SaaS Installation Setup

Overview

Event Schedule supports two deployment modes:

In SaaS mode, each customer (schedule/role) gets their own subdomain, and the main domain can display marketing pages to attract new signups.

Prerequisites

1. Completed base installation of Event Schedule
2. A domain name with DNS access
3. Ability to configure wildcard SSL certificates
4. Web server configured to handle wildcard subdomains (Apache or Nginx)

Environment Configuration

Add the following variables to your .env file to enable SaaS mode:

Core SaaS Settings

# Enable SaaS mode with subdomain routing
IS_HOSTED=true

# Your application name (shown in emails and alt text)
APP_NAME=Your Platform Name

# Main application URL
APP_URL=https://yourdomain.com

# Marketing site URL (can be same as APP_URL)
APP_MARKETING_URL=https://yourdomain.com

Branding Customization

# Logo for light backgrounds (header, emails)
APP_LOGO_DARK=/images/dark_logo.png

# Logo for dark backgrounds (dark mode, footers)
APP_LOGO_LIGHT=/images/light_logo.png

Support Configuration

# Email address for user feedback (displayed in footer)
SUPPORT_EMAIL=[email protected]

Pricing and Trial Configuration

# Free trial length in days for new Pro subscribers
TRIAL_DAYS=365

DNS Configuration

For SaaS mode to work, you need to configure wildcard DNS records.

DNS Records

Add the following DNS records to your domain:

# A record for main domain
yourdomain.com.    A    YOUR_SERVER_IP

# Wildcard A record for subdomains
*.yourdomain.com.  A    YOUR_SERVER_IP

Or if using a CNAME:

# CNAME for main domain
yourdomain.com.    CNAME    your-server.hosting.com.

# Wildcard CNAME for subdomains
*.yourdomain.com.  CNAME    your-server.hosting.com.

SSL Certificate

You'll need a wildcard SSL certificate that covers both the main domain and all subdomains:

• Certificate should cover: yourdomain.com and *.yourdomain.com
• Let's Encrypt supports wildcard certificates via DNS-01 challenge
• Many hosting providers offer wildcard certificates

Web Server Configuration

Nginx Example

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name yourdomain.com *.yourdomain.com;

    ssl_certificate /path/to/wildcard.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /path/to/wildcard.key;

    root /var/www/eventschedule/public;
    index index.php;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.2-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $realpath_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }
}

Apache Example

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName yourdomain.com
    ServerAlias *.yourdomain.com

    DocumentRoot /var/www/eventschedule/public

    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile /path/to/wildcard.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /path/to/wildcard.key

    <Directory /var/www/eventschedule/public>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Stripe Subscription Setup (Pro Plans)

To enable paid Pro plans for your customers, configure Stripe subscription billing.

See Stripe Integration Documentation for detailed Stripe configuration instructions.

Required Environment Variables

# Stripe Platform (for subscription billing)
STRIPE_PLATFORM_KEY=pk_live_your_publishable_key
STRIPE_PLATFORM_SECRET=sk_live_your_secret_key
STRIPE_PLATFORM_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_your_webhook_secret
STRIPE_PRICE_MONTHLY=price_monthly_price_id
STRIPE_PRICE_YEARLY=price_yearly_price_id

How Subscriptions Work

1. Customers create a schedule (gets a free plan by default)
2. Customers can upgrade to Pro from their schedule's admin page
3. Pro features are unlocked for that schedule
4. Subscriptions are managed per-schedule, not per-user

Complete Example Configuration

Here's a complete .env configuration for a SaaS deployment:

# Application
APP_NAME=My Events Platform
APP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=false
APP_URL=https://myevents.com
APP_MARKETING_URL=https://myevents.com

# SaaS Mode
IS_HOSTED=true

# Branding
APP_LOGO_DARK=/images/dark_logo.png
APP_LOGO_LIGHT=/images/light_logo.png
SUPPORT_EMAIL=[email protected]

# Trial Configuration
TRIAL_DAYS=365

# Database
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=eventschedule
DB_USERNAME=your_db_user
DB_PASSWORD=your_db_password

# Session (important for subdomains)
SESSION_DRIVER=database
SESSION_DOMAIN=.myevents.com

# Mail
MAIL_MAILER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=smtp.mailgun.org
MAIL_PORT=587
MAIL_USERNAME=your_mail_user
MAIL_PASSWORD=your_mail_password
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS=[email protected]
MAIL_FROM_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

# Stripe Platform (optional, for Pro subscriptions)
STRIPE_PLATFORM_KEY=pk_live_...
STRIPE_PLATFORM_SECRET=sk_live_...
STRIPE_PLATFORM_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_...
STRIPE_PRICE_MONTHLY=price_...
STRIPE_PRICE_YEARLY=price_...

Verification Steps

After completing the configuration, verify your setup:

1. Test Main Domain

Visit https://yourdomain.com - you should see the marketing/landing page.

2. Test Subdomain Routing

1. Create a new account and schedule
2. Note the schedule's subdomain (e.g., my-schedule)
3. Visit https://my-schedule.yourdomain.com
4. The schedule's public page should load

3. Test SSL Certificate

Verify SSL works for both:

• Main domain: https://yourdomain.com
• Any subdomain: https://test.yourdomain.com

4. Test Subscription Flow (if configured)

1. Go to a schedule's admin page
2. Click "Upgrade to Pro"
3. Complete checkout with a test card (4242 4242 4242 4242)
4. Verify Pro features are enabled

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Logs

Check the application logs for errors:

tail -f storage/logs/laravel.log

Security Considerations

1. Environment File: Never expose .env file publicly
2. HTTPS Required: Always use HTTPS in production
3. API Keys: Keep all API keys and secrets secure
4. Database: Use strong database passwords and restrict access
5. File Permissions: Ensure proper file permissions on the server