Install OwnPay on Shared Hosting, VPS, or Docker

OwnPay includes a built-in web installer that checks your server configuration, creates the database schema, and bootstraps your master administrator account. Upload the files, visit your domain, and the wizard handles the rest - no command-line experience needed.

Prerequisite checks

System requirements

Component	Minimum	Recommended
PHP Runtime	8.3	8.3+
MySQL	8.0	8.0+ (or MariaDB 10.4+)
Memory	512 MB RAM	2 GB+ RAM
Disk	1 GB free	10 GB+ SSD
Redis	Optional	Recommended for caching

Required PHP extensions

Verify all of these are active: mbstring, pdo_mysql, gd, curl, zip, json, openssl, bcmath, intl.Run php -m in a terminal to check, or view the PHP Info page in your hosting panel.

Folder permissions

The web server must be able to write to:

storage/ (logs, sessions, cache, uploads)
public/assets/uploads/ (brand logos, attachments)

Choose your deployment method

Shared Hosting
VPS (Nginx + PHP-FPM)
Docker

Works with cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, and most shared hosting providers (Hostinger, Namecheap, SiteGround, etc.).

Download the release

Download the latest .zip from GitHub Releases.

Upload and extract

Upload the .zip to your web root (public_html/) via File Manager or FTP. Extract it directly into the root folder.

If extraction creates a nested folder like public_html/ownpay-v0.2.0/, move all files up one level into public_html/ and delete the empty folder.

Create a MySQL database

In your hosting panel, create a new database and user with ALL PRIVILEGES. Note the host (usually localhost or 127.0.0.1).

Set PHP to 8.3

Open Select PHP Version (cPanel), PHP Settings (Plesk), or PHP Version Selector (DirectAdmin) and choose 8.3.

Launch the web installer

Visit https://yourdomain.com/install and follow the 4-step wizard: environment verification, database configuration, schema import, and admin account creation.

Set up the cron job

Add a cron job that runs every minute:

* * * * * php /home/your_user/public_html/public/index.php cron >> /dev/null 2>&1

Full control over the stack. Recommended for production.

Install system packages

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y nginx mysql-server php8.3-fpm php8.3-mysql \
  php8.3-mbstring php8.3-curl php8.3-xml php8.3-zip \
  php8.3-gd php8.3-bcmath php8.3-intl \
  certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Clone and set permissions

cd /var/www
sudo git clone https://github.com/own-pay/OwnPay.git ownpay
cd ownpay
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data .
sudo chmod -R 775 storage public/assets/uploads

Create the MySQL database

sudo mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE ownpay CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'ownpay'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'STRONG_PASSWORD';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON ownpay.* TO 'ownpay'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Configure Nginx

Create /etc/nginx/sites-available/ownpay:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;
    root /var/www/ownpay/public;
    index index.php;

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

    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $realpath_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }
}

Enable the site, test the config, and reload:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/ownpay /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx

Provision SSL

sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com

Run the web installer

Visit https://yourdomain.com/install to complete the setup wizard.

Set up the cron job

sudo crontab -u www-data -e

* * * * * /usr/bin/php /var/www/ownpay/public/index.php cron >> /var/log/ownpay-cron.log 2>&1

Containerized deployment for reproducible environments.

Clone and configure

git clone https://github.com/own-pay/OwnPay.git && cd OwnPay
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your database credentials and secret key

Start containers

docker-compose up -d

Run migrations and seeds

docker-compose exec app php bin/migrate
docker-compose exec app php bin/seed

Complete setup

Visit http://localhost:8080/install to configure your admin account and first brand.

Post-installation verification

After the installer finishes, confirm everything is working:

Verify the dashboard loads

Navigate to https://yourdomain.com/login and sign in with the admin credentials you created. You should see the dashboard.

Confirm cron is running

Wait two minutes, then check the system logs for scheduled task entries. If no entries appear, verify the cron command path is correct.

Configure SMTP

Go to System > Settings > Mail Settings and enter your SMTP credentials. Send a test email to confirm delivery.

Enable two-factor authentication

Go to My Account and enable 2FA. This is strongly recommended for the master admin account.

Troubleshooting

500 internal server error

Set APP_DEBUG=true in .env to see the actual error message.
Check storage/logs/ for stack traces.
Ensure the web server can read storage/ and public/assets/uploads/.

Blank page / white screen

Verify all required PHP extensions are loaded (php -m).
Confirm memory_limit is at least 512M in php.ini.

Database connection failed

Use 127.0.0.1 instead of localhost in the DB host field.
Verify the user has ALL PRIVILEGES on the database.
Confirm MySQL is listening on port 3306.

Permission denied errors

On shared hosting, set storage/ to 755 or 775 via File Manager.
On VPS, run sudo chown -R www-data:www-data storage/.

Quickstart - configure your first gateway and accept a test payment
How OwnPay works - architecture overview
Performance and scaling - optimize for production traffic
Security and compliance - harden your deployment
Common errors - troubleshooting reference

Get Started

Fundamentals

People

Payments

Gateways & Currencies

Appearance

Notifications

Mobile

Reports & Finance

System

Security & Access

Checkout

Install OwnPay on Shared Hosting, VPS, or Docker

Prerequisite checks

Choose your deployment method

Post-installation verification

Troubleshooting

​Prerequisite checks

​Choose your deployment method

​Post-installation verification

​Troubleshooting

​Related pages

Prerequisite checks

Choose your deployment method

Post-installation verification

Troubleshooting

Related pages