

DockHosting recognizes Laravel by its artisan file. On every deploy it:

1. Runs composer install.
2. Runs php artisan migrate.
3. Runs php artisan config:cache.
4. Starts the web server: production PHP-FPM with opcache and tuned workers.
5. Starts a managed queue worker.
6. Runs the scheduler (schedule:run).

Common extensions are preinstalled: gd, curl, mbstring, pdo and redis.

1. Prepare the app#

Make sure your production config comes from the environment, which is Laravel's default. Check that config/database.php reads DB_URL or DATABASE_URL, or the DB_* variables, and doesn't contain hard-coded values.

Add your APP_KEY as a secret in the dashboard. Generate one locally:

php artisan key:generate --show

Set APP_ENV=production and APP_DEBUG=false. Leaving debug on in production leaks stack traces and environment details.

2. Install the CLI and deploy#

# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://cli.dockhosting.dev/install.sh | sh
 
# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://cli.dockhosting.dev/install.ps1 | iex
 
dock login
dock deploy

You get a live https://<project>.dockhosting.cloud URL with HTTPS. To deploy on every push instead, connect your GitHub repository from the dashboard.

3. Attach MySQL (or PostgreSQL) and Redis#

From the dashboard, create a managed MySQL, MariaDB or PostgreSQL database and a managed Redis, then attach both to the project.

• The database connection string arrives as DATABASE_URL.
• Redis arrives as REDIS_URL, and QUEUE_CONNECTION and the cache settings are set automatically.

Both are reached over a private network, with no public port. Redis gets daily backups on paid plans as well, so jobs that are still queued aren't lost.

4. Write a job and a schedule#

Nothing here is specific to DockHosting. It's standard Laravel, and it runs as-is:

// app/Jobs/SendWelcomeEmail.php
class SendWelcomeEmail implements ShouldQueue
{
    use Queueable;
 
    public function __construct(public User $user) {}
 
    public function handle(): void
    {
        Mail::to($this->user)->send(new WelcomeMail($this->user));
    }
}
 
// Dispatch it from a controller
SendWelcomeEmail::dispatch($user);

// routes/console.php (Laravel 11)
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;
 
Schedule::command('reports:daily')->dailyAt('06:00');
Schedule::job(new PruneOldSessions)->hourly();

The managed worker picks up the job from Redis, and the scheduler runs your tasks on time. You don't need a Supervisor file or a crontab line.

5. Logs and restarts#

dock logs      # build, web and app logs
dock restart   # e.g. after changing environment variables

Run a quick query against your database with dock db sql.

Custom domain and always-on#

On the Free plan, apps sleep when idle and wake on the next request. That's fine for a demo, but not when a scheduler has to fire at 06:00. For production Laravel, use Hobby ($4/month, always on, your own domain) or Pro ($9/month, 5 custom domains, database admin panels). HTTPS certificates are issued and renewed automatically for custom domains too.

How it compares#

See the Laravel hosting page for details, or check how to connect any app to managed PostgreSQL.