Automated Deployment Script

A production-grade Bash script for automated deployment of Dockerized applications to remote Linux servers.

🚀 Features

• ✅ Automated Git repository cloning with PAT authentication
• ✅ Remote server environment setup (Docker, Docker Compose, Nginx)
• ✅ Docker container deployment and management
• ✅ Nginx reverse proxy configuration
• ✅ Comprehensive logging and error handling
• ✅ Idempotent deployment (safe for re-runs)
• ✅ Resource cleanup functionality
• ✅ Deployment validation and health checks
• ✅ Security headers and best practices

📋 Prerequisites

• Bash 4.0+
• SSH access to remote server with key-based authentication
• Git Personal Access Token (PAT) with repo access
• Remote server: Ubuntu 18.04+ or CentOS 7+ (tested on Ubuntu 20.04+)
• Sudo privileges on the remote server

🛠️ Installation

1. Download the script:

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/your-username/your-repo/main/deploy.sh

2. Make it executable:

chmod +x deploy.sh

📖 Usage

Full Deployment

./deploy.sh

Cleanup Deployment Resources

./deploy.sh --cleanup

Show Help

./deploy.sh --help

Show Version

./deploy.sh --version

🔧 Input Parameters

When you run the script, it will prompt for:

Parameter	Description	Default
Git Repository URL	HTTPS URL of your Git repository	Required
Personal Access Token	GitHub/GitLab token with repo access	Required
Branch name	Git branch to deploy	main
SSH username	Username for remote server	Required
Server IP address	IP of your deployment server	Required
SSH key path	Path to SSH private key	~/.ssh/id_rsa
Application port	Internal container port	3000

🔄 What the Script Does

Local Operations

1. Validates all input parameters
2. Clones/Pulls the Git repository using PAT authentication
3. Verifies Docker configuration files (Dockerfile or docker-compose.yml)
4. Sets up comprehensive logging

Remote Server Operations

1. Tests SSH connectivity to the server
2. Updates system packages and installs dependencies
3. Installs Docker, Docker Compose, and Nginx
4. Transfers project files to the server via SCP
5. Builds and runs Docker containers
6. Configures Nginx as a reverse proxy
7. Validates the entire deployment

Validation Checks

• ✅ Docker service status
• ✅ Container health and logs
• ✅ Nginx configuration syntax
• ✅ Application responsiveness on specified port
• ✅ End-to-end deployment testing

🛡️ Security Features

• 🔐 PAT used only for Git authentication (not stored permanently)
• 🔑 SSH keys for secure server access
• 🛡️ Security headers in Nginx configuration
• 🚫 Common exploit protection (blocks .env, .git access)
• 🧹 Temporary credentials cleanup
• 📝 Comprehensive activity logging

📊 Logging

The script creates timestamped log files: deploy_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.log

Logs include:

• All user interactions and input
• Command execution results and timing
• Error messages and stack traces
• Deployment validation results
• Cleanup operations

🔁 Idempotency

The script is designed to be safe for multiple runs:

• 🔄 Existing repositories are updated via git pull
• 🛑 Old containers are stopped before new deployment
• 📝 Nginx configuration is cleanly overwritten
• 🧹 Failed deployments can be safely retried
• 🔧 Partial failures don't break subsequent runs

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues:

1. SSH Connection Failed

   • Verify SSH key permissions: chmod 600 your-key.pem
   • Check server accessibility: ping your-server-ip
   • Ensure SSH service is running on the server

2. Git Clone Failed

   • Verify PAT has repository access
   • Check repository URL format
   • Ensure branch exists

3. Docker Build Failed

   • Check Dockerfile syntax
   • Verify network connectivity for Docker images
   • Review container logs: docker logs container-name

4. Application Not Accessible

   • Verify port mappings
   • Check application logs
   • Test locally: curl http://localhost:APP_PORT

Debug Mode:

Add set -x at the top of the script for detailed debug output.

📝 Example Success Output

✓ Deployment completed successfully!

Application Information:
-----------------------
URL: http://192.168.1.100
App Port: 3000
Server: ubuntu@192.168.1.100
Project: my-awesome-app
Log File: deploy_20241021_143022.log

Next steps:
1. Test the application at: http://192.168.1.100
2. Check logs if needed: deploy_20241021_143022.log
3. To cleanup, run: ./deploy.sh --cleanup

🗂️ File Structure

.
├── deploy.sh                 # Main deployment script
├── deploy_20241021_143022.log  # Example log file
└── README.md                 # This file

⚠️ Important Notes

• The script requires sudo privileges on the remote server for package installation
• Assumes Ubuntu/Debian package management (apt-get)
• Docker containers must expose the specified application port
• Includes 15-second wait for container health checks
• Self-signed SSL certificates are not included (but ready for Certbot)

🆘 Support

For issues and questions:

1. Check the deployment logs first: cat deploy_*.log
2. Verify all input parameters are correct
3. Test SSH connectivity manually
4. Check server resources (disk space, memory)

📄 License

This script is provided as part of the HNG Internship DevOps track.

🔗 Related

• HNG Internship
• HNG Hire
• HNG Premium

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Ready to deploy? Run ./deploy.sh and follow the prompts! 🚀