Assist_Design/DEPLOYMENT.md

🚀 Deployment Guide

📁 Environment Files Overview

Development:

• .env - Your local development environment (active)
• .env.example - Development template for new developers

Production:

• .env.production - Production environment for Plesk deployment
• compose-plesk.yaml - Docker Stack definition

🔧 Plesk Deployment Steps

Step 1: Authenticate Docker (One-time)

# SSH to Plesk server
echo "YOUR_GITHUB_TOKEN" | docker login ghcr.io -u ntumurbars --password-stdin

Step 2: Upload Files to Plesk

Upload these files to your domain directory:

1. compose-plesk.yaml - Docker Stack definition
2. .env.production - Environment variables (rename to .env)

Step 3: Deploy Stack

1. Plesk → Docker → Stacks → Add Stack
2. Project name: customer-portal
3. Method: Upload file or paste compose-plesk.yaml content
4. Deploy

Step 4: Configure Nginx Proxy

1. Plesk → Websites & Domains → yourdomain.com → Docker Proxy Rules
2. Add rule: / → portal-frontend → port 3000
3. Add rule: /api → portal-backend → port 4000

🔄 Update Workflow

When You Push Code:

1. GitHub Actions builds new images automatically
2. SSH to Plesk and update:

   cd /var/www/vhosts/yourdomain.com/httpdocs/
   docker compose -f compose-plesk.yaml pull
   docker compose -f compose-plesk.yaml up -d
   

🔐 Environment Variables

Your compose file uses these key variables from .env.production:

Database:

• POSTGRES_DB, POSTGRES_USER, POSTGRES_PASSWORD
• DATABASE_URL - Full connection string

Application:

• JWT_SECRET, CORS_ORIGIN
• NEXT_PUBLIC_API_BASE, NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_NAME

External APIs:

• WHMCS_BASE_URL, WHMCS_API_IDENTIFIER, WHMCS_API_SECRET
• SF_LOGIN_URL, SF_CLIENT_ID, SF_USERNAME

Email & Logging:

• SENDGRID_API_KEY, EMAIL_FROM
• LOG_LEVEL, LOG_FORMAT

✅ Ready to Deploy!

Your setup is clean and production-ready:

• ✅ Environment variables properly configured
• ✅ Docker secrets via environment variables
• ✅ Database and Redis secured (localhost only)
• ✅ Automated image building
• ✅ Clean file structure