Documentation/Installation

Installation

The installer is designed for non-technical buyers. It checks requirements, writes configuration, runs migrations, seeds required data, creates an admin account, and locks itself.

Plain-English note: Installation means putting the app files on your server, connecting the app to its own database, creating the first admin user, and locking the installer so nobody else can run setup again.

Choose Your Installation Path

Hosting Type	Recommended Path	What To Ask Hosting Support
Shared hosting / cPanel	Upload files with File Manager or FTP, point domain to `public`, then open `/install`.	Can the domain document root be changed to the Laravel `public` folder?
VPS	Upload or clone files, run Composer, configure Apache/Nginx, then open `/install`.	Make sure PHP extensions, MySQL, Composer, and cron are installed.
Local XAMPP	Place the project in `htdocs`, create a MySQL database, and run through `/install`.	Use local testing only unless you know how to secure it for production.

1. Upload Files

Upload all project files except ignored local folders such as vendor and node_modules.
Run composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader if vendor is not included by your hosting workflow.
Point your domain or subdomain to the public directory.

2. Create Database

Create an empty MySQL database for InsightPilot itself. This is separate from the external business databases that users connect later.

3. Run Installer

Open https://your-domain.com/install and complete the steps:

Installer step 1 server requirements and folder permissions — **Step 1:** confirm requirements before writing environment settings.

Installer database step for application database credentials — **Database:** connect InsightPilot to its own application database before migrations run.

Installer admin account creation step — **Admin account:** create the first owner account during setup.

Installer finish step after setup is complete — **Finish:** lock the installer and open the login screen.

Step	Purpose
1	Server requirements and permissions.
2	App name, URL, timezone, and locale.
3	Application database connection.
4	Migrations, required seeders, AI Governance default questions/rules/templates/notices/evaluations, optional demo data.
5	Mail, SMS, and WhatsApp channels.
6	Admin account creation.
7	Branding.
8	Lock installer and open login.

4. Demo Data Option

Select demo data when preparing a live preview or evaluating the app. The installer stages demo templates during migration and attaches buyer-friendly demo dashboards, saved queries, anomalies, actions, and executive briefs after the admin account is created.

Installed Demo Command

For a locked local or live-preview environment, the v1.2 demo install command prepares the preview in one step. It migrates/seeds, creates the demo admin, creates the installed lock file, seeds demo packs, and prints useful URLs.

php artisan insightpilot:demo-install

Email: admin@ovion.tech
Password: Demo@12345

Preview only: Use --fresh only on a disposable demo database because it rebuilds the database.

Manual Fallback

cp .env.example .env
php artisan key:generate --force
php artisan migrate --force
php artisan db:seed --class=Database\\Seeders\\InstallerRequiredSeeder --force
php artisan db:seed --class=Database\\Seeders\\AiGovernanceSeeder --force
php artisan storage:link
php artisan insightpilot:seed-demo
php artisan insightpilot:seed-ai-governance-demo
php artisan insightpilot:run-health-checks
php artisan optimize:clear

After Installation

InsightPilot login screen after the installer has been locked — **After setup:** the locked installation routes users to the normal login flow, where the demo account can be used for preview environments.

Locked installer state after InsightPilot setup is complete — **Installer locked:** keep the installer closed on production installs and reopen it only on controlled setup environments.

Lock the installer.
Log in as the admin user.
Open Settings and configure OpenAI and mail.
Run or verify php artisan storage:link so document and AI Governance evidence downloads work.
Create a database connection with a read-only external DB user.
Refresh schema discovery and enable safe tables for AI access.
Open AI Governance and confirm default risk questions, rules, approval templates, notice templates, and evaluation tests exist.
For a buyer preview, run php artisan insightpilot:demo-install. It creates fictional analytics, document, and AI Governance examples. Use php artisan insightpilot:seed-ai-governance-demo only to refresh AI Governance records on an existing preview.
Open Launch Checklist from the InsightPilot sidebar and run readiness.

Installation Checklist

Website opens without /public in the URL.
storage and bootstrap/cache are writable.
Installer completed successfully.
Admin user can log in.
Installer is locked.
OpenAI settings page saves API key and model.
Mail test sends successfully.
Cron is configured for scheduled jobs.
php artisan insightpilot:run-ai-governance runs without errors.
php artisan insightpilot:run-health-checks runs without errors and System Health shows current findings.
Demo data is seeded if this is a live preview.
Launch Checklist, Marketplace Readiness, and Module Readiness exports are available.