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Point your web server at the Laravel project’s public directory, not the project root. Laravel’s public/index.php is the front controller that loads the application; serving another directory can produce an empty response, bypass routing, or expose sensitive files. After correcting the root, reload the server and use the logs and Laravel’s health endpoint to isolate any remaining PHP or application error.

Why the document root causes a blank Laravel page

A Laravel request is designed to enter through one file: public/index.php. That file bootstraps Composer autoloading and Laravel, then sends the request through the framework’s router. The web server must therefore expose the project’s public directory as its web directory.

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If the virtual host points to the directory that contains artisan, app, config, and storage instead, the server is not using Laravel’s intended public entry point. Depending on the server and configuration, you may see an empty response, a directory listing, a 404, a rewrite loop, or a page that never reaches the application. More seriously, the project root can make .env, source code, cached configuration, and other private files reachable over HTTP.

Laravel’s deployment guidance explicitly warns: “You should never attempt to move the index.php file to your project’s root, as serving the application from the project root will expose many sensitive configuration files to the public Internet.” Keep index.php where Laravel puts it and fix the virtual host instead.

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1. Confirm the project path and public entry point

  1. Find the directory used by the deployment. A typical project might be /srv/example.com, but use the absolute path on your server.
  2. Check that the directory contains public/index.php. If it does not, you are looking at the wrong directory or the deployment is incomplete.
  3. Confirm that the same project directory contains artisan, composer.json, app, bootstrap, config, and storage. These belong above the web root.
  4. Record the PHP version and the PHP-FPM service or socket supplied by your operating system. Laravel and PHP-FPM requirements vary by Laravel release and distribution, so do not copy a socket path from another server without checking it.

The target you want is therefore /absolute/path/to/project/public, not /absolute/path/to/project and not a parent directory containing several projects.

2. Configure Nginx to serve public

For Nginx, three pieces must agree: the root directory, the fallback to Laravel’s front controller, and the PHP-FPM handoff. Laravel’s current deployment example uses a public root, index index.php, and a try_files rule that sends non-file requests to /index.php?$query_string.

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Minimal Nginx server block

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;

    root /srv/example.com/public;
    index index.php;

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

    location ~ ^/index.php(/|$) {
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $realpath_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }
}

Replace example.com, the project path, and the PHP-FPM socket with values from your installation. Some systems use a versioned socket such as /run/php/php8.x-fpm.sock; the correct value is the one created by the PHP-FPM service you actually run. The important relationship is that root ends in /public and SCRIPT_FILENAME resolves index.php inside that root.

What each directive does

  • root /srv/example.com/public;: exposes only Laravel’s intended public assets and entry point.
  • index index.php;: makes the front controller the default index file.
  • try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;: serves an existing asset directly and forwards routes such as /dashboard to Laravel while preserving the query string.
  • fastcgi_pass: sends PHP requests to PHP-FPM. A wrong socket or stopped PHP-FPM service prevents the application from running even when the document root is correct.
  • SCRIPT_FILENAME: tells PHP-FPM which physical script to execute. It must resolve to the public/index.php file for the front-controller request.

Validate and reload Nginx

  1. Save the site configuration in the location used by your distribution and enabled virtual hosts.
  2. Run the server’s configuration test command, commonly nginx -t. Do not reload if the test reports a syntax or include error.
  3. Reload Nginx after a successful test so the new root is active. A reload normally preserves existing connections; restart only when your operating system or deployment process requires it.
  4. Request the site again and note the HTTP status, response body, and timestamp. Those details let you match the request to the Nginx and Laravel logs.

3. Configure Apache to use the same public root

Apache uses DocumentRoot rather than Nginx’s root. Set it to the Laravel public directory and allow the rewrite rules in public/.htaccess to run. Without rewrite support, the home page may work while named routes return 404s or appear blank.

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Example virtual-host settings

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName example.com
    DocumentRoot /srv/example.com/public

    <Directory /srv/example.com/public>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Use the absolute path for your deployment. The required Apache modules and override policy depend on how Apache is packaged and administered, but the result must allow Laravel’s public/.htaccess rewrite rules to hand non-file requests to index.php. If your host disables overrides, reproduce the equivalent rewrite rules in the virtual-host configuration instead of moving index.php.

Apply the Apache change

  1. Enable the virtual host that contains the new DocumentRoot and disable an older host that still points to the project root.
  2. Check the Apache configuration with the validation command provided by your platform, such as apachectl configtest.
  3. Reload Apache after the check succeeds.
  4. Test both the site home page and a route that is handled by Laravel rather than a physical file. This confirms that both the root and rewrite handoff are working.

4. Check the result in the right order

Once the root is corrected, troubleshoot from the outside in. A blank-looking browser window is not enough information; capture the status code and inspect the component that generated it.

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Check the HTTP status and response source

  • A response generated by the web server before PHP runs points to the virtual host, root, rewrite, permissions, or static-file configuration.
  • A response that reaches PHP but fails during startup usually appears as a 500-level response and is recorded by PHP-FPM or Laravel.
  • A 502 from Nginx commonly means Nginx cannot communicate with the configured PHP-FPM socket or process; verify the service is running and the socket path is exact.
  • A 404 for every application route, while static files work, usually means the fallback rewrite is missing or the request is being handled by a different virtual host.
  • A 200 response with an empty body means the request completed without useful output. Inspect the application log and the code path for that route rather than changing the document root repeatedly.

Read the three relevant log locations

  1. Start with the web-server error log. It reveals an incorrect root, denied access, rewrite failure, or upstream connection error.
  2. Check the PHP-FPM log or service journal for startup failures, missing extensions, permission errors, and fatal PHP errors.
  3. Open storage/logs/laravel.log for Laravel boot exceptions, configuration problems, and application-level failures.

Use the request time and URL to correlate entries. Production settings often suppress the detailed exception page, so the logs are more reliable than what the browser renders.

Verify PHP-FPM and Laravel requirements

Confirm that the PHP-FPM service is active and that the PHP executable used by FPM has the extensions required by your installed Laravel version and application. Laravel releases have different minimum PHP versions and extension requirements; match the deployment to the version in your project rather than assuming that the command-line PHP version is the same one serving HTTP.

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If the command line works but the browser remains blank, compare the environments: the web server may use a different PHP-FPM pool, user, version, or php.ini. A successful php artisan command alone does not prove that FPM can execute public/index.php.

Fix writable directories

Laravel needs its web-server user to write to storage and bootstrap/cache. Check ownership and permissions for those directories and their contents. Correct the deployment user/group relationship rather than making the entire project world-writable. A cache or log write failure can stop bootstrapping and look like a generic blank page when production error details are hidden.

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5. Use debugging safely

Set APP_DEBUG=true only temporarily in a non-production environment while reproducing the failure. It can reveal the exception and stack trace that explains a blank response. Laravel warns that production debugging must be disabled because detailed errors can expose configuration values and other sensitive information.

  1. Change the environment value in the deployment’s environment configuration, not in a committed public file.
  2. Clear or rebuild cached configuration as appropriate for your deployment so Laravel reads the changed value.
  3. Reproduce the request once, capture the exception details, and fix the underlying issue.
  4. Set APP_DEBUG=false again before exposing the site to users, then verify that the useful details remain in the logs.

6. Ask Laravel itself whether it booted

Laravel documents a health URI, /up, unless your application has configured a different path. Request it directly after fixing the server configuration.

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  • HTTP 200: Laravel booted without an exception.
  • HTTP 500: Laravel failed while booting; inspect storage/logs/laravel.log, PHP-FPM output, environment settings, extensions, and writable directories.

The health request separates web-server routing from framework startup. If /up returns 200 but a particular page is blank, the document root and basic Laravel boot process are working; investigate that route, its controller, view, middleware, or data access instead.

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7. Choose the deployment model that matches your control

The document-root rule applies whether you administer a VPS, use a managed Laravel platform, or configure Apache on shared infrastructure. What changes is where you make the setting and how much of the PHP runtime you can inspect.

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Deployment choice Where the public root is set PHP execution path Useful diagnostics Security boundary
Nginx on a self-managed server root <project>/public in the server block PHP-FPM through the configured Unix socket or FastCGI endpoint Nginx error log, PHP-FPM log, Laravel log, and /up Only public is web-accessible
Apache on a self-managed server DocumentRoot <project>/public in the virtual host Apache PHP module or PHP-FPM/FastCGI, depending on the installation Apache error log, PHP log, Laravel log, and /up Only public is web-accessible when the virtual host is correct
Managed Laravel platform The platform’s site or application document-root setting The PHP runtime selected by the platform Platform logs plus Laravel’s log and /up Set the application’s public directory as the platform web root

On managed infrastructure, ask for a setting named document root, web root, public root, or a similar label and enter the path ending in /public. If the platform does not let you choose a root, follow its Laravel deployment method rather than exposing the project directory or copying index.php upward.

8. Common mistakes and their corrections

Pointing at the project root

Symptom: the browser shows a blank page, a directory listing, or files that should be private. Correction: change the web root to <project>/public, reload the server, and verify that public/index.php is the entry point.

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Moving index.php instead of changing the server

Symptom: the home page appears after copying files, but deployment updates, relative paths, or security checks fail later. Correction: restore Laravel’s original directory structure and configure the virtual host. Laravel’s public-directory boundary is intentional.

Using the wrong Nginx PHP-FPM socket

Symptom: Nginx returns an upstream or 502 error after the root is corrected. Correction: identify the active PHP-FPM service and its socket, place that exact endpoint in fastcgi_pass, validate the configuration, and reload Nginx.

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Missing the front-controller fallback

Symptom: a physical asset loads but routes such as /login or /dashboard fail. Correction: use Nginx’s try_files fallback or enable the equivalent Apache rewrite rules in public/.htaccess.

Leaving production debugging enabled

Symptom: a useful exception page appears, but it includes environment values or stack details. Correction: capture the error, disable APP_DEBUG in production, and use the logs for further diagnosis.

Final deployment checklist

  • The configured web root ends in /public.
  • public/index.php exists and remains in Laravel’s standard location.
  • Nginx has index index.php, a Laravel try_files fallback, and the correct PHP-FPM endpoint; or Apache has the matching DocumentRoot and working rewrite rules.
  • The server configuration validates successfully before reload.
  • PHP-FPM is running with the PHP version and extensions required by the installed Laravel release.
  • The web-server user can write to storage and bootstrap/cache.
  • Web-server, PHP-FPM, and storage/logs/laravel.log have been checked for the failing request.
  • /up returns HTTP 200, or its HTTP 500 result has an identified boot exception.
  • APP_DEBUG is false in production.

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