Laravel upload files outside of laravel app directory.

error

Symfony \ Component \ HttpFoundation \ File \ Exception \ FileException
Unable to create the "/home/rahl/www/recycleabook.com/files/" directory
open: /home/rahl/www/recycleabook.com/rab/vendor/symfony/http-foundation/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/File/File.php
        return $target;
    }
 
    protected function getTargetFile($directory, $name = null)
    {
        if (!is_dir($directory)) {
            if (false === @mkdir($directory, 0777, true)) {
                throw new FileException(sprintf('Unable to create the "%s" directory', $directory));
            }
        } elseif (!is_writable($directory)) {

notes

Path : is /home/rahl/www/recycleabook.com/files
this is a SSHFS folder that actually links to another server which is the central file server.
It is chown -R www-data:www-data 
&& chmod -R 777

routes.php

Route::get('test', function(){


	return View::make('test');
});

Route::post('test', function(){
Config::set('app.debug', true);

$file = Input::file('file'); // your file upload input field in the form should be named 'file'

$destinationPath = '/home/rahl/www/recycleabook.com/files/';
$filename = $file->getClientOriginalName();
//$extension =$file->getClientOriginalExtension(); //if you need extension of the file
$uploadSuccess = Input::file('file')->move($destinationPath, $filename);
 
if( $uploadSuccess ) {
   return Response::json('success', 200); // or do a redirect with some message that file was uploaded
} else {
   return Response::json('error', 400);
}
});

test.blade.php

{{ Form::open(array('files' => true)) }}
{{Form::file('file', array('class' => 'file'))}}
{{Form::submit('Submit!')}}
{{Form::close()}}