Deployment

Deploying Drivebase to production requires careful consideration of security, performance, and reliability. This guide provides a checklist and best practices for a successful deployment.

Production Checklist

Before going live, ensure you have addressed the following:

• Secure Keys: Change JWT_SECRET and ENCRYPTION_KEY to strong, random values.
• Database Backups: Implement a regular backup strategy for your PostgreSQL database.
• SSL/TLS: Always serve Drivebase over HTTPS.
• CORS Settings: Restrict CORS_ORIGIN to your actual frontend domain.
• Logs: Set NODE_ENV=production to ensure structured JSON logging.

Docker Deployment (GHCR)

The recommended way to deploy is using our pre-built Docker image. It includes both the API and the web frontend served by Caddy.

docker pull ghcr.io/drivebase/drivebase:latest

When running the container, ensure you pass all required production environment variables.

Reverse Proxy Setup

Drivebase's Docker image includes an internal Caddy server, but you might want to run it behind another reverse proxy like Nginx or a global Caddy instance for SSL management.

Example Nginx Configuration

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name drivebase.example.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        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;

        # Increase max body size for large file uploads
        client_max_body_size 10G;
    }
}

Storage Considerations

• Local Storage: If using the local provider, ensure the storage volume is backed up and has sufficient IOPS.
• S3/Object Storage: Use IAM roles or restricted access keys with the minimum necessary permissions (limited to specific buckets).

Upgrading Drivebase

To upgrade to a newer version:

1. Pull the latest Docker image: docker pull ghcr.io/drivebase/drivebase:latest.
2. Stop the current container.
3. Start the new container with the same environment variables and volumes.
4. Drivebase automatically handles database migrations on startup.