Production Deployment Guide

Complete guide for deploying this application to production using Docker, Nginx, and SSL.

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Table of Contents

1. Prerequisites
2. Server Requirements
3. Security Hardening
4. Deployment Options
5. Nginx Configuration
6. SSL Setup
7. SEO & Indexing
8. Maintenance

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Prerequisites

Required:

• Linux server (Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 recommended)
• Docker and Docker Compose installed
• Domain name (e.g., yourstore.com)
• SSH access to server

For Self-Hosting:

• Router access for port forwarding
• Static local IP address

For Cloud VPS:

• VPS provider account (DigitalOcean, Hetzner, AWS, Linode, etc.)

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Server Requirements

Compute Resources

Traffic Tier	Monthly Visits	CPU (vCores)	RAM (Memory)	Storage (SSD/NVMe)
Low	< 10,000	2 vCPUs	4 GB	40 GB
Medium	10k - 100k	4 vCPUs	8 - 16 GB	80 GB
High	100k - 500k+	8+ vCPUs	32 GB+	160 GB+

Storage Requirements

Storage needs based on product catalog size:

Calculation Assumptions:

• Average Images per Product: 3.5
• Average Image Size: 2MB (high-res) + Next.js optimized cache
• Database growth includes metadata, users, and order history

Scale	Products	Est. Images	Database (Postgres)	Media (Uploads)	Total Recommended
Startup	2,000	~7,000	1 GB	~15 GB	25 GB SSD
Growth	10,000	~35,000	5 GB	~75 GB	100 GB NVMe
Scale	50,000	~175,000	20 GB	~375 GB	500 GB NVMe
Enterprise	100,000+	~350,000+	50 GB+	~750 GB+	1 TB+ NVMe

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Security Hardening

Hardened Dockerfile

Use this multi-stage build that removes dangerous network tools in production:

# ==========================================
# 1. Base Stage
# ==========================================
FROM node:22-alpine AS base
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm install --force

# ==========================================
# 2. Development Stage
# ==========================================
FROM base AS dev
COPY . .
# Security: Remove tools botnets use
RUN rm -rf /usr/bin/wget /usr/bin/curl /usr/bin/nc
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["npm", "run", "dev"]

# ==========================================
# 3. Production Stage
# ==========================================
FROM base AS prod
WORKDIR /app
ENV NEXT_PUBLIC_NODE_ENV=production

# Copy application files
COPY . .

# Setup Entrypoint
COPY docker-entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/
RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-entrypoint.sh

# Build inside the image
RUN npx prisma generate
RUN npm run build

# --- SECURITY PATCH ---
# Remove dangerous tools to prevent malware downloads
RUN rm -rf /usr/bin/wget /usr/bin/curl /usr/bin/nc /usr/bin/netcat

EXPOSE 3000
ENTRYPOINT ["docker-entrypoint.sh"]

Secure docker-compose.yml

Ensure services are NOT exposed to the public internet. Bind to localhost only:

services:
  web:
    # ...
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:3000:3000" # Only accessible by Nginx

  db:
    # ...
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:5432:5432" # Block external attacks

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Deployment Options

Option 1: Cloud VPS Deployment (Recommended)

Pre-Build Cache Transfer (Optional Performance Boost)

Skip the 5-10 minute build process by transferring a pre-built cache.

On Local Machine:

# Build Docker cache locally
docker compose up --build

# Create compressed archive
tar -czf docker-cache.tar.gz .docker-cache

# Check size (typically 200-500MB)
ls -lh docker-cache.tar.gz

# Transfer to VPS
scp docker-cache.tar.gz user@your-vps-ip:/path/to/project/

# Alternative: Use rsync for incremental transfers
rsync -avz --progress docker-cache.tar.gz user@your-vps-ip:/path/to/project/

On VPS:

# Navigate to project directory
cd /path/to/project

# Extract cache
tar -xzf docker-cache.tar.gz

# Verify extraction
ls -la .docker-cache/
# Should show: node_modules/ and .next/

# Clean up archive (optional)
rm docker-cache.tar.gz

# Start containers (uses pre-built cache)
docker compose up -d

Cache Management Commands

Update with Full Cache Transfer (major updates):

# Local:
docker compose up --build
tar -czf docker-cache.tar.gz .docker-cache
scp docker-cache.tar.gz user@vps:/path/to/project/

# VPS:
cd /path/to/project
docker compose down
tar -xzf docker-cache.tar.gz
docker compose up -d

Incremental Sync (minor updates):

# Local:
rsync -avz --progress .docker-cache/ user@vps:/path/to/project/.docker-cache/

# VPS:
docker compose restart app

Clear Cache (force rebuild):

docker compose down
rm -rf .docker-cache
docker compose up --build -d  # Takes 5-10 minutes

Check Cache Status:

du -sh .docker-cache/node_modules
du -sh .docker-cache/.next
du -sh .docker-cache  # Total size

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Option 2: Self-Hosting (Home Server)

Network Setup

Requirements:

• Static local IP for your server (e.g., 192.168.1.100)
• Router admin access (usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.1.254)
• Dynamic DNS service (e.g., DuckDNS)

Port Forwarding Configuration:

1. Login to your router admin panel
2. Navigate to Port Forwarding section
3. Create two forwarding rules to your server's local IP:
   • Port 80 (HTTP) → Port 80
   • Port 443 (HTTPS) → Port 443

Dynamic DNS Setup (DuckDNS Example):

1. Register at duckdns.org
2. Create subdomain (e.g., yourstore.duckdns.org)
3. Follow their guide to auto-update your public IP

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Nginx Configuration

Installation

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx
sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'  # Open firewall

Verify installation by visiting your server IP - you should see "Welcome to nginx!"

Main Configuration

Edit the main config file:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

Complete nginx.conf:

user nginx;
worker_processes auto;
worker_rlimit_nofile 65535;

error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log notice;
pid /run/nginx.pid;

events {
    worker_connections 10240;
    use epoll;
    multi_accept on;
}

http {
    include /etc/nginx/mime.types;
    default_type application/octet-stream;

    # Logging Optimization
    log_format main '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] "$request" '
                    '$status $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" '
                    '"$http_user_agent" "$http_x_forwarded_for"';
    access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log main buffer=32k flush=3s;

    # Performance
    sendfile on;
    tcp_nopush on;
    tcp_nodelay on;
    client_max_body_size 100G;

    # Timeouts
    keepalive_timeout  300;
    client_body_timeout 300;
    client_header_timeout 300;

    # Rate Limiting (100 req/sec, burst 200)
    limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=mylimit:10m rate=100r/s;

    # Upstream to Docker
    upstream backend_app {
        server 127.0.0.1:3000;
        keepalive 64;
    }

    # HTTP -> HTTPS Redirect
    server {
        listen 80;
        server_name your-domain.com www.your-domain.com;

        # Allow Certbot validation
        location /.well-known/acme-challenge/ {
            root /var/www/html;
        }

        # Redirect all other traffic to HTTPS
        location / {
            return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
        }
    }

    # HTTPS Server (uncomment AFTER running Certbot)
    # server {
    #     listen 443 ssl;
    #     http2 on;
    #     server_name your-domain.com www.your-domain.com;
    #
    #     ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/your-domain.com/fullchain.pem;
    #     ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/your-domain.com/privkey.pem;
    #     include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf;
    #     ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem;
    #
    #     # Main application
    #     location / {
    #         limit_req zone=mylimit burst=200 nodelay;
    #         proxy_pass http://backend_app;
    #         proxy_http_version 1.1;
    #         proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
    #         proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    #         proxy_set_header Host $http_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;
    #     }
    #
    #     # SSE / Live Streams (No Buffering)
    #     location /api/admin/live {
    #         proxy_buffering off;
    #         proxy_cache off;
    #         gzip off;
    #         proxy_pass http://backend_app;
    #         proxy_http_version 1.1;
    #         proxy_set_header Connection "";
    #         proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
    #         proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    #         proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    #     }
    # }

    include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf;
}

Test and Apply:

sudo nginx -t                # Check for syntax errors
sudo systemctl reload nginx  # Apply changes

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SSL Setup

Domain Configuration

For Custom Domains:

1. Go to your domain registrar (e.g., Libyan Spider, Namecheap, GoDaddy)
2. Navigate to DNS Management / Zone Editor
3. Add A Records:
   • Host: @ → Value: YOUR_VPS_IP
   • Host: www → Value: YOUR_VPS_IP
4. Wait for DNS propagation (5-60 minutes)
5. Verify: ping your-domain.com

For DuckDNS (Self-Hosting):

Follow the DuckDNS setup guide to link your subdomain to your public IP.

SSL Certificate Installation

# Install Certbot
sudo apt update
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx

# For regular domains:
sudo certbot certonly --nginx -d your-domain.com -d www.your-domain.com

# For DuckDNS:
sudo certbot certonly --nginx -d yourstore.duckdns.org

After successful certificate generation:

1. Uncomment the HTTPS server block in /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
2. Replace your-domain.com with your actual domain
3. Restart Nginx:

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Your site is now live at https://your-domain.com 🎉

You can then implement other things such as default fallback page when the server is down and so on.

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SEO & Indexing

Dynamic Sitemap Generation

You'll have this sitemap generator: src/app/sitemap.js to automatically list all products every 24 hours, you can edit it if you want.

Google Search Console Setup

1. Go to Google Search Console
2. Click Add Property → Select Domain
3. Copy the google-site-verification code
4. Add TXT Record in your DNS:
   • Host: @
   • Value: google-site-verification=XXXXX
5. Return to Search Console and click Verify
6. Navigate to Sitemaps → Submit https://your-domain.com/sitemap.xml

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Maintenance

Common Commands

Action	Command
Deploy Updates	git pull && docker compose up --build -d
View Application Logs	docker compose logs -f web
View Nginx Logs	sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/access.log
Restart Nginx	sudo systemctl restart nginx
Check Nginx Status	sudo systemctl status nginx
Test Nginx Config	sudo nginx -t
Renew SSL	sudo certbot renew (auto-renews normally)
Stop Containers	docker compose down
Restart Containers	docker compose restart

Monitoring

Check container health:

docker compose ps

View resource usage:

docker stats

Database backup:

docker compose exec db pg_dump -U your_user your_database > backup.sql

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Alternative Deployment Options

This application can also be deployed using:

• Asura Hosting - Specialized Node.js hosting
• Ngrok - Quick tunneling for development/testing
• Cloudflare Tunnel - Secure tunneling without port forwarding
• Railway.app - Platform-as-a-Service deployment
• Vercel - Serverless Next.js deployment (requires database adjustments)

Refer to their respective documentation for setup instructions.

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Troubleshooting

Port already in use:

sudo lsof -i :80
sudo lsof -i :443
# Kill the process if needed

SSL certificate renewal fails:

sudo certbot renew --dry-run
# Check DNS and firewall settings

Application not accessible:

# Check if Docker containers are running
docker compose ps

# Check if Nginx is running
sudo systemctl status nginx

# Check firewall
sudo ufw status

Database connection errors:

# Check database container
docker compose logs db

# Verify DATABASE_URL in .env

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Last updated on February 16, 2026, by Ayman.