Docker Production Deployment

Overview

For self-hosted production deployments, the TEA Platform provides a production Docker Compose configuration (docker-compose.yml) that differs from the development setup in several ways:

Uses the pre-built image from GitHub Container Registry (ghcr.io) instead of building locally
Production-optimised Next.js build
Proper secret management via environment variables
Database persistence with named volumes
Health checks for both application and database

Azure Deployment

The official staging and production environments are hosted on Azure App Service and deployed automatically via GitHub Actions. This guide is for self-hosted deployments using Docker Compose.

Quick Start

1. Clone the Repository


git clone https://github.com/alan-turing-institute/AssurancePlatform.git
cd AssurancePlatform

2. Create Production Environment File


cp .env.example .env

Edit .env with production values:


# Application
NODE_ENV=production
NEXTAUTH_URL=https://your-domain.com
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=<generate-with-openssl-rand-base64-32>
 
# Database
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://tea:secure-password@db:5432/tea
POSTGRES_USER=tea
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secure-password
POSTGRES_DB=tea
 
# GitHub OAuth (optional)
GITHUB_APP_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id
GITHUB_APP_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret

3. Deploy


docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d

This pulls the latest image from ghcr.io/alan-turing-institute/assuranceplatform:latest and starts the application with PostgreSQL.

Production Configuration

Container Names

Container	Service	Port
`tea_app`	Next.js application	3000
`tea_postgres`	PostgreSQL database	5432

Reverse Proxy

For production, place the application behind a reverse proxy for SSL termination:

Using nginx:


server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name tea.example.com;
 
    ssl_certificate /path/to/cert.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /path/to/key.pem;
 
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    }
}

Database Persistence

Database data is persisted via a named Docker volume (postgres_data). To use a bind mount instead:


volumes:
  postgres_data:
    driver: local
    driver_opts:
      type: none
      o: bind
      device: /data/postgres

Health Checks

The application includes a health check endpoint:

/api/health — Returns 200 when the application is ready

Updating

To update to a new version:


# Pull latest image
docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml pull
 
# Restart with new image
docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d

Or to build from source:


git pull origin main
docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d --build

Troubleshooting

View Logs


docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml logs -f tea_app

Database Connection Issues

Verify DATABASE_URL is correct in your .env file
Check database container is running: docker ps | grep tea_postgres
Ensure network connectivity between containers

Application Not Starting

Check logs for error messages
Verify all required environment variables are set (NEXTAUTH_SECRET, DATABASE_URL)
Ensure database migrations have run: docker exec tea_app npx prisma migrate deploy