Test2Go - Deployment Guide

Complete guide to deploy Test2Go on your server.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. System Requirements
3. Pre-Installation Preparation
4. cPanel Installation (Easiest)
5. Manual VPS Installation
6. Initial Configuration
7. Troubleshooting
8. Backup & Maintenance

Introduction

This guide will help you install Test2Go on your server. We provide two installation methods:

• cPanel - Easiest method, suitable for beginners and shared hosting
• Manual VPS - For VPS/Dedicated server users

Recommendation: Use cPanel if you’re not familiar with command line.

System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• PHP 8.4 or higher
• MySQL 8.0 or MariaDB 10.6
• Web server (Apache/Nginx)
• 512 MB RAM
• 500 MB disk space
• SSL certificate (required for production)

Required PHP Extensions

OpenSSL, PDO, Mbstring, Tokenizer, XML, Ctype, JSON, BCMath, Fileinfo, GD

These are usually pre-installed on modern cPanel hosting.

Pre-Installation Preparation

Before starting, prepare:

• ✓ cPanel or SSH server access
• ✓ Domain or subdomain
• ✓ Test2Go installer files (test2go.zip)

cPanel Installation (Easiest)

Step 1: Upload Files

1. Login to cPanel
2. Open File Manager
3. Navigate to public_html folder (or your domain folder)
4. Click Upload
5. Upload test2go.zip file
6. Right-click the ZIP file → Extract
7. Move all files from extracted folder to public_html (or your domain folder)

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Document Root Configuration

Test2Go requires the document root to point to the public/ folder. There are two approaches:

Option A: Standard Deployment (Recommended for cPanel)

• Extract files to public_html/
• Document root: public_html/ (default)
• Access: https://your-domain.com will automatically redirect to public/
• The root .htaccess file handles this redirection automatically

Option B: Secure Deployment (Recommended for VPS)

• Extract files to public_html/
• Change document root to: public_html/public/
• Access: Direct to application
• More secure, prevents potential access to parent directories

For cPanel users: Option A works perfectly. The included .htaccess files provide security.

Note about .htaccess files:

• ✅ Test2Go includes 5 .htaccess files for security and routing
• ✅ These files are automatically extracted from the ZIP
• ✅ Make sure “Show Hidden Files” is enabled in File Manager to see them
• ✅ Never delete these files

To verify .htaccess files exist:

1. In File Manager, click Settings (top right)
2. Check Show Hidden Files (dotfiles)
3. You should see .htaccess in: root, public/, storage/, bootstrap/, database/

Step 2: Create Database

1. In cPanel, open MySQL Databases
2. Create new database:
   • Enter name: test2go (or any name)
   • Click Create Database
3. Create database user:
   • Username: choose a username
   • Password: click Generate for strong password
   • SAVE this password!
   • Click Create User
4. Add user to database:
   • Select the newly created user
   • Select the newly created database
   • Click Add
   • Check ALL PRIVILEGES
   • Click Make Changes

Note this information:

Database Name: username_test2go
Username: username_test2gouser
Password: (password you generated)
Host: ip address (usually localhost, but check with your hosting provider)

Step 3: Set File Permissions

1. In File Manager, select storage folder
2. Right-click → Permissions
3. Enter: 775
4. Check Recurse into subdirectories
5. Click Change Permissions

Repeat for bootstrap/cache folder

Step 4: Edit .env File

1. In File Manager, find .env.example file
2. Right-click → Copy
3. Name it: .env
4. Right-click .env file → Edit
5. Modify the following:

APP_NAME=Test2Go
APP_URL=https://your-domain.com

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_DATABASE=username_test2go
DB_USERNAME=username_test2gouser
DB_PASSWORD=your_saved_password

6. Save

Step 5: Run Installer

Option A: Using cPanel Terminal

1. In cPanel, open Terminal
2. Enter commands one by one:

cd public_html
php artisan key:generate
php artisan migrate --force
php artisan db:seed

Option B: Web Installer (if available)

1. Open browser, access: https://your-domain.com/install
2. Enter database information
3. Follow the wizard steps
4. Click Install

Step 6: Setup SSL (HTTPS)

1. In cPanel, open SSL/TLS Status
2. Check your domain
3. Click Run AutoSSL
4. Wait a few minutes until completed

Step 7: Test Installation

1. Open https://your-domain.com in browser
2. You will see the login page
3. Login with:
   • Email: admin@test2go.local
   • Password: password

⚠ IMPORTANT: Change password immediately after first login!

✓ Congratulations! Test2Go is now installed.

Manual VPS Installation

For users with VPS/Dedicated Server.

Step 1: Install PHP 8.4

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php -y
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y php8.4 php8.4-cli php8.4-fpm php8.4-mysql \
php8.4-xml php8.4-mbstring php8.4-curl php8.4-zip php8.4-gd \
php8.4-bcmath php8.4-intl

php -v

Step 2: Install MySQL

sudo apt install -y mysql-server
sudo mysql_secure_installation

Follow the wizard: - Set root password - Remove anonymous users: Y - Disallow root login remotely: Y - Remove test database: Y - Reload privilege tables: Y

Step 3: Install Composer

curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
sudo mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer
composer --version

Step 4: Create Database

sudo mysql -u root -p

In MySQL prompt, enter:

CREATE DATABASE test2go CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'test2go_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_strong_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON test2go.* TO 'test2go_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Change your_strong_password to a secure password and save it for later.

Step 5: Upload and Extract Files

Now, upload test2go.zip to your server (using SFTP or SCP), then run:

cd /var/www
sudo wget https://your-download-link/test2go.zip
sudo unzip test2go.zip
sudo mv test2go html

# Set ownership
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/storage
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/bootstrap/cache

Step 6: Install Dependencies

cd /var/www/html
sudo -u www-data composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
npm install
npm run build

Step 7: Setup Environment

sudo cp .env.example .env
sudo nano .env

Edit:

APP_NAME=Test2Go
APP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=false
APP_URL=https://your-domain.com

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=test2go
DB_USERNAME=test2go_user
DB_PASSWORD=your_strong_password

Save (Ctrl+X, Y, Enter)

sudo -u www-data php artisan key:generate

Step 8: Run Migrations

sudo -u www-data php artisan migrate --force
sudo -u www-data php artisan db:seed

Step 9: Setup Web Server

For Apache:

Create file /etc/apache2/sites-available/test2go.conf:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName your-domain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/public

    <Directory /var/www/html/public>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/test2go_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/test2go_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Enable:

sudo a2ensite test2go.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2

For Nginx:

Create file /etc/nginx/sites-available/test2go:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your-domain.com;
    root /var/www/html/public;
    index index.php index.html;

    # Add security headers (equivalent to Apache .htaccess)
    add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
    add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always;
    add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block" always;
    add_header Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin" always;

    # Disable directory indexing
    autoindex off;

    # Block access to sensitive files
    location ~ /\.(env|git) {
        deny all;
        return 404;
    }

    location ~ (composer\.(json|lock)|package(-lock)?\.json|phpunit\.xml)$ {
        deny all;
        return 404;
    }

    # Block access to sensitive directories (if accessed outside public/)
    location ~ ^/(app|bootstrap|config|database|lang|resources|routes|storage|tests|vendor) {
        deny all;
        return 404;
    }

    # Allow .well-known for SSL certificate verification
    location ~ /\.well-known {
        allow all;
    }

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

    # PHP handler
    location ~ \.php$ {
        try_files $uri =404;
        fastcgi_split_path_info ^(.+\.php)(/.+)$;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.4-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $realpath_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
        
        # Pass Authorization header (for API authentication)
        fastcgi_param HTTP_AUTHORIZATION $http_authorization;
    }

    # Deny access to other .php files in public directory (security)
    location ~ ^/(?!index\.php).+\.php$ {
        deny all;
        return 404;
    }

    # Cache static assets
    location ~* \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|ico|css|js|svg|woff|woff2|ttf|eot)$ {
        expires 30d;
        add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
    }

    error_log /var/log/nginx/test2go_error.log;
    access_log /var/log/nginx/test2go_access.log;
}

Enable:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/test2go /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 10: Install SSL with Let’s Encrypt

You can use Certbot to get a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt.

sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-apache
# Or for nginx: python3-certbot-nginx

sudo certbot --apache -d your-domain.com
# Or for nginx: sudo certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com

Follow the wizard, choose to redirect HTTP to HTTPS.

Step 11: Test Installation

Open https://your-domain.com and login with: - Email: admin@test2go.local - Password: password

Change password immediately!

Initial Configuration

Understanding .htaccess Files (Apache Only)

Test2Go includes 5 .htaccess files for security and proper routing:

These files are automatically included in the package and work out-of-the-box.

Change Admin Password

1. Login to admin panel
2. Click your name in the top right
3. Select Change Password
4. Enter new strong password
5. Save

Update Application URL

If URL is incorrect, edit .env file:

APP_URL=https://your-correct-domain.com

Then run:

php artisan config:cache

Troubleshooting

Error: Cannot Login

Cause: Wrong password or inactive account

Solution: 1. Check default password: password 2. Reset password via database:

php artisan tinker
>>> $admin = User::where('email', 'admin@test2go.local')->first();
>>> $admin->password = Hash::make('new_password');
>>> $admin->is_active = true;
>>> $admin->save();
>>> exit

Error: 500 Internal Server Error

Cause: Wrong permissions or PHP error

Solution: 1. Check permissions:

sudo chmod -R 775 storage bootstrap/cache
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data storage bootstrap/cache

2. Check error log:

tail -f storage/logs/laravel.log

Error: Database Connection Failed

Cause: Incorrect database info in .env

Solution: 1. Check .env, ensure DB_HOST, DB_DATABASE, DB_USERNAME, DB_PASSWORD are correct 2. Test connection:

mysql -u test2go_user -p test2go

Error: Participant Cannot Join

Cause: Test not published yet

Solution: 1. Login as admin 2. Edit test 3. Change status to Published 4. Save

Page Cannot Be Opened (404)

Cause: .htaccess not working or rewrite module not active

Apache Solution:

sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Check that AllowOverride All is set in Apache config:

<Directory /var/www/html/public>
    AllowOverride All
    Require all granted
</Directory>

Nginx Solution: Ensure config is correct (see installation steps above). Nginx doesn’t use .htaccess files.

cPanel Solution: 1. Verify .htaccess file exists in public_html/public/ directory 2. If missing, re-extract the package 3. Check file permissions (should be 644)

.htaccess File Not Found

Cause: File hidden or deleted during upload

Solution:

cPanel: 1. Open File Manager 2. Click Settings (top right) 3. Check Show Hidden Files (dotfiles) 4. Click Save 5. Verify .htaccess files exist in: - public/ - Root directory - storage/ - bootstrap/ - database/

If missing, extract from ZIP again.

VPS:

# List all .htaccess files
find /var/www/html -name ".htaccess"

# Should show:
# /var/www/html/.htaccess
# /var/www/html/public/.htaccess
# /var/www/html/storage/.htaccess
# /var/www/html/bootstrap/.htaccess
# /var/www/html/database/.htaccess

SSL Certificate Not Working (Let’s Encrypt)

Cause: .well-known directory blocked by .htaccess

Solution: Test2Go’s .htaccess files already whitelist .well-known for SSL verification. If still failing:

# Test .well-known accessibility
curl -I http://your-domain.com/.well-known/acme-challenge/test

# Should return 404 (not 403 Forbidden)

If you get 403, check root .htaccess file for proper .well-known exception.

Error: Sensitive Files Accessible

Symptoms: - Can access your-domain.com/composer.json - Can access your-domain.com/.env - Can browse /storage/ directory

Cause: .htaccess files not working or document root misconfigured

Solution:

1. Verify document root points to public/ folder (CRITICAL!)

   ❌ Wrong: /var/www/html or public_html/
   ✅ Correct: /var/www/html/public or public_html/public/

2. Test protection:

   # These should all return 403/404:
   curl -I https://your-domain.com/.env
   curl -I https://your-domain.com/composer.json
   curl -I https://your-domain.com/storage/

3. If accessible, check .htaccess:

   cat public/.htaccess
   # Verify it contains security rules

Error: File Permission Denied

Solution:

# cPanel
chmod -R 775 storage bootstrap/cache

# VPS
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html
sudo chmod -R 775 storage bootstrap/cache

Polling Not Working (Live Quiz)

Cause: JavaScript error or internet connection

Solution:

1. Refresh browser (Ctrl+F5)
2. Check browser console (F12) for errors
3. Ensure HTTPS is active (valid SSL)
4. Check internet connection

Backup & Maintenance

Backup Database

cPanel:

1. Open phpMyAdmin
2. Select test2go database
3. Click Export
4. Select Quick export
5. Click Go
6. Download SQL file

VPS:

mysqldump -u test2go_user -p test2go > backup_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

Backup Files

cPanel: 1. Open File Manager 2. Select public_html folder 3. Click Compress 4. Download ZIP file

VPS:

tar -czf test2go_backup_$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz \
    /var/www/html/storage \
    /var/www/html/.env

Restore Database

cPanel: 1. Open phpMyAdmin 2. Select database 3. Click Import 4. Choose SQL backup file 5. Click Go

VPS:

mysql -u test2go_user -p test2go < backup_20260516.sql

Important Tips

Security

1. Change default password immediately after installation
2. Use HTTPS (SSL) for production
3. Regular backups - at least once a week
4. Update PHP and MySQL regularly
5. Don’t enable DEBUG in production (APP_DEBUG=false)

Performance

1. Use adequate server - minimum 1GB RAM for 50 concurrent users
2. Enable caching - Test2Go is already optimized
3. Use SSD if possible
4. Polling interval - default 1000ms (1 second) is optimal

Maintenance

1. Check logs regularly: storage/logs/laravel.log
2. Monitor disk space - ensure it doesn’t fill up
3. Test backup restore - ensure backups work
4. Update Test2Go when new version is available

Further Assistance

If you encounter issues:

1. Check error logs in storage/logs/laravel.log
2. Check complete documentation in User Guide
3. Contact support with information:
   • Error description
   • Screenshots
   • Log files (if any)

Enjoy using Test2Go! 🎉

← Back to Home

Last updated: May 2026