Server requirements

Zodiac Tech CRM runs on ordinary shared hosting. There is no Docker and no Nginx requirement — the supported target is cPanel (or Plesk/DirectAdmin) on Apache/LiteSpeed with PHP 8.4 and MySQL. This page lists exactly what the installer checks before it will proceed.

Who this is for#

• Super-admin / hosting admin — preparing a server before upload.
• Support — triaging "installation fails at step 1" tickets.

Prerequisites: cPanel (or equivalent) access with the ability to create databases, set a PHP version, and add cron jobs.

Required server software#

Required PHP extensions#

The installer (public/install.php) hard-blocks until all of these are present:

pdo, pdo_mysql, mbstring, openssl, tokenizer, xml, ctype,
json, bcmath, fileinfo, curl, zip, gd

Why the notable ones:

• pdo_mysql — database access (the only supported driver is MySQL).
• zip — ZipArchive is used for backups (leadhub:backup), updates and module installs.
• gd — image handling (logos, avatars, thumbnails).
• curl — Meta Graph API, payment providers, IMAP-adjacent HTTP calls.
• bcmath — precise money math for billing.

Most cPanel hosts enable all of these by default on PHP 8.4. Anything missing is visible under Select PHP Version → Extensions in cPanel.

Disk space#

Plan for at least ~500 MB to start:

Permissions#

Three directories must be writable by PHP:

• storage/ and everything under it (app/public, framework/cache, framework/sessions, framework/views, logs)
• bootstrap/cache/
• public/ — tenant branding writes per-tenant CSS to public/tenant/<id>/

On cPanel, 775 (directories) is normally sufficient; some hosts need 755 with the file owner matching the PHP user. The installer's welcome screen re-checks writability and tells you exactly which folder fails.

Not required (despite what other stacks assume)#

• No Docker, no Kubernetes, no Nginx — this product ships as a plain PHP app.
• No Redis — sessions, cache and queue default to database/file, which work on shared hosting. Redis is optional on VPS hosts.
• No Node.js at runtime — front-end assets are pre-built and shipped in public/.
• No SSH strictly required — the browser installer and the /cron.php runner exist for hosts without Terminal access.

Optional but recommended#

• SMTP account (hosting provider or transactional service) — without it, invitations, digests and automation e-mails cannot send; see Email & SMTP.
• HTTPS certificate — required for Meta OAuth, WhatsApp webhooks and reliable mobile push; see Domain, subdomain & SSL.
• mysqldump available to PHP — backups use it when reachable and fall back to a pure-PHP dump when exec() is disabled; either way works.

How the installer proves it#

Upload everything, then open https://your-domain.com/install.php. Step 1 shows a checklist:

• PHP version (>= 8.4.1)
• Each required extension (pass/fail)
• Writable directories (pass/fail, per folder)
• Database connectivity (utf8mb4 handshake)

Only when every row is green does the installer enable the Continue button.

Common mistakes#

• Selecting PHP 8.2/8.3 in cPanel MultiPHP and wondering why the installer refuses.
• Running composer install with the system PHP 7/8.1 CLI instead of the host's PHP 8.4 binary (php -v first).
• Assuming the host blocks exec() forever — backups still work via the PDO fallback.
• Forgetting cron entirely, then blaming "e-mails not sending" (the mail queue never drains).

Troubleshooting#

Technical details#

• Installer preflight: public/install.php ($minPhp = '8.4.1', $requiredExts = [...], writable checks for storage/ + bootstrap/cache + public/).
• Framework/stack signature: composer.json (php: ^8.4, Laravel 13, Filament v4).
• The cron runner alternative for no-SSH hosts: cron.php at the web root.

Related guides#

• cPanel deployment walkthrough
• Database setup & migrations
• Environment variables
• Cron & queue workers