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The Daily Tracker API is designed to be deployed using Docker. This guide covers deployment to Render, but the Docker configuration can be used with any container platform.

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Prerequisites

1

PostgreSQL Database

A PostgreSQL database must be provisioned before deployment. Recommended options:
2

Environment Variables

Prepare all required environment variables. See the Environment Variables guide for details.
3

Google OAuth Credentials

Set up OAuth 2.0 credentials in Google Cloud Console:
  1. Create a project
  2. Enable Google+ API
  3. Create OAuth 2.0 Client ID
  4. Add authorized redirect URI: https://your-domain.com/auth/google/callback

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Docker Configuration

The project includes a multi-stage Dockerfile optimized for production deployment.

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Dockerfile

# Build stage
FROM eclipse-temurin:21-jdk-alpine AS build
WORKDIR /app
COPY pom.xml .
COPY .mvn ./.mvn
COPY mvnw .
RUN chmod +x mvnw && ./mvnw dependency:go-offline -q
COPY src ./src
RUN ./mvnw clean package -DskipTests -q

# Runtime stage
FROM eclipse-temurin:21-jre-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=build /app/target/*.jar app.jar
EXPOSE 3000
ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "app.jar"]

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Build and Run Locally

# Build the Docker image
docker build -t dailytracker-api .

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Deploy to Render

Render provides a simple platform for deploying Docker-based applications.
1

Create Web Service

  1. Go to Render Dashboard
  2. Click New + > Web Service
  3. Connect your Git repository
  4. Select the repository containing your Daily Tracker API
2

Configure Service

Set the following configuration:
  • Name: dailytracker-api (or your preferred name)
  • Region: Choose closest to your users
  • Branch: main (or your production branch)
  • Runtime: Docker
  • Instance Type: Starter or higher
3

Set Environment Variables

Add all required environment variables in the Render dashboard:
DATABASE_URL=your_postgres_connection_string
JWT_SECRET=your_secure_jwt_secret_32_chars
FRONTEND_URL=https://your-frontend-domain.com
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your_google_client_id
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_google_client_secret
AES_SECRET=your_aes_encryption_key

PORT=3000
4

Configure Health Check

Set the health check path to /healthz
  • Health Check Path: /healthz
  • Expected Response: 200 OK with body OK
5

Deploy

Click Create Web Service. Render will:
  1. Build your Docker image
  2. Run database migrations (Flyway)
  3. Start your application
  4. Expose it at https://your-service.onrender.com

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Health Check Endpoint

The API includes a health check endpoint for monitoring: 
GET /healthz
Response: 
OK
This endpoint:
  • Returns 200 status code when the application is running
  • Does not require authentication
  • Can be used by load balancers and monitoring tools

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Database Migrations

The application automatically runs Flyway migrations on startup:
  1. Flyway connects to the database
  2. Creates the flyway_schema_history table if it doesn’t exist
  3. Runs any pending migrations from src/main/resources/db/migration/
  4. Marks migrations as complete
Migrations run automatically on deployment. No manual intervention is needed.
If a migration fails, the application will not start. Check logs for details.

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Production Configuration

Instance Type

Minimum: 512 MB RAM, 0.5 CPURecommended: 1 GB RAM, 1 CPUScale based on traffic patterns.

Database Connection Pool

Default configuration:
  • Max pool size: 5
  • Min idle: 1
Adjust based on instance size and concurrent users.

Auto-Deploy

Enable auto-deploy from your main branch for continuous deployment.

Monitoring

Use Render’s built-in metrics or integrate with:
  • New Relic
  • Datadog
  • Custom APM solution

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Environment-Specific Configuration

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost:5432/daily_scrum
JWT_SECRET=dev_secret_min_32_characters
FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:5173
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=dev_client_id
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=dev_client_secret
AES_SECRET=dev_aes_secret
PORT=3000

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Troubleshooting

Problem: Docker build fails during Maven compilationSolutions:
  • Ensure Java 21 is specified in pom.xml
  • Check for compilation errors in source code
  • Verify all dependencies are available in Maven Central
Problem: Container starts but application crashesSolutions:
  • Check environment variables are set correctly
  • Verify database connection string format
  • Ensure database is accessible from the container
  • Check logs: docker logs <container-id>
Problem: Flyway migrations fail on startupSolutions:
  • Check database permissions (needs CREATE, ALTER, INSERT)
  • Verify migration files are in src/main/resources/db/migration/
  • Ensure migrations follow naming convention: V{version}__{description}.sql
  • Check flyway_schema_history table for failed migrations
Problem: /healthz endpoint returns 404 or 500Solutions:
  • Verify application has fully started
  • Check logs for startup errors
  • Ensure port 3000 is exposed and mapped correctly
  • Test locally: curl http://localhost:3000/healthz

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Next Steps

Environment Variables

Complete reference of all configuration options

Database Setup

Learn about the database schema and migrations

API Reference

Explore available endpoints

Authentication

Understand JWT and OAuth2 flows

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