How to deploy WordPress and Laravel on your VPS with Ploi

What is Ploi?

Ploi is a server management platform built for PHP developers. It connects to your VPS and provides a web interface for deploying and managing web applications - particularly WordPress and Laravel, but also other PHP frameworks and static sites.

Like other server management panels, Ploi doesn’t host your sites. Your VPS handles the hosting; Ploi handles the management.

Why developers choose Ploi

Ploi was built with Laravel developers in mind, offering features that matter for modern PHP development:

• Zero-downtime deployments: Push updates without taking your site offline
• Git integration: Deploy directly from GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket
• Queue workers: Manage Laravel queues and Horizon
• Scheduled tasks: Configure cron jobs through the UI
• Team access: Invite collaborators with role-based permissions

For WordPress users, Ploi offers similar ease of use with one-click installation and automatic updates.

Ploi pricing and plans

Ploi offers flexible pricing including a free tier:

Plan	Servers	Sites	Price/month
Free	1	1	€0
Basic	5	Unlimited	€10
Pro	10	Unlimited	€16
Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	€36

The free plan is genuinely functional for personal projects. Check Ploi’s pricing page for current rates.

Server requirements for Ploi

Your VPS needs to meet these specifications:

Requirement	Specification
Operating System	Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, or 24.04 LTS
RAM	Minimum 1 GB
CPU	1 core minimum
Access	Root SSH access
Clean install	No existing web server

Start with a fresh Ubuntu installation - Ploi installs its own optimized stack. All ServerPoint VPS plans include full root access and your choice of operating system.

How to connect your ServerPoint VPS to Ploi

Step 1: Deploy a VPS on ServerPoint’s ColossusCloud

Make sure you have a VPS ready and online on ServerPoint’s ColossusCloud platform. Log into ServerPoint’s Client Portal:

1. Deploy a new VPS in your preferred data center location
2. Select Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
3. Choose at least 1 GB RAM (2 GB for production Laravel/WordPress sites)
4. Your ColossusCloud VPS will be online in under a minute

Save the IP address and root credentials from your Client Portal dashboard.

Step 2: Sign up for Ploi

Create an account at ploi.io. You can start with the free plan.

Step 3: Add your server in Ploi

1. From the Ploi dashboard, click “Add Server”
2. Select “Custom VPS” as the provider
3. Enter your server name and VPS IP address
4. Ploi generates an installation script

Step 4: Run the installation script

Connect to your VPS via SSH:

ssh root@your-vps-ip

Run the installation command Ploi provided. Installation takes about 10 minutes.

Ploi installs:

• Nginx (with HTTP/2)
• PHP (7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3)
• MySQL or MariaDB
• Redis (optional)
• Supervisor for queue workers

Step 5: Confirm connection

Your server will show as connected in the Ploi dashboard.

Deploying WordPress with Ploi

Create a site

1. Select your server in Ploi
2. Click “Add Site”
3. Enter your domain name
4. Choose “WordPress” as the project type
5. Click “Add Site”

Configure DNS

Add these records at your domain registrar:

A     @      your-vps-ip
A     www    your-vps-ip

Install SSL

1. Go to your site in Ploi
2. Navigate to “SSL”
3. Click “Request Certificate”
4. Ploi installs a Let’s Encrypt certificate automatically

Install WordPress

1. Go to your site
2. Click “Install WordPress”
3. Enter admin credentials
4. WordPress installs in seconds

Deploying Laravel applications with Ploi

Ploi excels at Laravel deployment:

Connect your repository

1. Create a site with your domain
2. Link your GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket repository
3. Select the branch to deploy

Configure deployment

Ploi auto-detects Laravel projects and suggests deployment steps:

cd /home/ploi/your-site.com
git pull origin main
composer install --no-interaction --prefer-dist --optimize-autoloader
php artisan migrate --force
php artisan config:cache
php artisan route:cache
php artisan view:cache

Customize these commands as needed.

Enable zero-downtime deployment

Ploi uses symbolic links for zero-downtime deploys:

• New code deploys to a fresh directory
• Dependencies install without affecting the live site
• Symlink switches atomically when ready

Queue worker management

For Laravel queues:

1. Go to your site → “Daemons”
2. Add a new daemon for php artisan queue:work
3. Ploi manages the Supervisor configuration

Database management in Ploi

Create databases

1. Go to your server → “Databases”
2. Click “Create Database”
3. Name your database and create a user

Access with a GUI

Ploi provides secure database access through:

• Built-in database manager
• Secure tunnel for external tools (TablePlus, Sequel Pro)

Setting up cron jobs in Ploi

No need to edit crontab manually:

1. Go to your server → “Cronjobs”
2. Click “New Cronjob”
3. Enter the command and schedule

For Laravel, add the scheduler:

php /home/ploi/your-site.com/artisan schedule:run

Set it to run every minute.

Team collaboration features

Ploi’s higher-tier plans include team features:

• Invite team members: Add developers with specific permissions
• Server access control: Limit who can access which servers
• Deployment notifications: Slack and Discord integration
• Audit logs: Track who did what

Ploi vs other server panels for PHP applications

Feature	Ploi	RunCloud	ServerAvatar
Free tier	Yes (1 server, 1 site)	No	Yes (1 server)
Laravel focus	Strong	Moderate	Moderate
Zero-downtime deploys	Yes	Limited	Yes
Git deployment	Yes	Yes	Yes
Queue management	Yes	Limited	Limited

Ploi stands out for Laravel developers who need proper deployment workflows, queue management, and team features.

Security configuration with Ploi

Firewall rules

Ploi configures UFW automatically. Add custom rules through the dashboard if needed.

SSH key management

Add your SSH public keys through Ploi to eliminate password authentication.

Security patches

Ploi notifies you of available OS updates and can apply them automatically.

Using ServerPoint’s Cloud Firewall with Ploi

One advantage of hosting on ServerPoint’s ColossusCloud is our network-level Cloud Firewall. Unlike software firewalls that run inside your VPS, our Cloud Firewall blocks malicious traffic at the network edge - before it reaches your server.

Configure your firewall via ServerPoint’s Client Portal:

• Allow SSH (port 22) from your IP only
• Allow HTTP (80) and HTTPS (443) from anywhere
• Block all other inbound traffic

This provides enterprise-grade network security without any additional cost.

When Ploi might not be the right choice

Consider alternatives if:

• You need Windows servers: Ploi is Linux-only
• You’re running non-PHP applications: Limited Node.js support, no Go/Rust/etc.
• You want a fully self-hosted solution: Ploi is a SaaS product
• Budget is extremely tight: Even the free tier has limitations

Official resources

• Ploi website - Official site with pricing and features
• Ploi documentation - Setup guides and API reference
• Ploi on GitHub - Open-source tools, CLI, and SDK libraries
• Ploi on X/Twitter - Updates and announcements
• Ploi roadmap - Upcoming features and suggestions

Next steps after connecting Ploi

Once Ploi is connected to your ServerPoint VPS:

• Deploy your WordPress or Laravel applications
• Set up automated backups through Ploi
• Enable ServerPoint’s VPS snapshot backup service for complete server recovery
• Configure monitoring and alerts
• Invite team members if on a paid plan

Need more power? Upgrading your ColossusCloud VPS takes just a few clicks in the Client Portal - add RAM, CPU cores, or storage without migration.

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