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Infrastructure & Integrations

Cloud deployment: the same build everywhere, the differences written down

Plenty of business software runs on the developer's personal account, configured by hand, with the passwords in the code. It works until that developer is on holiday. We set up preview, staging and production from written instructions. They run the same build. Only their settings differ, and those settings are written down. Secrets live in a vault, and every account is in your business's name.
Talk through where your software runsSee what's written down ↓
previewstagingproductionbuilddatapaymentstexts go tosecretswho can releasev43v43v43running v42v42 → v43v42 kept readysample datacopy, no customer detailslive datatest modetest modelivethe developer's phoneoffice staffcustomersfrom the vaultfrom the vaultfrom the vault · own keysanyone on the teamlead developerlead, after checks pass

Written down, not remembered

If an environment can't be rebuilt from what's written, it depends on someone's memory.

  1. 01

    Environments

    Preview, staging, production

    Each one set up from the same instructions, kept in the code's history, so they can't quietly drift apart.

  2. 02

    Settings per environment

    The only thing that differs

    Which data, which payment mode, where texts go. Listed, reviewed and changed like code.

  3. 03

    Secrets

    In a vault, never in the code

    Passwords and keys stored separately for each environment, readable only by the software that needs them.

  4. 04

    Addresses and routing

    Your domain, pointed on purpose

    Which address goes to which environment, with secure connections set up and renewed automatically.

  5. 05

    Backups

    Restored in practice, not just taken

    Taken automatically and restored on a schedule, so you know they work before you need one.

  6. 06

    Accounts in your name

    Your business holds the keys

    Hosting, database and domain accounts belong to your business, with us invited, not the other way round.

Who owns what

Agreed at the start, so nobody has to ask who can change something when it matters.
Hosting and database accountsyour businessyour admin; us by invitation
Domain and addressesyour businessyour admin, or us on request
Production secretsyour businessthe lead developer; every change recorded
Releases to productionthe lead developerafter the checks pass
Backups and restore teststhe lead developerscheduled; results shared with you

Three moments that test it

Deployment is judged on the days something changes.

Texting service key · production

  1. New key made

    in the texting service's account

    done

  2. Stored in the vault

    production only

    done

  3. Software picks it up

    no code change, no release

    done

  4. Old key turned off

    after a test text goes through

    done

The key changed without touching the code.

What deployment ties together

In

Builds
from the release pipeline
Instructions
environments, written down
Secrets
from the vault
Deployment
same build, own settings

Out

Environments
preview, staging, production
Backups
taken and tested
Record
what runs where

Worth doing properly once software runs part of the business

Good fit

  • Your software runs on someone's personal account.
  • Nobody is sure how production was set up.
  • You've never tried restoring a backup.

Not the right fit

  • A brochure website on a managed website builder. The builder already handles this.
  • A one-off prototype nobody depends on yet.

Where this capability is used

Next to cloud deployment

Questions about cloud deployment

Which cloud do you use?

Whichever fits the system and what you already have. For most web applications we start with a managed hosting platform and a managed database, and choose something else when there's a reason.

What happens if we stop working with you?

Nothing breaks. The accounts are yours, the instructions are in your code, and another developer can pick it up from what's written down.

Do we need three environments?

Most systems that customers or staff rely on benefit from them. A small internal tool may only need preview and production. We set up what the system needs.

What will hosting cost?

It depends on traffic, data and how much runs all day. We estimate it with you before building and show you where the costs come from.