Down command creates files when using cache driver for maintenance mode

[JaZo]

Laravel Version

11.23.5

PHP Version

8.2.24

Database Driver & Version

No response

Description

When you're using the cache based maintenance mode, Laravel still tries to create the framework/maintenance.php file. However, this file does nothing when there's no down-file, which is the case when you're using the cache driver, so basically it is useless.

Example of when this is an issue:

1. When running a multi server environment, only the server where the down command is ran, will have the maintenance file and the others don't.
2. When running on a read-only filesystem, the down command will error as the file can't be created.

In both these situations the cache driver should suffice, but currently it has this issue.

N.B. I proposed a solution in #53228, but that wasn't accepted.

Steps To Reproduce

1. Make sure your cache store isn't file based;
2. Set the maintenance mode driver to cache;
3. Make the storage directory read-only;
4. Run php artisan down;
5. See that the command fails because it can't create the maintenance file.

[ismaildasci]

Hey! 👋

You're right—Laravel’s php artisan down command creates the framework/maintenance.php file even in cache-based maintenance mode. This file isn’t really necessary if you’re relying on the cache driver for maintenance status.
Possible Workaround

One option is to create a custom command to enable maintenance mode using only the cache without creating maintenance.php. Here’s an example:

php

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Cache;
use Illuminate\Console\Command;

class CustomDownCommand extends Command
{
protected $signature = 'custom:down';
protected $description = 'Put the app in maintenance mode (cache-based only)';

public function handle()
{
    Cache::put('maintenance_mode', true, now()->addHours(24)); // 24-hour maintenance mode
    $this->info('Maintenance mode enabled without file.');
}

}

This way, only the cache is used, and maintenance.php won’t be created. Hope this helps! 😊