Setting up Dev and Staging environments with CI/CD

Goal: Deploy and configure

Requirements

1. Hosting environment:

• VPS: DigitalOcean or GoDaddy

• Specifications:

  • 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 30–100GB SSD

  • OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• Domains:

  • dev.gcs-reefer.com for Dev

  • stage.gcs-reefer.com for Staging

2. Technology stack:

• Backend: Laravel 10.x with necessary PHP modules

• Database: MySQL 8.x

• Cache: Redis 5.x

• Web server: Nginx

• Containerization: Docker and Docker Compose

• CI/CD tool: GitHub Actions

• Monitoring: Sentry

Main tasks

1. Server setup:

• Deploy VPS, configure SSH access, install Docker, Docker Compose, and Nginx.

• Create virtual hosts and subdomains through Nginx.

• Install Certbot for SSL certificates.

2. CI/CD processes:

• Configure GitHub Actions for automatic deployment:

  • Dev branch: Deploy after merge, run tests, notify in Jira.

  • Staging branch: Deploy after merge, run tests, notify in Jira.

• Write Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml for both environments.

• Automate container cleanup after successful deployment.

3. Monitoring:

• Set up Sentry for error tracking in Dev and Staging.

• Set up alerts for critical errors.

4. Backup and security:

• Set up daily backups of databases (keep for 7 days) and application files.

• Ensure access security with Firewall, Fail2Ban, and multi-factor authentication.

Result:

• Fully operational Dev and Staging environments.

• Automated CI/CD processes with Jira and Sentry integration.

• Scalable and secure infrastructure with backups.