Adjust the .env configuration

1. Uncomment and point app.baseURL in .env to the root url of your server. eg: http://vlam.your-domain.com/

   app.baseURL = ''

2. Ensure database connection variables uncommented and correctly set in .env

   database.default.hostname = localhost <- Set this
   database.default.database = vlam_db
   database.default.username = vlam_user
   database.default.password = vlam_pass
   database.default.DBDriver = MySQLi
   database.default.DBPrefix =
   database.default.port = 3306

When not using the .env file:

1. Set variable $baseURL in app/Config/App.php to the root url of your server. eg: http://vlam.your-domain.com/

   /**
   * --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   * Base Site URL
   * --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   *
   * URL to your CodeIgniter root. Typically, this will be your base URL,
   * WITH a trailing slash:
   *
   * E.g., http://example.com/
   */
   public string $baseURL = 'http://vlam.your-domain.com/';

2. Ensure database connection variables are correctly set in app/Config/Database.php

   /**
   * The default database connection.
   *
   * @var array<string, mixed>
   */
   public array $default = [
       'DSN'          => '',
       'hostname'     => 'localhost',
       'username'     => 'your-username',
       'password'     => 'your-password',
       'database'     => 'your-database-name',
       'DBDriver'     => 'MySQLi',

Setup Database

By default the sql/vlam.sql is imported. use phpmyadmin to import a local backup. Migrations are not supported for this project yet ..

Verify

1. The Login controller is a clone of Shield's, this prevents the custom login page from being overwritten.

   Ensure Controllers\LoginController::loginView() matches CodeIgniter\Shield\Controllers\LoginController::loginView() .

Configure Apache server

If you run a fresh apache webserver, you might want to set up the following.

1. Give valid permissions to writable folder and subfolders

   # This will add permissions, use valid user, commonly www-data for apache2 servers
   sudo chown -R www-data writable

2. Enable modrewrite

   # Check if modrewrite is enabled:
   apache2ctl -M | grep rewrite
   
   # when nothing returns, enable using:
   sudo a2enmod rewrite
   sudo systemctl restart apache2

3. Create Virtual Host

   # When you don't have this set up already, add a vhost.
   # sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/vlam.your-domain.com.conf
   <VirtualHost *:80>
       ServerName vlam.your-domain.com
   
       ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
       DocumentRoot /var/www/html/vlam/public
   
       <Directory /var/www/html/vlam/public>
           Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
           AllowOverride All
           Require all granted
       </Directory>
   
       ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/vlam_error.log
       CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/vlam_access.log combined
   </VirtualHost>
   
   # save & exit
   sudo a2ensite vlam.your-domain.com.conf
   sudo systemctl reload apache2
   
   # disable default vhost:
   sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf
   sudo systemctl reload apache2

4. TIP: Temporary enable error printing:

   nano app/Config/Boot/production.php
   # Change:
   ini_set('display_errors', '0');
   # To:
   ini_set('display_errors', '1');

5. ERROR: Call to a member function getErrors() on null

   # If you encounter a php error during login, likely reason is a glitch with shield.
   # Try the following commands in the root of the project using the cli:
   
   composer require codeigniter4/shield:^1.1
   composer update

Done

You should now be able to see a correctly setup instance when you navigate to: http://vlam.your-domain.com/