🚀 Deployment Guide

Production-Ready Deployment

Comprehensive deployment options and step-by-step guides for deploying the staffing portal to various hosting platforms with production-ready configurations.

🌐 Deployment Options

VPS/Cloud Hosting

Full Control - Complete server access
Scalability - Easy resource scaling
SSL Support - HTTPS configuration
Custom Domain - Your own domain
Database - PostgreSQL support
Cost - $5-50/month

Platform as a Service

Easy Setup - One-click deployment
Auto Scaling - Automatic resource management
CI/CD - Integrated deployment pipeline
Monitoring - Built-in analytics
Backups - Automated backups
Cost - $0-30/month

Shared Hosting

Low Cost - Budget-friendly option
Frontend Only - Static site deployment
Limited Backend - External API required
Easy Upload - FTP/cPanel upload
No Database - External database needed
Cost - $2-10/month

🔧 Quick Setup (Development)

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd staffing-portal

# Backend Setup
cd backend
python -m venv virtual
source virtual/bin/activate  # Linux/Mac
virtual\Scripts\activate     # Windows
pip install -r requirements.txt
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py createsuperuser
python manage.py runserver

# Frontend Setup (new terminal)
cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

# Access Application
Frontend: http://localhost:5173
Backend: http://localhost:8000
            

🏗️ Production Deployment Steps

1. Server Preparation

Set up a VPS with Ubuntu/CentOS, install Python 3.8+, Node.js 18+, PostgreSQL, and Nginx. Configure firewall and security settings.

2. Database Setup

Install and configure PostgreSQL, create database and user, set up connection settings, and run initial migrations.

3. Backend Configuration

Configure Django settings for production, set up environment variables, install dependencies, and configure Gunicorn WSGI server.

4. Frontend Build

Build React application for production, optimize assets, configure API endpoints, and prepare static files for serving.

5. Web Server Setup

Configure Nginx as reverse proxy, set up SSL certificates, configure static file serving, and enable HTTPS redirects.

6. Go Live

Start services, test all functionality, configure monitoring, set up backups, and monitor performance metrics.

🐳 Docker Deployment

# Docker Compose Configuration
version: '3.8'

services:
  db:
    image: postgres:13
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: staffing_portal
      POSTGRES_USER: postgres
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: password
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

  backend:
    build: ./backend
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
    depends_on:
      - db
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:password@db:5432/staffing_portal

  frontend:
    build: ./frontend
    ports:
      - "80:80"
    depends_on:
      - backend

volumes:
  postgres_data:

# Deploy with Docker
docker-compose up -d
            

☁️ Cloud Platform Deployment

Heroku

heroku create app-name
heroku addons:create heroku-postgresql
git push heroku main
Configure environment variables
Automatic SSL & domain

Railway

Connect GitHub repository
Add PostgreSQL service
Automatic deployment
Environment configuration
Built-in monitoring

AWS/DigitalOcean

EC2/Droplet instance
RDS/Managed database
S3/Spaces for files
Load balancer & SSL
CloudWatch monitoring

🔐 Environment Variables

# Backend Environment Variables (.env)
DEBUG=False
SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-here
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@host:port/dbname
ALLOWED_HOSTS=yourdomain.com,www.yourdomain.com
CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS=https://yourdomain.com

# Email Configuration
EMAIL_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
EMAIL_PORT=587
EMAIL_HOST_USER=your-email@gmail.com
EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD=your-app-password

# File Storage (AWS S3)
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME=your-bucket-name

# Frontend Environment Variables (.env)
VITE_API_URL=https://api.yourdomain.com
VITE_APP_NAME=Staffing Portal
            

📋 Deployment Checklist

Pre-Deployment

✅ Test all features locally
✅ Set up production database
✅ Configure environment variables
✅ Set up domain and SSL certificate
✅ Prepare backup strategy

Deployment

✅ Deploy backend API
✅ Run database migrations
✅ Build and deploy frontend
✅ Configure web server
✅ Test all endpoints

Post-Deployment

✅ Monitor application performance
✅ Set up error tracking
✅ Configure automated backups
✅ Test user workflows
✅ Document deployment process

🔧 Nginx Configuration

# /etc/nginx/sites-available/staffing-portal
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;

    ssl_certificate /path/to/certificate.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /path/to/private.key;

    # Frontend
    location / {
        root /var/www/staffing-portal/frontend/dist;
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
    }

    # Backend API
    location /api/ {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8000;
        proxy_set_header Host $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;
    }

    # Static files
    location /static/ {
        alias /var/www/staffing-portal/backend/static/;
    }

    # Media files
    location /media/ {
        alias /var/www/staffing-portal/backend/media/;
    }
}
            

🔗 Explore More

Architecture Frontend Backend Features