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Installation Guide

TokGrab installs entirely from your browser. No SSH, terminal, or Composer is required. You upload the package, point your domain at the public folder, create a database, then open /install and follow the wizard.

Before you start

Have these ready: your hosting login, your domain, and a new MySQL database name/user/password. The whole install usually takes 5–10 minutes.

1. Requirements

Hosting

  • Hostinger hPanel, standard cPanel shared hosting, or a VPS (LAMP/LEMP)
  • The domain's document root must point to the public folder (see step 3)

Software

Item Minimum
PHP 8.3 or higher
Database MySQL 8+ or MariaDB 10.6+
Web server Apache, LiteSpeed, or Nginx

Required PHP extensions

The installer checks these for you. If any are missing, enable them in your hosting panel (MultiPHP INI / Select PHP Version → Extensions on cPanel/hPanel):

bcmath, ctype, curl, dom, fileinfo, gd, iconv, intl, json,
mbstring, openssl, pdo_mysql, tokenizer, xml, zip

Writable folders

These must be writable by the web server (usually 755, sometimes 775):

  • storage/
  • bootstrap/cache/

SQLite is for local testing only

For live hosting, always use MySQL/MariaDB. SQLite is available in the wizard for local development but is not supported for production use.

2. Upload the package

Upload the whole package to your hosting account (File Manager or FTP). Keep the folder structure intact. A typical layout:

/home/youruser/tokgrab/          <- the whole package
/home/youruser/tokgrab/public/   <- web root (point your domain here)

Do not upload only the public folder

The application needs the rest of the files (Laravel core, storage/, vendor/, etc.). Upload the complete package, then point your domain at its public/ subfolder.

3. Point your domain at public

  1. Open hPanel → Websites → Manage for your domain.
  2. Open the website root / document root setting.
  3. Set it to .../tokgrab/public (the package's public folder).
  4. Save and wait for DNS/SSL to settle.
  1. Go to Domains (or Addon Domains / Subdomains).
  2. Edit the domain and set Document Root to .../tokgrab/public.
  3. Save.

Some hosts will not let you change the document root away from public_html. Two options:

  1. Use a subdomain (recommended): set the subdomain's document root to the package's public/ folder.
  2. Put the application files outside public_html, and place only the contents of public/ inside public_html, keeping the same relative structure. The app resolves its base path via ../ automatically.

If the root mapping is wrong, you will see a directory listing or a default host page instead of TokGrab.

4. Create the database

In your hosting panel:

  1. Create a MySQL database (for example youruser_tokgrab).
  2. Create a database user with a strong password.
  3. Grant that user all privileges on the database.

Note down the details — you'll enter them in the wizard:

Host:     localhost   (or as shown by your host)
Port:     3306
Database: youruser_tokgrab
Username: youruser_tokgrab
Password: (the one you set)

5. Run the installer wizard

Open:

https://your-domain.com/install

The wizard has five steps. Here is exactly what each one does.

Step 1 — Environment

TokGrab verifies:

  • PHP version is 8.3 or higher
  • Every required extension above is loaded
  • storage/ and bootstrap/cache/ are writable

Anything failing is marked clearly. Fix it in your hosting panel, then reload the page. You cannot continue until all checks pass.

Step 2 — Database

Enter the credentials from step 4. The host defaults to localhost (correct for almost every shared host). TokGrab runs a live connection test before continuing, so a typo never reaches the migration step.

Note

Choose MySQL/MariaDB for live hosting. SQLite is offered only for local testing.

Step 3 — Migrations

Click once and wait. TokGrab creates every database table. No manual SQL needed.

Step 4 — Admin account

Create your login:

  • Name
  • Email (this becomes your login username)
  • Password (use a strong one)

Leave “Install starter content” checked if you want example pages, a few blog posts, and starter FAQ entries you can edit or delete later. Uncheck it for a completely blank site.

Step 5 — Finalize

TokGrab:

  • generates the application key if one is missing
  • writes your database settings into .env
  • creates the install lock (storage/app/installed.lock) to block re-runs
  • best-effort creates the public/storage symlink (a safe /storage/... fallback route covers hosts that block symlinks)

When it finishes you are redirected to the admin login. Sign in with the account you just created.

No .env editing required

On first load, TokGrab creates a minimal .env with a fresh application key automatically. The installer writes your database values for you.

6. After install

  1. Log in at https://your-domain.com/admin/login.
  2. Open Admin → Settings and set your brand, API keys, bot protection, SMTP, and ads. See the Configuration Guide for the recommended order.
  3. Connect TikTok data with the API Providers Guide — the default is RapidAPI.
  4. Explore Extensions → Themes for the four free built-in themes.
  • Set APP_URL in .env to your live URL (e.g. https://your-domain.com).
  • Keep APP_DEBUG=false (the installer sets this).
  • Enable SSL/HTTPS on the domain.
  • Confirm Admin → Settings stores your real domain and support email.

Hosting notes for shared plans

  • File permissions: folders 755, files 644. If the app cannot write logs/uploads, set storage/ and bootstrap/cache/ to 775.
  • PHP version per domain: on cPanel/hPanel, set PHP 8.3 for this domain only in MultiPHP Manager so you don't affect other sites.
  • Outbound HTTP: TokGrab calls your chosen API provider over https (cURL). Confirm your host allows outbound requests.
  • No cron required for core features. Sitemap and robots.txt are served dynamically, so there is nothing to schedule to make the site work. If you later add scheduled tasks, see below.

Optional cron (only if you add scheduled jobs)

* * * * * php /home/youruser/tokgrab/artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

Adjust the path to match your account.

Reinstalling

The installer locks itself after a successful install (storage/app/installed.lock).

To reinstall from scratch:

  1. Delete storage/app/installed.lock.
  2. Drop and recreate the database (or delete all of its tables).
  3. Reopen /install.

Reinstalling wipes your site content

Back up your database and uploaded files first.

Troubleshooting

  • Blank page / 500 error right after opening /install — usually a missing PHP extension or non-writable storage/. Check the Troubleshooting Guide.
  • A directory listing instead of TokGrab — your document root is not pointing at public/ (see step 3).
  • “Could not connect to the database” — re-check host/port/name/user/password and that the user has privileges on the database.
  • Images upload but don't display — harmless on hosts that block symlinks; TokGrab's /storage/... fallback route serves them anyway.

Still stuck? See the full Troubleshooting Guide or the FAQ.