Deployment Guide

Complete guide for deploying CodeNotify Server to production environments.

Overview

CodeNotify can be deployed using various methods including Docker, cloud platforms, or traditional VPS hosting. This guide covers best practices for production deployment.

Prerequisites

System Requirements

Node.js: 18.x or higher
MongoDB: 6.x or higher
Memory: Minimum 512MB RAM (2GB recommended)
Storage: 10GB minimum
Network: HTTPS/SSL certificate required

Required Services

MongoDB Database
- MongoDB Atlas (recommended)
- Self-hosted MongoDB
- MongoDB Docker container
Email Service
- Resend API key
- Alternative: SendGrid, AWS SES
WhatsApp (Optional)
- Meta Cloud API credentials
- Business account verification

Deployment Methods

1. Docker Deployment

See Docker Configuration for containerized deployment.

2. Cloud Platforms

Vercel / Netlify (Not Recommended)

These platforms are designed for frontend/serverless
Not suitable for long-running Node.js applications

Railway / Render (Recommended)

Easy deployment from GitHub
Automatic HTTPS
Environment variable management
Database hosting available

AWS / Google Cloud / Azure

Full control over infrastructure
Scalable and reliable
Requires more setup

3. VPS Deployment

Traditional server deployment using PM2 process manager.

Environment Configuration

Production Environment Variables

Create .env.production file:

bash

# Server Configuration
NODE_ENV=production
PORT=3000

# Database
MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://user:password@cluster.mongodb.net/codenotify?retryWrites=true&w=majority

# JWT Secrets (MUST be strong random strings)
JWT_SECRET=your-super-secret-jwt-key-min-32-characters-random
JWT_REFRESH_SECRET=your-super-secret-refresh-key-min-32-characters-random

# Token Expiry
JWT_EXPIRES_IN=15m
REFRESH_TOKEN_EXPIRES_IN=7d

# CORS
CORS_ORIGIN=https://yourdomain.com,https://www.yourdomain.com

# Email Service (Resend)
RESEND_API_KEY=re_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

# WhatsApp (Optional)
WHATSAPP_API_KEY=your-whatsapp-api-key
WHATSAPP_PHONE_NUMBER_ID=your-phone-number-id

# Rate Limiting
RATE_LIMIT_TTL=60
RATE_LIMIT_MAX=100

# Logging
LOG_LEVEL=error

Security Checklist

[ ] Use strong random JWT secrets (32+ characters)
[ ] Enable HTTPS/SSL
[ ] Configure CORS for specific origins
[ ] Set secure MongoDB connection string
[ ] Use environment variables (never hardcode secrets)
[ ] Enable rate limiting
[ ] Set production logging level
[ ] Configure firewall rules
[ ] Enable MongoDB authentication
[ ] Use strong database passwords

Build Process

1. Install Dependencies

bash

npm ci --production

2. Build Application

bash

npm run build

3. Verify Build

bash

ls -la dist/

VPS Deployment with PM2

1. Install PM2

bash

npm install -g pm2

2. Create PM2 Ecosystem File

Create ecosystem.config.js:

javascript

module.exports = {
  apps: [{
    name: 'codenotify-api',
    script: './dist/main.js',
    instances: 'max',
    exec_mode: 'cluster',
    env: {
      NODE_ENV: 'production',
      PORT: 3000
    },
    error_file: './logs/err.log',
    out_file: './logs/out.log',
    log_date_format: 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss Z',
    merge_logs: true,
    autorestart: true,
    watch: false,
    max_memory_restart: '1G',
    env_production: {
      NODE_ENV: 'production'
    }
  }]
};

3. Start Application

bash

# Start with PM2
pm2 start ecosystem.config.js --env production

# Save PM2 configuration
pm2 save

# Setup PM2 to start on system boot
pm2 startup

4. PM2 Commands

bash

# View logs
pm2 logs codenotify-api

# Monitor
pm2 monit

# Restart
pm2 restart codenotify-api

# Stop
pm2 stop codenotify-api

# Delete
pm2 delete codenotify-api

# List all processes
pm2 list

Nginx Reverse Proxy

Configuration

Create /etc/nginx/sites-available/codenotify:

nginx

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name api.yourdomain.com;
    
    # Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name api.yourdomain.com;
    
    # SSL Configuration
    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/api.yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/api.yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;
    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
    ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;
    
    # Security Headers
    add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always;
    add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
    add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block" always;
    add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains" always;
    
    # Proxy Configuration
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
        
        # Timeouts
        proxy_connect_timeout 60s;
        proxy_send_timeout 60s;
        proxy_read_timeout 60s;
    }
    
    # Rate Limiting
    limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=api_limit:10m rate=10r/s;
    limit_req zone=api_limit burst=20 nodelay;
    
    # Logging
    access_log /var/log/nginx/codenotify-access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/codenotify-error.log;
}

Enable Site

bash

# Create symbolic link
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/codenotify /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

# Test configuration
sudo nginx -t

# Reload Nginx
sudo systemctl reload nginx

SSL Certificate (Let's Encrypt)

Install Certbot

bash

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Obtain Certificate

bash

sudo certbot --nginx -d api.yourdomain.com

Auto-renewal

bash

# Test renewal
sudo certbot renew --dry-run

# Certbot automatically sets up cron job for renewal

Database Setup

MongoDB Atlas (Recommended)

Create cluster at https://cloud.mongodb.com
Configure network access (whitelist IP or allow all)
Create database user
Get connection string
Update MONGODB_URI in environment variables

Self-hosted MongoDB

bash

# Install MongoDB
sudo apt install mongodb-org

# Start MongoDB
sudo systemctl start mongod
sudo systemctl enable mongod

# Create admin user
mongosh
use admin
db.createUser({
  user: "admin",
  pwd: "strongPassword",
  roles: ["root"]
})

# Create application database and user
use codenotify
db.createUser({
  user: "codenotify_user",
  pwd: "strongPassword",
  roles: ["readWrite"]
})

Monitoring & Logging

Application Logs

bash

# PM2 logs
pm2 logs codenotify-api --lines 100

# Nginx logs
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/codenotify-access.log
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/codenotify-error.log

Health Checks

bash

# API health check
curl https://api.yourdomain.com/

# Contests health check
curl https://api.yourdomain.com/contests/health

# Notifications health check
curl https://api.yourdomain.com/notifications/health

Monitoring Tools

PM2 Plus: Application monitoring
New Relic: APM and monitoring
Datadog: Infrastructure monitoring
Sentry: Error tracking
LogRocket: Session replay

Backup Strategy

Database Backups

bash

# MongoDB backup script
#!/bin/bash
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
BACKUP_DIR="/backups/mongodb"

mongodump --uri="$MONGODB_URI" --out="$BACKUP_DIR/$DATE"

# Keep only last 7 days
find $BACKUP_DIR -type d -mtime +7 -exec rm -rf {} +

Automated Backups

bash

# Add to crontab
crontab -e

# Daily backup at 2 AM
0 2 * * * /path/to/backup-script.sh

Scaling

Horizontal Scaling

Load Balancer: Nginx or cloud load balancer
Multiple Instances: PM2 cluster mode or multiple servers
Database Replication: MongoDB replica sets
Caching: Redis for session/data caching

Vertical Scaling

Increase server resources (CPU, RAM)
Optimize database queries
Add database indexes
Enable compression

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Issue	Solution
Port already in use	Change PORT in .env or kill process
MongoDB connection failed	Check connection string and network access
PM2 process crashes	Check logs with `pm2 logs`
High memory usage	Restart with `pm2 restart` or increase limit
SSL certificate error	Renew with `certbot renew`

Debug Mode

bash

# Enable debug logging
NODE_ENV=production LOG_LEVEL=debug pm2 restart codenotify-api

Performance Optimization

1. Enable Compression

typescript

// main.ts
import compression from 'compression';
app.use(compression());

2. Database Indexes

Ensure all indexes are created (see Database Indexes)

3. Caching

Implement Redis caching for frequent queries

4. CDN

Use CDN for static assets if applicable

Security Hardening

1. Firewall Configuration

bash

# UFW (Ubuntu)
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp    # SSH
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp    # HTTP
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp   # HTTPS
sudo ufw enable

2. Fail2Ban

bash

# Install Fail2Ban
sudo apt install fail2ban

# Configure for Nginx
sudo nano /etc/fail2ban/jail.local

3. Security Updates

bash

# Enable automatic security updates
sudo apt install unattended-upgrades
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades

Rollback Strategy

1. Keep Previous Build

bash

# Before deploying new version
cp -r dist dist.backup

2. Quick Rollback

bash

# Restore previous version
rm -rf dist
mv dist.backup dist

# Restart application
pm2 restart codenotify-api

Deployment Guide ​

Overview ​

Prerequisites ​

System Requirements ​

Required Services ​

Deployment Methods ​

1. Docker Deployment ​

2. Cloud Platforms ​

Vercel / Netlify (Not Recommended) ​

Railway / Render (Recommended) ​

AWS / Google Cloud / Azure ​

3. VPS Deployment ​

Environment Configuration ​

Production Environment Variables ​

Security Checklist ​

Build Process ​

1. Install Dependencies ​

2. Build Application ​

3. Verify Build ​

VPS Deployment with PM2 ​

1. Install PM2 ​

2. Create PM2 Ecosystem File ​

3. Start Application ​

4. PM2 Commands ​

Nginx Reverse Proxy ​

Configuration ​

Enable Site ​

SSL Certificate (Let's Encrypt) ​

Install Certbot ​

Obtain Certificate ​

Auto-renewal ​

Database Setup ​

MongoDB Atlas (Recommended) ​

Self-hosted MongoDB ​

Monitoring & Logging ​

Application Logs ​

Health Checks ​

Monitoring Tools ​

Backup Strategy ​

Database Backups ​

Automated Backups ​

Scaling ​

Horizontal Scaling ​

Vertical Scaling ​

Troubleshooting ​

Common Issues ​

Debug Mode ​

Performance Optimization ​

1. Enable Compression ​

2. Database Indexes ​

3. Caching ​

4. CDN ​

Security Hardening ​

1. Firewall Configuration ​

2. Fail2Ban ​

3. Security Updates ​

Rollback Strategy ​

1. Keep Previous Build ​

2. Quick Rollback ​

Related Documentation ​

Deployment Guide

Overview

Prerequisites

System Requirements

Required Services

Deployment Methods

1. Docker Deployment

2. Cloud Platforms

Vercel / Netlify (Not Recommended)

Railway / Render (Recommended)

AWS / Google Cloud / Azure

3. VPS Deployment

Environment Configuration

Production Environment Variables

Security Checklist

Build Process

1. Install Dependencies

2. Build Application

3. Verify Build

VPS Deployment with PM2

1. Install PM2

2. Create PM2 Ecosystem File

3. Start Application

4. PM2 Commands

Nginx Reverse Proxy

Configuration

Enable Site

SSL Certificate (Let's Encrypt)

Install Certbot

Obtain Certificate

Auto-renewal

Database Setup

MongoDB Atlas (Recommended)

Self-hosted MongoDB

Monitoring & Logging

Application Logs

Health Checks

Monitoring Tools

Backup Strategy

Database Backups

Automated Backups

Scaling

Horizontal Scaling

Vertical Scaling

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Debug Mode

Performance Optimization

1. Enable Compression

2. Database Indexes

3. Caching

4. CDN

Security Hardening

1. Firewall Configuration

2. Fail2Ban

3. Security Updates

Rollback Strategy

1. Keep Previous Build

2. Quick Rollback

Related Documentation