Production Deployment

Overview

This guide walks through deploying inspir to a production Ubuntu server with:

nginx as a reverse proxy and static file server
SSL/TLS via Let’s Encrypt (free certificate)
PM2 or systemd for process management
Domain name configured with DNS

Production deployment requires server administration knowledge. Ensure you understand Linux, nginx, and security best practices before proceeding.

Prerequisites

Ubuntu 20.04+ server with root/sudo access
Domain name pointed to your server’s IP address
Supabase project with database schema configured
Anthropic API key
Git installed on the server

Step 1: Server Setup

Update system packages

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

Install Node.js 18+

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_18.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

# Verify installation
node --version  # Should be 18.x or higher
npm --version

Install nginx

sudo apt install nginx -y
sudo systemctl enable nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx

Install PM2 (recommended)

sudo npm install -g pm2

Alternatively, you can use systemd instead of PM2 (see below).

Step 2: Clone and Configure the Application

Clone the repository

cd /root
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/inspir.git
cd inspir

Configure backend environment

cd backend
cp .env.example .env
nano .env  # or vim .env

Update with production values:

# Server Configuration
PORT=3000
HOST=0.0.0.0
FRONTEND_URL=https://yourdomain.com  # Your actual domain

# Anthropic API
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-api03-...

# Supabase Configuration
SUPABASE_URL=https://xxxxxxxxxxx.supabase.co
SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...
SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...

# JWT Secret - Generate a strong random string
JWT_SECRET=$(openssl rand -base64 32)

Configure frontend environment

cd ../frontend
cp .env.example .env
nano .env

Update with production values:

# Supabase Configuration
VITE_SUPABASE_URL=https://xxxxxxxxxxx.supabase.co
VITE_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...

# API Configuration - Use your actual domain
VITE_API_URL=https://yourdomain.com/api

Install dependencies

# Backend
cd /root/inspir/backend
npm install --production

# Frontend
cd /root/inspir/frontend
npm install

Build the frontend

cd /root/inspir/frontend
npm run build

This creates an optimized production build in dist/.

Step 3: Configure nginx

Create nginx configuration

Create a new site configuration:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/inspir.conf

Paste the following (replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain):

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;

    # Serve the built frontend
    root /var/www/inspir;
    index index.html;

    # Reverse proxy API requests to the backend
    location /api/ {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000/api/;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        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;
        proxy_set_header Connection "";
        proxy_read_timeout 90;
        client_max_body_size 15m;
    }

    # Single-page app routing
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
    }

    # Enable gzip compression
    gzip on;
    gzip_types text/plain text/css application/json application/javascript application/ld+json application/xml text/xml image/svg+xml;
}

Copy frontend build to web directory

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/inspir
sudo cp -r /root/inspir/frontend/dist/* /var/www/inspir/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/inspir

Enable the site

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/inspir.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t  # Test configuration
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Step 4: Set Up SSL with Let’s Encrypt

Install Certbot

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

Obtain SSL certificate

sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com

Follow the prompts to:

Enter your email address
Agree to terms of service
Choose to redirect HTTP to HTTPS (recommended)

Verify auto-renewal

Certbot automatically sets up certificate renewal. Test it:

sudo certbot renew --dry-run

Step 5: Start the Backend

Option A: Using PM2 (Recommended)

Start the backend with PM2

cd /root/inspir/backend
pm2 start server.js --name inspir-backend
pm2 save

Configure PM2 to start on boot

pm2 startup
# Follow the command it outputs
pm2 save

Verify it's running

pm2 status
pm2 logs inspir-backend

Option B: Using systemd

Create systemd service file

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/inspirquiz.service

Paste the following:

[Unit]
Description=InspirQuiz Backend Service
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
WorkingDirectory=/root/inspir/backend
Environment=NODE_ENV=production
Environment=PORT=3000
Environment=HOST=0.0.0.0
EnvironmentFile=-/root/inspir/backend/.env
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node /root/inspir/backend/server.js
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
User=root
Group=root

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start the service

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable inspirquiz
sudo systemctl start inspirquiz

Check service status

sudo systemctl status inspirquiz
sudo journalctl -u inspirquiz -f  # View logs

Step 6: Verify Deployment

Test the website

Open https://yourdomain.com in your browser.

✅ HTTPS should be enabled (green padlock)
✅ Homepage should load
✅ Sign up/login should work

Test the API

curl https://yourdomain.com/api/health

Should return a health check response.

Monitor logs

PM2:

pm2 logs inspir-backend

systemd:

sudo journalctl -u inspirquiz -f

Deployment Script

Create a script to automate future deployments:

sudo nano /root/deploy.sh

Paste the following:

#!/bin/bash

echo "🚀 Starting inspir deployment..."

# Navigate to project directory
cd /root/inspir || exit 1

# Pull latest code
echo "📥 Pulling latest code..."
git pull origin main

# Install backend dependencies
echo "📦 Installing backend dependencies..."
cd /root/inspir/backend
npm install --production

# Build the frontend
echo "📦 Building frontend..."
cd /root/inspir/frontend
npm install
npm run build

if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "❌ Frontend build failed!"
    exit 1
fi

# Copy build to web directory
echo "📂 Copying build to web directory..."
sudo rm -rf /var/www/inspir/*
sudo cp -r dist/* /var/www/inspir/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/inspir/

# Reload nginx
echo "🔄 Reloading nginx..."
sudo systemctl reload nginx

# Restart backend with PM2
echo "🔄 Restarting backend..."
cd /root/inspir/backend
pm2 restart inspir-backend || pm2 start server.js --name inspir-backend
pm2 save

echo "✅ Deployment complete!"
echo "🌐 Live at: https://yourdomain.com"

Make it executable:

chmod +x /root/deploy.sh

Run future deployments with:

/root/deploy.sh

Security Best Practices

Production security is critical. Follow these best practices:

Firewall Configuration

# Install ufw (Uncomplicated Firewall)
sudo apt install ufw

# Allow SSH, HTTP, HTTPS
sudo ufw allow ssh
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp

# Enable firewall
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw status

Secure Environment Variables

# Restrict .env file permissions
chmod 600 /root/inspir/backend/.env
chmod 600 /root/inspir/frontend/.env

Keep Dependencies Updated

# Check for vulnerabilities
cd /root/inspir/backend
npm audit
npm audit fix

cd /root/inspir/frontend
npm audit
npm audit fix

Enable fail2ban (Optional)

Protect against brute-force attacks:

sudo apt install fail2ban
sudo systemctl enable fail2ban
sudo systemctl start fail2ban

Monitoring and Logs

View Application Logs

PM2:

pm2 logs inspir-backend
pm2 monit  # Live monitoring

systemd:

sudo journalctl -u inspirquiz -f
sudo journalctl -u inspirquiz --since "1 hour ago"

View nginx Logs

sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/access.log
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log

Monitor Server Resources

htop  # Install: sudo apt install htop
df -h  # Disk usage
free -h  # Memory usage

Troubleshooting

502 Bad Gateway

Cause: Backend is not running or unreachable. Fix:

# Check if backend is running
pm2 status  # or sudo systemctl status inspirquiz

# Restart backend
pm2 restart inspir-backend  # or sudo systemctl restart inspirquiz

# Check logs for errors
pm2 logs inspir-backend

SSL Certificate Issues

Renew certificate manually:

sudo certbot renew
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Frontend Not Updating

Clear build and redeploy:

cd /root/inspir/frontend
rm -rf dist node_modules
npm install
npm run build
sudo cp -r dist/* /var/www/inspir/

Database Connection Errors

Check Supabase project status:

Go to Supabase Dashboard
Verify project is not paused
Check connection pooler settings

Test connection from server:

curl -I https://xxxxxxxxxxx.supabase.co

Backup Strategy

Regularly backup your environment variables and application data.

Backup Environment Variables

cp /root/inspir/backend/.env /root/inspir/backend/.env.backup
cp /root/inspir/frontend/.env /root/inspir/frontend/.env.backup

Backup Database

Supabase provides automatic backups. For manual backups:

Go to Supabase Dashboard
Navigate to Database → Backups
Download manual backup or use pg_dump via connection string

Next Steps

Your production deployment is complete! Consider:

Setting up monitoring (e.g., UptimeRobot, Datadog)
Configuring automated backups
Setting up CI/CD for automated deployments
Adding a CDN (e.g., Cloudflare) for better performance

Database Setup →

Get Started

Study Tools

Features

Deployment

Production Deployment

Overview

Prerequisites

Step 1: Server Setup

Step 2: Clone and Configure the Application

Step 3: Configure nginx

Step 4: Set Up SSL with Let’s Encrypt

Step 5: Start the Backend

Option A: Using PM2 (Recommended)

Option B: Using systemd

Step 6: Verify Deployment

Deployment Script

Security Best Practices

Firewall Configuration

Secure Environment Variables

Keep Dependencies Updated

Enable fail2ban (Optional)

Monitoring and Logs

View Application Logs

View nginx Logs

Monitor Server Resources

Troubleshooting

502 Bad Gateway

SSL Certificate Issues

Frontend Not Updating

Database Connection Errors

Backup Strategy

Backup Environment Variables

Backup Database

Next Steps

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Study Tools

Features

Deployment

​Overview

​Prerequisites

​Step 1: Server Setup

​Step 2: Clone and Configure the Application

​Step 3: Configure nginx

​Step 4: Set Up SSL with Let’s Encrypt

​Step 5: Start the Backend

​Option A: Using PM2 (Recommended)

​Option B: Using systemd

​Step 6: Verify Deployment

​Deployment Script

​Security Best Practices

​Firewall Configuration

​Secure Environment Variables

​Keep Dependencies Updated

​Enable fail2ban (Optional)

​Monitoring and Logs

​View Application Logs

​View nginx Logs

​Monitor Server Resources

​Troubleshooting

​502 Bad Gateway

​SSL Certificate Issues

​Frontend Not Updating

​Database Connection Errors

​Backup Strategy

​Backup Environment Variables

​Backup Database

​Next Steps

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Prerequisites

Step 1: Server Setup

Step 2: Clone and Configure the Application

Step 3: Configure nginx

Step 4: Set Up SSL with Let’s Encrypt

Step 5: Start the Backend

Option A: Using PM2 (Recommended)

Option B: Using systemd

Step 6: Verify Deployment

Deployment Script

Security Best Practices

Firewall Configuration

Secure Environment Variables

Keep Dependencies Updated

Enable fail2ban (Optional)

Monitoring and Logs

View Application Logs

View nginx Logs

Monitor Server Resources

Troubleshooting

502 Bad Gateway

SSL Certificate Issues

Frontend Not Updating

Database Connection Errors

Backup Strategy

Backup Environment Variables

Backup Database

Next Steps