Upgrading

• Before You Upgrade
• Upgrade Steps
• Files to Preserve
• After Upgrade Checklist

Before You Upgrade

{danger.fa-ban} Always back up first. Run a full database dump and archive your storage/ folder before replacing any files. An upgrade cannot be undone without a backup.

# Quick database dump before upgrading (replace with your credentials)
mysqldump -u your_db_user -p your_db_name > slotara_backup_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

On cPanel / shared hosting, use phpMyAdmin → Export or your host's backup tool instead.

Upgrade Steps

1. Download the new version from CodeCanyon → Your Purchases → Download

2. Enable maintenance mode to prevent bookings during the upgrade:

php artisan down --message="Scheduled maintenance. Back shortly." --retry=60

3. Replace application files — overwrite everything except the files listed in the Files to Preserve section below.

# Extract new version (adjust path as needed)
unzip slotara-v*.zip -d /tmp/slotara-new

# Rsync everything except preserved files
rsync -av --exclude='.env' \
          --exclude='storage/' \
          --exclude='public/storage' \
          /tmp/slotara-new/ /var/www/slotara/

4. Install updated dependencies:

composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader

Pre-compiled frontend assets are included in public/build/ — no Node.js required for a standard upgrade. Only run the following if this version's release notes specifically mention frontend changes:

npm install && npm run build

5. Run database migrations to apply any schema changes:

php artisan migrate --force

6. Clear and rebuild all caches:

php artisan optimize:clear
php artisan optimize

7. Restart queue workers so they pick up the new code:

supervisorctl restart slotara-worker:*

8. Bring the site back up:

php artisan up

9. Verify — visit your site and admin panel, test a booking, and check the queue is running:

supervisorctl status
php artisan queue:monitor

Files to Preserve

{primary.fa-lightbulb-o} If you've customised any Blade views (e.g. email templates, booking page layout), keep a diff of your changes before upgrading so you can reapply them if the base view changed.

After Upgrade Checklist

Run through this after every upgrade:

☐  Site loads without errors
☐  Admin panel accessible at /admin
☐  Business panel accessible at /manage
☐  Public booking page loads at /{tenant-slug}
☐  Queue worker running (supervisorctl status)
☐  Test booking created successfully
☐  Test email received
☐  Storage link works (uploaded images display)
☐  Cache cleared (php artisan optimize)

{warning.fa-exclamation-triangle} If you see a blank white page after upgrading, run php artisan optimize:clear and check storage/logs/laravel.log for the error.