Production Server Setup

This guide covers the complete setup of production servers for the Kulcare API Backend application.

Server Requirements

Minimum Hardware Requirements

Application Server

CPU: 4 cores (8 recommended)
RAM: 8GB (16GB recommended)
Storage: 100GB SSD
Network: 1Gbps connection

Database Server

CPU: 4 cores (8 recommended)
RAM: 16GB (32GB recommended)
Storage: 500GB SSD with backup
Network: 1Gbps connection

Cache/Search Server

CPU: 2 cores (4 recommended)
RAM: 8GB (16GB recommended)
Storage: 100GB SSD
Network: 1Gbps connection

Operating System

OS: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or higher
Kernel: Latest stable version
Architecture: x86_64

Initial Server Setup

1. Update System Packages

# Update package index
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install essential packages
sudo apt install -y curl wget gnupg2 software-properties-common apt-transport-https ca-certificates lsb-release

2. Create Application User

# Create kulcare user
sudo adduser kulcare --disabled-password --gecos ""

# Add to sudo group (if needed)
sudo usermod -aG sudo kulcare

# Switch to kulcare user
sudo su - kulcare

3. Setup SSH Keys

# Generate SSH keys for deployment
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "deploy@kulcare.com"

# Add to authorized_keys for GitHub access
cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Ruby Environment Setup

1. Install rbenv

# Install rbenv
git clone https://github.com/rbenv/rbenv.git ~/.rbenv
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.rbenv/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'eval "$(rbenv init -)"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

# Install ruby-build
git clone https://github.com/rbenv/ruby-build.git ~/.rbenv/plugins/ruby-build

2. Install Ruby

# Install Ruby dependencies
sudo apt install -y build-essential libssl-dev libreadline-dev zlib1g-dev libffi-dev

# Install Ruby 3.2.0
rbenv install 3.2.0
rbenv global 3.2.0

# Verify installation
ruby -v
gem -v

3. Install Bundler

gem install bundler
rbenv rehash

Database Setup (PostgreSQL)

1. Install PostgreSQL

# Add PostgreSQL APT repository
wget --quiet -O - https://www.postgresql.org/media/keys/ACCC4CF8.asc | sudo apt-key add -
echo "deb http://apt.postgresql.org/pub/repos/apt/ $(lsb_release -cs)-pgdg main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pgdg.list

# Install PostgreSQL
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y postgresql-14 postgresql-client-14 postgresql-contrib-14

# Start and enable PostgreSQL
sudo systemctl start postgresql
sudo systemctl enable postgresql

2. Configure PostgreSQL

# Switch to postgres user
sudo -u postgres psql

-- In PostgreSQL prompt:
-- Create kulcare database and user
CREATE USER kulcare WITH PASSWORD 'secure_password_here';
CREATE DATABASE kulcare_production OWNER kulcare;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE kulcare_production TO kulcare;

-- Enable necessary extensions
\c kulcare_production;
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS "uuid-ossp";
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS "pg_trgm";

-- Exit PostgreSQL
\q

3. Configure PostgreSQL Settings

# Edit postgresql.conf
sudo nano /etc/postgresql/14/main/postgresql.conf

Add/modify these settings:

# Memory settings
shared_buffers = 256MB
effective_cache_size = 1GB
maintenance_work_mem = 64MB
checkpoint_completion_target = 0.9
wal_buffers = 16MB
default_statistics_target = 100

# Connection settings
max_connections = 200
listen_addresses = 'localhost'

# Logging
log_line_prefix = '%t [%p-%l] %q%u@%d '
log_checkpoints = on
log_connections = on
log_disconnections = on
log_lock_waits = on
log_temp_files = 0

4. Configure pg_hba.conf

# Edit pg_hba.conf
sudo nano /etc/postgresql/14/main/pg_hba.conf

Add this line for local connections:

local   kulcare_production    kulcare                     md5
host    kulcare_production    kulcare     127.0.0.1/32   md5

# Restart PostgreSQL
sudo systemctl restart postgresql

Redis Setup

1. Install Redis

# Install Redis
sudo apt install -y redis-server

# Start and enable Redis
sudo systemctl start redis
sudo systemctl enable redis

2. Configure Redis

# Edit Redis configuration
sudo nano /etc/redis/redis.conf

Key settings:

# Memory management
maxmemory 2gb
maxmemory-policy allkeys-lru

# Persistence
save 900 1
save 300 10
save 60 10000

# Security
requirepass your_redis_password_here
bind 127.0.0.1

# Logging
loglevel notice
logfile /var/log/redis/redis-server.log

# Restart Redis
sudo systemctl restart redis

Elasticsearch Setup

1. Install Elasticsearch 6.2.4

# Add Elasticsearch repository
wget -qO - https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch | sudo apt-key add -
echo "deb https://artifacts.elastic.co/packages/6.x/apt stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/elastic-6.x.list

# Install Elasticsearch 6.2.4
sudo apt update
sudo apt install elasticsearch=6.2.4

# Prevent auto-updates
sudo apt-mark hold elasticsearch

2. Configure Elasticsearch

# Edit Elasticsearch configuration
sudo nano /etc/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.yml

Key settings:

# Cluster settings
cluster.name: kulcare-production
node.name: kulcare-es-node-1

# Network settings
network.host: localhost
http.port: 9200

# Memory settings
bootstrap.memory_lock: true

# Data paths
path.data: /var/lib/elasticsearch
path.logs: /var/log/elasticsearch

# Discovery settings
discovery.type: single-node

3. Configure Elasticsearch JVM

# Edit JVM options
sudo nano /etc/elasticsearch/jvm.options

Set heap size (half of available RAM):

-Xms2g
-Xmx2g

4. Start Elasticsearch

# Enable and start Elasticsearch
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable elasticsearch
sudo systemctl start elasticsearch

# Verify installation
curl -X GET "localhost:9200/"

Application Deployment

1. Create Application Directory

# Create application directory
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/kulcare-api-backend
sudo chown kulcare:kulcare /var/www/kulcare-api-backend

# Switch to application directory
cd /var/www/kulcare-api-backend

2. Clone Application

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/your-org/kulcare-api-backend.git .
git checkout master

# Install dependencies
bundle install --deployment --without development test

3. Setup Environment Configuration

# Create production environment file
cp .env.example .env.production

# Edit environment variables
nano .env.production

See Environment Configuration for detailed settings.

4. Database Setup

# Run database migrations
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake db:create
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake db:migrate

# Setup Elasticsearch indices
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake es:create_all_indices

5. Precompile Assets (if needed)

# Precompile assets
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake assets:precompile

Web Server Setup (Nginx)

1. Install Nginx

# Install Nginx
sudo apt install -y nginx

# Start and enable Nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx

2. Configure Nginx

# Create Nginx configuration
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/kulcare-api-backend

upstream kulcare_backend {
    server unix:///var/www/kulcare-api-backend/tmp/sockets/puma.sock;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name api.kulcare.com;

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

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name api.kulcare.com;

    # SSL Configuration
    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/kulcare.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/kulcare.key;
    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
    ssl_ciphers ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA512:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA512:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384;

    root /var/www/kulcare-api-backend/public;
    index index.html;

    # Request size limits
    client_max_body_size 20M;
    client_body_timeout 300s;

    # Security headers
    add_header X-Frame-Options DENY;
    add_header X-Content-Type-Options nosniff;
    add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block";

    # API endpoints
    location / {
        try_files $uri @kulcare_backend;
    }

    location @kulcare_backend {
        proxy_pass http://kulcare_backend;
        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_read_timeout 300s;
        proxy_connect_timeout 75s;
    }

    # Static files
    location ~* \.(js|css|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|ico|svg|woff|woff2)$ {
        expires 1y;
        add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
    }

    # Health check endpoint
    location /health {
        access_log off;
        return 200 "healthy\n";
        add_header Content-Type text/plain;
    }

    # Error pages
    error_page 500 502 503 504 /500.html;
    location = /500.html {
        root /var/www/kulcare-api-backend/public;
    }
}

3. Enable Nginx Site

# Enable site
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/kulcare-api-backend /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

# Test configuration
sudo nginx -t

# Restart Nginx
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Process Management (Systemd)

1. Puma Service Configuration

# Create Puma systemd service
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/puma-production.service

[Unit]
Description=Puma HTTP Server (Production)
After=network.target postgresql.service redis.service

[Service]
Type=forking
User=kulcare
WorkingDirectory=/var/www/kulcare-api-backend
Environment=RAILS_ENV=production
Environment=RACK_ENV=production

# Puma configuration
ExecStart=/home/kulcare/.rbenv/shims/bundle exec puma -C config/puma.rb --daemon
ExecReload=/bin/kill -USR1 $MAINPID
ExecStop=/bin/kill -TERM $MAINPID

PIDFile=/var/www/kulcare-api-backend/tmp/pids/puma.pid

# Restart policy
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

# Resource limits
LimitNOFILE=65535

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

2. Sidekiq Service Configuration

# Create Sidekiq systemd service
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/sidekiq-production.service

[Unit]
Description=Sidekiq Background Jobs (Production)
After=network.target postgresql.service redis.service

[Service]
Type=simple
User=kulcare
WorkingDirectory=/var/www/kulcare-api-backend
Environment=RAILS_ENV=production
Environment=RACK_ENV=production

# Sidekiq configuration
ExecStart=/home/kulcare/.rbenv/shims/bundle exec sidekiq -C config/sidekiq.yml
ExecReload=/bin/kill -USR1 $MAINPID
ExecStop=/bin/kill -TERM $MAINPID

# Restart policy
Restart=always
RestartSec=5

# Resource limits
LimitNOFILE=65535

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

3. Enable and Start Services

# Reload systemd daemon
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

# Enable services
sudo systemctl enable puma-production
sudo systemctl enable sidekiq-production

# Start services
sudo systemctl start puma-production
sudo systemctl start sidekiq-production

# Check status
sudo systemctl status puma-production
sudo systemctl status sidekiq-production

SSL Certificate Setup

1. Install Certbot (Let's Encrypt)

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

# Obtain SSL certificate
sudo certbot --nginx -d api.kulcare.com

# Set up auto-renewal
sudo crontab -e

Add this line for auto-renewal:

0 12 * * * /usr/bin/certbot renew --quiet

Monitoring and Logging

1. Configure Log Rotation

# Create logrotate configuration
sudo nano /etc/logrotate.d/kulcare-api-backend

/var/www/kulcare-api-backend/log/*.log {
    daily
    missingok
    rotate 52
    compress
    delaycompress
    notifempty
    create 644 kulcare kulcare
    postrotate
        /bin/kill -USR1 $(cat /var/www/kulcare-api-backend/tmp/pids/puma.pid) > /dev/null 2>&1
    endscript
}

2. Setup Process Monitoring

# Install htop for process monitoring
sudo apt install -y htop

# Create monitoring script
nano /home/kulcare/monitor.sh

#!/bin/bash
# Monitor critical processes
ps aux | grep -E "(puma|sidekiq|nginx|postgres|redis|elasticsearch)" | grep -v grep

chmod +x /home/kulcare/monitor.sh

Backup Configuration

1. Database Backup Script

# Create backup directory
sudo mkdir -p /var/backups/kulcare
sudo chown kulcare:kulcare /var/backups/kulcare

# Create backup script
nano /home/kulcare/backup_database.sh

#!/bin/bash
# Database backup script
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
BACKUP_DIR="/var/backups/kulcare"
DB_NAME="kulcare_production"

# Create database dump
pg_dump -U kulcare -h localhost $DB_NAME | gzip > $BACKUP_DIR/db_backup_$DATE.sql.gz

# Keep only last 7 days of backups
find $BACKUP_DIR -name "db_backup_*.sql.gz" -mtime +7 -delete

echo "Database backup completed: db_backup_$DATE.sql.gz"

chmod +x /home/kulcare/backup_database.sh

# Add to crontab for daily backups
crontab -e

Add this line:

0 2 * * * /home/kulcare/backup_database.sh >> /var/log/backup.log 2>&1

Security Configuration

1. Firewall Setup

# Install and configure UFW
sudo ufw allow ssh
sudo ufw allow http
sudo ufw allow https
sudo ufw enable

# Check firewall status
sudo ufw status

2. Fail2Ban Setup

# Install Fail2Ban
sudo apt install -y fail2ban

# Create custom configuration
sudo nano /etc/fail2ban/jail.local

[DEFAULT]
bantime = 3600
findtime = 600
maxretry = 5

[sshd]
enabled = true

[nginx-http-auth]
enabled = true

[nginx-req-limit]
enabled = true
filter = nginx-req-limit
action = iptables-multiport[name=ReqLimit, port="http,https", protocol=tcp]
logpath = /var/log/nginx/*.log
maxretry = 10
findtime = 600
bantime = 7200

# Start and enable Fail2Ban
sudo systemctl start fail2ban
sudo systemctl enable fail2ban

Post-Deployment Verification

1. Service Health Check

# Check all services
sudo systemctl status puma-production
sudo systemctl status sidekiq-production
sudo systemctl status nginx
sudo systemctl status postgresql
sudo systemctl status redis
sudo systemctl status elasticsearch

# Check process list
ps aux | grep -E "(puma|sidekiq|nginx|postgres|redis|elasticsearch)" | grep -v grep

2. Application Health Check

# Test API endpoint
curl -k https://api.kulcare.com/health

# Test database connection
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails c
# In Rails console:
ActiveRecord::Base.connection.execute("SELECT 1")

# Test Redis connection
redis-cli ping

# Test Elasticsearch
curl -X GET "localhost:9200/_cluster/health"

3. Performance Testing

# Install Apache Bench
sudo apt install -y apache2-utils

# Basic load test
ab -n 100 -c 10 https://api.kulcare.com/health

Maintenance Tasks

1. Regular Updates

# System updates (monthly)
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Application updates (as needed)
cd /var/www/kulcare-api-backend
git pull origin master
bundle install --deployment
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake db:migrate
sudo systemctl restart puma-production sidekiq-production

2. Log Management

# Check log sizes
du -h /var/www/kulcare-api-backend/log/
du -h /var/log/nginx/
du -h /var/log/postgresql/

# Clear old logs if needed
find /var/www/kulcare-api-backend/log/ -name "*.log" -mtime +30 -delete

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Puma not starting

# Check logs
journalctl -u puma-production -f

# Check socket permissions
ls -la /var/www/kulcare-api-backend/tmp/sockets/

Database connection issues

# Test connection
sudo -u kulcare psql kulcare_production

# Check PostgreSQL logs
sudo tail -f /var/log/postgresql/postgresql-14-main.log

Elasticsearch issues

# Check Elasticsearch status
curl localhost:9200/_cat/health

# Check logs
sudo tail -f /var/log/elasticsearch/kulcare-production.log

Production Server Setup

Server RequirementsCopy Anchor Link

Minimum Hardware RequirementsCopy Anchor Link

Application ServerCopy Anchor Link

Database ServerCopy Anchor Link

Cache/Search ServerCopy Anchor Link

Operating SystemCopy Anchor Link

Initial Server SetupCopy Anchor Link

1. Update System PackagesCopy Anchor Link

2. Create Application UserCopy Anchor Link

3. Setup SSH KeysCopy Anchor Link

Ruby Environment SetupCopy Anchor Link

1. Install rbenvCopy Anchor Link

2. Install RubyCopy Anchor Link

3. Install BundlerCopy Anchor Link

Database Setup (PostgreSQL)Copy Anchor Link

1. Install PostgreSQLCopy Anchor Link

2. Configure PostgreSQLCopy Anchor Link

3. Configure PostgreSQL SettingsCopy Anchor Link

4. Configure pg_hba.confCopy Anchor Link

Redis SetupCopy Anchor Link

1. Install RedisCopy Anchor Link

2. Configure RedisCopy Anchor Link

Elasticsearch SetupCopy Anchor Link

1. Install Elasticsearch 6.2.4Copy Anchor Link

2. Configure ElasticsearchCopy Anchor Link

3. Configure Elasticsearch JVMCopy Anchor Link

4. Start ElasticsearchCopy Anchor Link

Application DeploymentCopy Anchor Link

1. Create Application DirectoryCopy Anchor Link

2. Clone ApplicationCopy Anchor Link

3. Setup Environment ConfigurationCopy Anchor Link

4. Database SetupCopy Anchor Link

5. Precompile Assets (if needed)Copy Anchor Link

Web Server Setup (Nginx)Copy Anchor Link

1. Install NginxCopy Anchor Link

2. Configure NginxCopy Anchor Link

3. Enable Nginx SiteCopy Anchor Link

Process Management (Systemd)Copy Anchor Link

1. Puma Service ConfigurationCopy Anchor Link

2. Sidekiq Service ConfigurationCopy Anchor Link

3. Enable and Start ServicesCopy Anchor Link

SSL Certificate SetupCopy Anchor Link

1. Install Certbot (Let's Encrypt)Copy Anchor Link

Monitoring and LoggingCopy Anchor Link

1. Configure Log RotationCopy Anchor Link

2. Setup Process MonitoringCopy Anchor Link

Backup ConfigurationCopy Anchor Link

1. Database Backup ScriptCopy Anchor Link

Security ConfigurationCopy Anchor Link

1. Firewall SetupCopy Anchor Link

2. Fail2Ban SetupCopy Anchor Link

Post-Deployment VerificationCopy Anchor Link

1. Service Health CheckCopy Anchor Link

2. Application Health CheckCopy Anchor Link

3. Performance TestingCopy Anchor Link

Maintenance TasksCopy Anchor Link

1. Regular UpdatesCopy Anchor Link

2. Log ManagementCopy Anchor Link

TroubleshootingCopy Anchor Link

Common IssuesCopy Anchor Link

Next StepsCopy Anchor Link

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