Deployment and Maintenance

Deployment Best Practices

Efficient deployment ensures a smooth transition of code from development to production with minimal errors and downtime.

• Store deployment scripts and infrastructure configuration (e.g., Dockerfiles, Ansible, Terraform) in version control.
• Use .env files and environment variables for configuration; never hardcode secrets.

Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)

CI/CD pipelines automate testing and deployment, improving code quality and release speed.

• Use CI tools (GitHub Actions) to run tests and builds on every push.
• Automate deployment to staging and production after successful tests

Example Workflow:

1. Developer pushes code to repository.
2. CI server runs automated tests and builds.
3. If tests pass, code is deployed to staging.
4. After review, code is deployed to production.

Monitoring and Logging

Monitoring and logging are critical for maintaining application health and troubleshooting issues.

• Use monitoring tools (New Relic, Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana) to track performance, errors, and uptime.
• Implement logging using Monolog or Laravel's built-in logging system.
• Set up alerts for performance degradation, errors, or downtime.
• Aggregate logs using centralized log management tools (ELK stack, Sentry, Loggly).

Example:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Log;
Log::info('User registered', ['user_id' => $user->id]);

Best Practices

• Automate backups for databases and files.
• Test backups regularly to ensure they can be restored.
• Use HTTPS and security best practices for all deployments.
• Regularly update dependencies and server packages.
• Document deployment, monitoring, and recovery procedures for the team.