> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developer.upsun.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create a basic PHP app with a front controller

> Start with a basic PHP app with a front controller for dynamic requests.

To handle dynamic requests to your PHP app, you might want to use a [front controller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_controller).
The following example shows how for such an app you might start defining [your web server](https://developer.upsun.com/docs/configure-apps/image-properties/web.md).

## Define a document root

Start by defining your document root (where all your publicly visible pages are).


    applications:
      myapp:
        type: 'php:\{\{version:php:latest}}'
        source:
          root: "/"
        web:
          locations:
            '/':
              root: 'public'
  

## Define a front controller

Define where all requests that don't match a file in the document root are sent.


    applications:
      myapp:
        type: 'php:\{\{version:php:latest}}'
        source:
          root: "/"
        web:
          locations:
            '/':
              root: 'public'
              passthru: '/index.php'
              index:
                \- index.php
  

In this case, `/index.php` acts as a front controller and handles dynamic requests.

Because it handles dynamic requests, you want to ensure that scripts are enabled
and responses aren't cached.


    applications:
      myapp:
        type: 'php:\{\{version:php:latest}}'
        source:
          root: "/"
        web:
          locations:
            '/':
              ...
              scripts: true
              \# No caching for static files.
              \# (Dynamic pages use whatever cache headers are generated by the program.)
              expires: -1
  

## Define rules

You might want to define specific rules for the location.
For example, you might want to allow all kinds of files except mp4 files.


    applications:
      myapp:
        type: 'php:\{\{version:php:latest}}'
        source:
          root: "/"
        web:
          locations:
            '/':
              ...
              \# Allow all file types generally
              allow: true
              rules:
                \# Disallow .mp4 files specifically.
                \\.mp4\$:
                  allow: false
  

## Set different rules for specific locations

You might want to set specific rules for specific locations.
For example, you might have files in your `/public/images` directory that are served at `/images`.
You could define a specific cache time for them and limit them to only static image files.


    applications:
      myapp:
        type: 'php:\{\{version:php:latest}}'
        source:
          root: "/"
        web:
          locations:
            '/':
                ...
            \# Set a 5 min expiration time for static files in this location.
            \# Missing files are sent to front controller
            \# through the '/' location above.
            '/images':
              expires: 300
              passthru: true
              \# Do not execute PHP scripts from this location and do not
              \# deliver their source code (for enhanced security).
              scripts: false
              allow: false
              rules:
                \# Only allow static image files in this location
                '\\.(jpe?g|png|gif|svgz?|ico|bmp)\$':
                  allow: true
  

## Complete example


    applications:
      myapp:
        type: 'php:\{\{version:php:latest}}'
        source:
          root: "/"
        web:
          locations:
            '/':
              root: 'public'
              passthru: '/index.php'
              index:
                \- index.php
              scripts: true
              \# No caching for static files.
              \# (Dynamic pages use whatever cache headers are generated by the program.)
              expires: -1
              \# Allow all file types generally
              allow: true
              rules:
                \# Disallow .mp4 files specifically.
                \\.mp4\$:
                  allow: false
            \# Set a 5 min expiration time for static files in this location.
            \# Missing files are sent to front controller
            \# through the '/' location above.
            '/images':
              expires: 300
              passthru: true
              \# Do not execute PHP scripts from this location and do not
              \# deliver their source code (for enhanced security).
              scripts: false
              allow: false
              rules:
                \# Only allow static image files in this location
                '\\.(jpe?g|png|gif|svgz?|ico|bmp)\$':
                  allow: true
  


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