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This guide covers production deployment considerations for the Hub platform, including infrastructure setup, security configurations, and performance optimizations.

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Architecture Overview

The Hub platform consists of:
  • Backend: Spring Boot 3 application (Java 21)
  • Frontend: Next.js application
  • Database: PostgreSQL 16 with PostGIS extension
  • Auth: Auth0 OAuth2/JWT authentication
  • Storage: Cloudinary for image uploads
  • Email: SMTP-based email service

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Deployment Options

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Container-Based Deployment

Recommended for cloud platforms and Kubernetes:
  • AWS ECS/Fargate
  • Google Cloud Run
  • Azure Container Instances
  • Kubernetes (EKS, GKE, AKS)
  • Docker Swarm

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Platform-as-a-Service

Managed platforms for simplified deployment:
  • Heroku
  • Render
  • Railway
  • Fly.io

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Traditional VPS

For custom infrastructure:
  • DigitalOcean Droplets
  • AWS EC2
  • Linode
  • Hetzner Cloud

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Environment Variables

All required environment variables for production:

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Database Configuration

DB_HOST=your-database-host
DB_PORT=5432
DB_NAME=hub_production
DB_USER=hub_user
DB_PASSWORD=your-secure-password
DB_SSL_MODE=require
Always use DB_SSL_MODE=require in production to encrypt database connections.

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Authentication (Auth0)

AUTH0_ISSUER=https://your-domain.auth0.com/
AUTH0_AUDIENCE=your-api-audience
Configure Auth0 callback URLs to match your production domain.

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Cloudinary (Image Storage)

CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your-cloud-name
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your-api-key
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your-api-secret

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Email Configuration

APP_ADMIN_EMAIL=[email protected]
BREVO_API_KEY=your-brevo-api-key
APP_MAIL_FROM=[email protected]

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Application Settings

APP_FRONTEND_URL=https://yourdomain.com
BACKEND_PORT=8080
SWAGGER_ENABLED=false
Disable Swagger in production by setting SWAGGER_ENABLED=false to prevent API documentation exposure.

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Optional Configuration

# Booking settings
booking.payment-hold-duration=5m

# Database connection pooling
spring.datasource.hikari.maximum-pool-size=10
spring.datasource.hikari.minimum-idle=5

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Security Best Practices

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1. Database Security

1

Enable SSL connections

Set DB_SSL_MODE=require to enforce encrypted connections.
application.yaml
spring:
  datasource:
    url: jdbc:postgresql://${DB_HOST}:${DB_PORT}/${DB_NAME}?sslmode=require
2

Use strong credentials

  • Generate complex passwords (minimum 32 characters)
  • Use different credentials for each environment
  • Rotate passwords periodically
3

Restrict network access

  • Configure database firewall rules
  • Only allow connections from application servers
  • Use VPC or private networking when possible

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2. Application Security

Never expose sensitive environment variables in logs or error messages.
Required configurations:
application.yaml
# Disable auto-commit for transaction control
spring:
  datasource:
    hikari:
      auto-commit: false

# Validate database schema
jpa:
  hibernate:
    ddl-auto: validate

# Minimal health endpoint exposure
management:
  endpoint:
    health:
      show-details: never

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3. API Security

  • Disable Swagger: Set SWAGGER_ENABLED=false
  • Configure CORS: Restrict frontend origins
  • Rate limiting: Implement API rate limits
  • JWT validation: Verify Auth0 tokens properly

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4. Secrets Management

Recommended approaches: 
aws secretsmanager get-secret-value \
  --secret-id hub/production/db-password \
  --query SecretString \
  --output text

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Database Setup

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PostgreSQL with PostGIS

1

Provision managed database

Use a managed PostgreSQL service:
  • AWS RDS for PostgreSQL
  • Google Cloud SQL
  • Azure Database for PostgreSQL
  • DigitalOcean Managed Databases
  • Supabase
2

Enable PostGIS extension

CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS postgis;
3

Create application user

CREATE USER hub_user WITH PASSWORD 'your-secure-password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE hub_production TO hub_user;
4

Configure connection pooling

Adjust Hikari pool settings based on your load:
spring:
  datasource:
    hikari:
      maximum-pool-size: 10
      minimum-idle: 5
      connection-timeout: 30000
      idle-timeout: 600000
      max-lifetime: 1800000

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Database Migrations

The application uses Flyway for schema management:
application.yaml
spring:
  flyway:
    enabled: true
    locations: classpath:db/migration
Migrations run automatically on application startup. Ensure proper backup before deploying schema changes.

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Backend Deployment

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Building the Application

1

Build the JAR file

cd backend
./mvnw clean package -DskipTests
The compiled JAR will be in target/backend-*.jar
2

Build Docker image

docker build -t hub-backend:latest ./backend
Or with version tag:
docker build -t hub-backend:1.0.0 ./backend
3

Push to container registry

docker tag hub-backend:latest yourusername/hub-backend:latest
docker push yourusername/hub-backend:latest

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Container Orchestration

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Kubernetes Deployment Example

deployment.yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: hub-backend
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: hub-backend
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: hub-backend
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: backend
        image: hub-backend:latest
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8080
        env:
        - name: DB_HOST
          valueFrom:
            secretKeyRef:
              name: hub-secrets
              key: db-host
        - name: DB_PASSWORD
          valueFrom:
            secretKeyRef:
              name: hub-secrets
              key: db-password
        resources:
          requests:
            memory: "512Mi"
            cpu: "500m"
          limits:
            memory: "1Gi"
            cpu: "1000m"
        livenessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /actuator/health
            port: 8080
          initialDelaySeconds: 30
          periodSeconds: 10
        readinessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /actuator/health
            port: 8080
          initialDelaySeconds: 20
          periodSeconds: 5

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Docker Compose Production

docker-compose.prod.yml
services:
  backend:
    image: hub-backend:latest
    restart: always
    environment:
      - DB_HOST=${DB_HOST}
      - DB_PORT=${DB_PORT}
      - DB_NAME=${DB_NAME}
      - DB_USER=${DB_USER}
      - DB_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}
      - DB_SSL_MODE=require
      - SWAGGER_ENABLED=false
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8080/actuator/health"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 40s

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Performance Optimization

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JVM Tuning

Optimize Java runtime for production: 
ENTRYPOINT ["java", \
  "-XX:+UseG1GC", \
  "-XX:MaxRAMPercentage=75.0", \
  "-XX:+UseStringDeduplication", \
  "-Djava.security.egd=file:/dev/./urandom", \
  "-jar", "app.jar"]

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Database Connection Pooling

spring:
  datasource:
    hikari:
      maximum-pool-size: 20
      minimum-idle: 10
      connection-timeout: 30000
      idle-timeout: 600000
      max-lifetime: 1800000
      leak-detection-threshold: 60000

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Caching Strategy

Consider implementing:
  • Redis for session storage
  • Application-level caching with Caffeine
  • HTTP caching headers for static resources

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Monitoring and Logging

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Health Checks

The application exposes health endpoints: 
management:
  endpoints:
    web:
      exposure:
        include: health,info
  endpoint:
    health:
      show-details: never
Endpoints:
  • GET /actuator/health - Application health status
  • GET /actuator/info - Application information

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Logging Configuration

Structured logging for production: 
logging:
  level:
    root: INFO
    com.hub: INFO
  pattern:
    console: "%d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS} %-5level [%X{traceId}] %logger{36} - %msg%n"
The application includes trace IDs in logs for distributed tracing.

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Monitoring Tools

Recommended monitoring solutions:
  • APM: New Relic, Datadog, Dynatrace
  • Logging: ELK Stack, Splunk, Loki
  • Metrics: Prometheus + Grafana
  • Error tracking: Sentry, Rollbar

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Backup and Recovery

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Database Backups

1

Configure automated backups

Enable automated backups in your managed database service (daily recommended).
2

Test backup restoration

Regularly test backup restoration to a staging environment.
3

Implement point-in-time recovery

Enable transaction log backups for point-in-time recovery capability.

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Application State

  • User uploads: Backed up automatically by Cloudinary
  • Configuration: Store in version control
  • Secrets: Backed up by secrets management service

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Scaling Considerations

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Horizontal Scaling

The backend is stateless and can be scaled horizontally:
Kubernetes
kubectl scale deployment hub-backend --replicas=5

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Database Scaling

Options for database scaling:
  • Vertical: Increase instance size
  • Read replicas: For read-heavy workloads
  • Connection pooling: PgBouncer for connection management

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Load Balancing

Recommended load balancers:
  • AWS Application Load Balancer
  • Google Cloud Load Balancing
  • Nginx
  • Traefik

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Deployment Checklist

Before deploying to production:
  • All environment variables configured
  • Database SSL mode set to require
  • Swagger disabled (SWAGGER_ENABLED=false)
  • Strong database credentials generated
  • Auth0 production tenant configured
  • Cloudinary production account set up
  • Email service configured and tested
  • Database backups enabled
  • Monitoring and alerting configured
  • Health checks implemented
  • Load testing completed
  • SSL/TLS certificates installed
  • Domain DNS configured
  • Firewall rules configured
  • Secrets stored in secrets manager

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Troubleshooting

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Application Won’t Start

  1. Check environment variables are set: 
    env | grep -E 'DB_|AUTH0_|CLOUDINARY_'
  2. Verify database connectivity: 
    psql "postgresql://${DB_USER}:${DB_PASSWORD}@${DB_HOST}:${DB_PORT}/${DB_NAME}?sslmode=require"
  3. Check application logs for specific errors

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Database Connection Issues

  • Verify SSL mode matches database configuration
  • Check firewall rules allow application IP
  • Confirm credentials are correct
  • Test network connectivity to database host

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Performance Issues

  • Review database query performance
  • Check connection pool settings
  • Monitor JVM memory usage
  • Analyze application logs for slow requests

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Next Steps

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