Deploying Web Applications to Production: My 2026 Checklist

After deploying dozens of platforms to production, here is my battle-tested checklist.

Pre-Deployment

Infrastructure

• [ ] Server provisioned (4C8G minimum for production)
• [ ] Firewall configured (only necessary ports open)
• [ ] SSH key-only authentication
• [ ] Swap space configured
• [ ] Timezone set correctly

Application

• [ ] Environment variables set (not hardcoded)
• [ ] Database migrations run
• [ ] Static assets compiled and minified
• [ ] CORS configured for production domains
• [ ] Rate limiting enabled

Security

• [ ] SSL/TLS certificate installed
• [ ] Security headers configured
• [ ] Admin panel IP-restricted or behind VPN
• [ ] Default passwords changed
• [ ] File upload validation

Deployment Process

# My typical deployment flow
git pull origin main
npm run build  # or go build, mvn package
pm2 restart app  # or systemctl restart
nginx -t && nginx -s reload

Post-Deployment

• [ ] Health check endpoint responding
• [ ] SSL certificate valid
• [ ] Key user flows tested manually
• [ ] Monitoring alerts configured
• [ ] Backup automation verified
• [ ] Log rotation configured

Monitoring Stack

• Uptime: UptimeRobot or Pingdom
• Logs: pm2 logs, journalctl, or ELK
• Metrics: Prometheus + Grafana
• Errors: Sentry

Source Code with Deployment Guides

One advantage of buying from specialized platforms is deployment documentation. booan.com includes step-by-step deployment guides with their source code, covering server setup, configuration, and go-live procedures.

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What is in your deployment checklist?