📦 Deployment Guide

Complete deployment instructions for TAP (Training, Academics, and Placement).

Pre-Deployment Checklist
Environment Setup
Vercel Deployment (Frontend)
Railway Deployment (Backend)
Docker Deployment
Traditional VPS Deployment
Database Migration
Monitoring & Logging
Troubleshooting

Pre-Deployment Checklist

Code Quality

All tests passing (npm test)
No console errors or warnings
ESLint checks passing (npm run lint)
TypeScript compilation successful
No hardcoded secrets or credentials
Environment variables documented

Security

JWT secret is strong and unique
CORS origins are properly configured
HTTPS is enabled
Database credentials are secure
API rate limiting is configured
Input validation is implemented

Performance

Frontend bundle size optimized
Images are compressed
Database indexes are created
Caching strategies implemented
CDN configured for static assets

Documentation

README is up to date
API documentation is complete
Deployment steps are documented
Environment variables are listed
Troubleshooting guide is available

Environment Setup

Production Environment Variables

Backend .env.production:

# ============================================
# DATABASE
# ============================================
MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://username:password@cluster.mongodb.net/tap?retryWrites=true&w=majority

# ============================================
# AUTHENTICATION
# ============================================
JWT_SECRET=your_very_strong_random_secret_key_here_minimum_32_characters
JWT_EXPIRE=7d
JWT_REFRESH_EXPIRE=30d

# ============================================
# SERVER
# ============================================
NODE_ENV=production
PORT=5000
HOST=0.0.0.0

# ============================================
# SECURITY
# ============================================
CORS_ORIGIN=https://your-domain.com,https://www.your-domain.com
ALLOWED_ORIGINS=https://your-domain.com

# ============================================
# EMAIL
# ============================================
EMAIL_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
EMAIL_PORT=587
EMAIL_USER=your_email@gmail.com
EMAIL_PASS=your_app_password

# ============================================
# FILE UPLOAD
# ============================================
MAX_FILE_SIZE=10485760
UPLOAD_PATH=./uploads

# ============================================
# LOGGING
# ============================================
LOG_LEVEL=warn

Frontend .env.production:

# ============================================
# API
# ============================================
VITE_API_URL=https://api.your-domain.com
VITE_API_TIMEOUT=10000

# ============================================
# APPLICATION
# ============================================
VITE_APP_NAME=TAP
VITE_APP_VERSION=1.0.0

# ============================================
# FEATURES
# ============================================
VITE_ENABLE_ANALYTICS=true
VITE_ENABLE_NOTIFICATIONS=true
VITE_ENABLE_DARK_MODE=true

# ============================================
# DEBUG
# ============================================
VITE_DEBUG=false

Vercel Deployment (Frontend)

Step 1: Prepare Frontend

# Build frontend
cd frontend
npm run build

# Test production build locally
npm run preview

Step 2: Connect to Vercel

Option A: Using Vercel CLI

# Install Vercel CLI
npm i -g vercel

# Login to Vercel
vercel login

# Deploy
vercel --prod

Option B: Using GitHub

Push code to GitHub
Go to Vercel Dashboard
Click "New Project"
Select your GitHub repository
Configure build settings:
- Framework: Vite
- Build Command: npm run build
- Output Directory: dist
Add environment variables
Click "Deploy"

Step 3: Configure Environment Variables

In Vercel Dashboard:

Go to Project Settings → Environment Variables
Add production variables:
- VITE_API_URL=https://api.your-domain.com
- VITE_APP_NAME=TAP
- VITE_ENABLE_ANALYTICS=true

Step 4: Configure Domain

Go to Project Settings → Domains
Add your custom domain
Update DNS records (provided by Vercel)
Wait for DNS propagation (up to 48 hours)

Step 5: Enable Auto-Deployment

Go to Project Settings → Git
Enable "Automatic Deployments"
Select branch (usually main)

Railway Deployment (Backend)

Step 1: Prepare Backend

# Build backend
cd backend
npm run build

# Test production build
npm start

Step 2: Create Railway Account

Go to Railway.app
Sign up with GitHub
Create new project

Step 3: Deploy Backend

Using Railway CLI:

# Install Railway CLI
npm i -g @railway/cli

# Login
railway login

# Initialize project
cd backend
railway init

# Link to project
railway link

# Deploy
railway up

Using GitHub:

Push code to GitHub
In Railway Dashboard, click "New Project"
Select "Deploy from GitHub"
Choose your repository
Configure build settings

Step 4: Configure Environment Variables

In Railway Dashboard:

Go to Project → Variables
Add production variables:
- MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://...
- JWT_SECRET=your_secret
- NODE_ENV=production
- CORS_ORIGIN=https://your-domain.com

Step 5: Configure Domain

Go to Project → Domains
Add custom domain
Update DNS records

Step 6: Set Up Database

Option A: MongoDB Atlas (Recommended)

Create MongoDB Atlas cluster
Get connection string
Add to Railway variables as MONGODB_URI

Option B: Railway PostgreSQL

In Railway Dashboard, add PostgreSQL service
Connect backend to PostgreSQL
Update connection string

Docker Deployment

Step 1: Create Dockerfiles

Frontend Dockerfile:

# Build stage
FROM node:18-alpine as builder

WORKDIR /app

COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci

COPY . .
RUN npm run build

# Production stage
FROM node:18-alpine

WORKDIR /app

RUN npm install -g serve

COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist

EXPOSE 3000

CMD ["serve", "-s", "dist", "-l", "3000"]

Backend Dockerfile:

FROM node:18-alpine

WORKDIR /app

COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --only=production

COPY . .

EXPOSE 5000

CMD ["npm", "start"]

Step 2: Create Docker Compose

docker-compose.yml:

version: '3.8'

services:
  frontend:
    build:
      context: ./frontend
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - VITE_API_URL=http://backend:5000
    depends_on:
      - backend
    networks:
      - tap-network

  backend:
    build:
      context: ./backend
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    ports:
      - "5000:5000"
    environment:
      - MONGODB_URI=mongodb://mongo:27017/tap
      - JWT_SECRET=${JWT_SECRET}
      - NODE_ENV=production
    depends_on:
      - mongo
    networks:
      - tap-network
    restart: unless-stopped

  mongo:
    image: mongo:6
    ports:
      - "27017:27017"
    volumes:
      - mongo_data:/data/db
    environment:
      - MONGO_INITDB_DATABASE=tap
    networks:
      - tap-network
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  mongo_data:

networks:
  tap-network:
    driver: bridge

Step 3: Build and Run

# Build images
docker-compose build

# Start services
docker-compose up -d

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f

# Stop services
docker-compose down

Step 4: Deploy to Docker Registry

# Login to Docker Hub
docker login

# Build image
docker build -t yourusername/tap-backend:1.0.0 ./backend

# Push to registry
docker push yourusername/tap-backend:1.0.0

# Pull and run
docker run -d \
  -e MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://... \
  -e JWT_SECRET=your_secret \
  -p 5000:5000 \
  yourusername/tap-backend:1.0.0

Traditional VPS Deployment

Step 1: Set Up Server

SSH into server:

ssh root@your_server_ip

Update system:

apt update && apt upgrade -y

Install Node.js:

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_18.x | sudo -E bash -
apt install -y nodejs

Install MongoDB:

wget -qO - https://www.mongodb.org/static/pgp/server-6.0.asc | apt-key add -
echo "deb [ arch=amd64,arm64 ] https://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu focal/mongodb-org/6.0 multiverse" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-6.0.list
apt update
apt install -y mongodb-org
systemctl start mongod
systemctl enable mongod

Install Nginx:

apt install -y nginx
systemctl start nginx
systemctl enable nginx

Step 2: Deploy Application

Clone repository:

cd /var/www
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/tap.git
cd tap

Install dependencies:

# Frontend
cd frontend
npm install
npm run build
cd ..

# Backend
cd backend
npm install
cd ..

Create environment files:

# Backend
cd backend
nano .env
# Add production variables

# Frontend
cd ../frontend
nano .env
# Add production variables

Step 3: Set Up PM2

Install PM2:

npm install -g pm2

Create PM2 ecosystem file:

cat > ecosystem.config.js << EOF
module.exports = {
  apps: [
    {
      name: 'tap-backend',
      script: './backend/server.js',
      instances: 'max',
      exec_mode: 'cluster',
      env: {
        NODE_ENV: 'production'
      },
      error_file: './logs/backend-error.log',
      out_file: './logs/backend-out.log'
    },
    {
      name: 'tap-frontend',
      script: 'npm',
      args: 'start',
      cwd: './frontend',
      instances: 1,
      exec_mode: 'fork',
      env: {
        NODE_ENV: 'production'
      },
      error_file: './logs/frontend-error.log',
      out_file: './logs/frontend-out.log'
    }
  ]
};
EOF

Start applications:

pm2 start ecosystem.config.js
pm2 save
pm2 startup

Step 4: Configure Nginx

Create Nginx config:

cat > /etc/nginx/sites-available/tap << 'EOF'
upstream backend {
    server 127.0.0.1:5000;
}

upstream frontend {
    server 127.0.0.1:3000;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your-domain.com www.your-domain.com;

    # Redirect to HTTPS
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name your-domain.com www.your-domain.com;

    # SSL certificates
    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/your-domain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/your-domain.com/privkey.pem;

    # Frontend
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://frontend;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }

    # Backend API
    location /api {
        proxy_pass http://backend;
        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;
    }
}
EOF

Enable site:

ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/tap /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
nginx -t
systemctl restart nginx

Step 5: Set Up SSL Certificate

# Install Certbot
apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx

# Get certificate
certbot certonly --standalone -d your-domain.com -d www.your-domain.com

# Auto-renewal
systemctl enable certbot.timer

Database Migration

Backup Database

# Local MongoDB
mongodump --db tap --out ./backup

# MongoDB Atlas
mongodump --uri "mongodb+srv://username:password@cluster.mongodb.net/tap"

Restore Database

# Local MongoDB
mongorestore ./backup

# MongoDB Atlas
mongorestore --uri "mongodb+srv://username:password@cluster.mongodb.net" ./backup

Monitoring & Logging

Application Monitoring

Using PM2 Monitoring:

# Install PM2 Plus
pm2 install pm2-auto-pull

# Monitor
pm2 monit

# View logs
pm2 logs tap-backend
pm2 logs tap-frontend

Error Tracking

Using Sentry:

# Install Sentry
npm install @sentry/node

# Configure in backend
const Sentry = require('@sentry/node');

Sentry.init({
  dsn: process.env.SENTRY_DSN,
  environment: process.env.NODE_ENV
});

app.use(Sentry.Handlers.errorHandler());

Troubleshooting

Common Deployment Issues

Issue: Build fails on Vercel

Solution:

# Check build logs
# Ensure all dependencies are in package.json
# Verify environment variables are set
# Check Node version compatibility

Issue: Backend cannot connect to database

Solution:

# Verify MongoDB connection string
# Check IP whitelist in MongoDB Atlas
# Verify credentials
# Test connection locally

Issue: CORS errors in production

Solution:

# Update CORS_ORIGIN in .env
# Ensure frontend URL matches
# Check backend is running
# Clear browser cache

Issue: High memory usage

Solution:

# Check for memory leaks
# Optimize database queries
# Implement caching
# Scale horizontally

For more help, visit GitHub Issues

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📦 Deployment Guide

Table of Contents

Pre-Deployment Checklist

Code Quality

Security

Performance

Documentation

Environment Setup

Production Environment Variables

Vercel Deployment (Frontend)

Step 1: Prepare Frontend

Step 2: Connect to Vercel

Step 3: Configure Environment Variables

Step 4: Configure Domain

Step 5: Enable Auto-Deployment

Railway Deployment (Backend)

Step 1: Prepare Backend

Step 2: Create Railway Account

Step 3: Deploy Backend

Step 4: Configure Environment Variables

Step 5: Configure Domain

Step 6: Set Up Database

Docker Deployment

Step 1: Create Dockerfiles

Step 2: Create Docker Compose

Step 3: Build and Run

Step 4: Deploy to Docker Registry

Traditional VPS Deployment

Step 1: Set Up Server

Step 2: Deploy Application

Step 3: Set Up PM2

Step 4: Configure Nginx

Step 5: Set Up SSL Certificate

Database Migration

Backup Database

Restore Database

Monitoring & Logging

Application Monitoring

Error Tracking

Troubleshooting

Common Deployment Issues