who_need_help/docs/operations.md

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# Operations runbook
This runbook describes the commands that are implemented and verified in this
repository. It does not claim a production recovery point objective, recovery
time objective, retention period, storage capacity, or high-availability model;
those values require product policy and measurements from the eventual
production environment.
## Private Gitea continuous integration
The observed private Git remote is hosted by Gitea 1.22.0. Gitea 1.22 reads
repository workflows from `.gitea/workflows/`, so the repository keeps a
Gitea-specific quality workflow in addition to the GitHub-compatible workflow.
Both files are checked by the pinned local actionlint gate.
The Gitea workflow deliberately targets only the custom
`who-need-help-ci` runner label. Its jobs build and run many Docker images and
must not be scheduled onto an unrelated shared runner or onto the production
application host. Its gates run sequentially in one job so a single push cannot
start four heavy Docker suites concurrently. Before enabling it:
1. enable Actions in the private repository settings;
2. register a trusted runner controlled by this project;
3. assign `who-need-help-ci:host` only to a Linux host where the exact Docker
Engine and Compose commands used by the repository have been verified;
4. install the runtime required by the pinned checkout action on that host;
5. keep the runner registration state and any Docker socket access outside the
repository and away from untrusted projects.
The runner's availability, labels, software versions, free resources and
repository Actions setting cannot be established from the unauthenticated
repository clone. Do not treat the presence of the workflow file as evidence
that remote CI has run. After provisioning the runner, trigger the workflow
manually, require the full job and all four gate steps to pass, and record the
run URL and commit before protecting `main`.
## First production Compose environment
Run the initializer on the target Docker host after its final public hostname
is known:
```bash
./scripts/init-production-env.sh whoneedhelp.com .env.production
```
The initializer reads `.env.example`, derives the numeric group of that host's
Docker socket, generates independent random values for PostgreSQL,
`SECRET_KEY_BASE`, handover codes, the BEAM release cookie, and metrics access,
and writes an ignored mode-`0600` file. It does not print those values and
refuses to overwrite an existing destination.
By default, the generated public proxy port binds to `127.0.0.1`, which is
appropriate only when the verified reverse proxy reaches the application on
the same host. Set `PRODUCTION_HTTP_BIND_ADDRESS` when generating the file, or
edit `HTTP_BIND_ADDRESS` afterward, to match the observed target topology.
Replace `TRAEFIK_TRUSTED_IPS` with the exact source IP/CIDR observed at Traefik;
do not copy the temporary VPN value into an unrelated server.
Configure the transactional SMTP relay and sender accepted by that provider.
Provider-specific auth, TLS, ports, and credentials can be supplied to the
initializer through the documented `PRODUCTION_SMTP_*` environment values or
edited in the resulting ignored file. If Google registration/sign-in is
enabled, also set both Google Web client credentials and register
`https://YOUR_PHX_HOST/auth/google/callback` as the exact authorized redirect
URI. Leave both credentials empty to keep the feature disabled. Then run:
```bash
./scripts/validate-production-env.sh .env.production whoneedhelp.com
docker compose \
--env-file .env.production \
-f compose.yaml \
-f compose.production.yaml \
up -d --wait --build
```
The production override keeps Mailpit behind its inactive `local-mail` profile,
so public registration cannot appear to succeed while mail is only retained
locally. The validator checks file ownership/mode, origin consistency,
template markers, independent generated secrets, supported SMTP values, a
complete-or-empty Google credential pair, the generated database URL, and the
final Compose render without printing secrets.
It does not contact DNS, TLS, SMTP, the reverse proxy, or the application.
After deployment, verify `/healthz/ready`, inspect all replica health and logs,
register a unique address through the public browser, receive its message at
the real mailbox, follow the HTTPS confirmation link, and remove only that
run-scoped account.
## Compose database backup
Create a PostgreSQL 18 custom-format archive, validate its table of contents,
and write a SHA-256 manifest:
```bash
./scripts/backup-compose.sh
```
The default destination is the ignored `output/backups/` directory. An explicit
new destination may be supplied as the only argument. The command refuses to
overwrite either an archive or its checksum manifest and writes through
temporary files before publishing the final pair. Files and newly created
directories are restricted by `umask 077`.
The archive covers the configured application database. PostgreSQL cluster
globals such as roles and tablespaces are not part of `pg_dump`; deployment
credentials and database roles must be provisioned separately from secrets.
Local backup files on the same workstation are not an off-site backup.
## Encrypted local S3-compatible backup drill
The isolated load project can run a complete encrypted Restic/MinIO drill:
```bash
./scripts/load-stack-up.sh
./scripts/backup-s3-drill.sh local-encrypted-backup
```
The script refuses the staging Compose project and validates the project and
service labels of every pre-existing container in its scope. On first use,
`scripts/ensure-local-load-env.sh` generates independent random MinIO and
Restic credentials in ignored `.env.load` and restricts that file to mode
`0600`. MinIO publishes Docker-assigned ports only on `127.0.0.1`; the observed
API and console URLs are printed after a successful run.
The backup tool combines the matching PostgreSQL 18 client with pinned Restic
rebuilt on Go 1.26.5. MinIO server and client are also rebuilt as non-root
Alpine images from checksum-pinned upstream source commits with the exact
dependency updates recorded in `Dockerfile.minio`. The quality gate verifies
their reported release, commit, Go runtime, configured user, and current
HIGH/CRITICAL vulnerability scan. `restic backup --stdin-from-command` runs a
custom-format `pg_dump`, checks the producer exit status, encrypts the data,
and uploads it directly to MinIO. No plaintext database dump is written to the
host. The drill then:
1. runs `restic check --read-data`;
2. streams `restic dump` into `pg_restore --list`;
3. restores into a uniquely named database created from `template0`;
4. checks tables, current Ecto migrations, PostGIS, and release migration
readiness before removing that exact database;
5. clones and corrupts an isolated repository and requires both check and dump
to fail;
6. stops an exact scoped in-progress backup container only after encrypted
objects reach MinIO, requires zero published snapshots, prunes unreferenced
packs, and rechecks the repository;
7. removes and verifies removal of the corruption/interruption buckets and
requires source table counts to remain unchanged.
The successful encrypted bucket is deliberately retained in the named local
MinIO volume. Non-secret evidence is written under ignored
`output/backups-s3/<run-label>/`; the runtime scratch directory is under
ignored `tmp/backup-s3/`. Use a unique lowercase run label of at most 32
characters. The command refuses to replace an existing retained bucket.
MinIO server and client are AGPLv3. `Dockerfile.minio` identifies the exact
upstream source commits and contains the dependency changes and complete build
commands used here. Before distributing or publicly operating modified images,
review the license and make the corresponding source available as required;
this runbook does not provide legal advice.
This verifies encryption, local S3 protocol use, restore mechanics, and two
failure paths on the observed workstation. A MinIO volume on that same
workstation is not an off-site backup and does not establish production RPO,
RTO, retention, capacity, key custody, object locking, or database HA.
## Local external-service boundary drill
Run the OAuth, SMTP, and provider-neutral push protocol checks without public
credentials, a server, or host-published ports:
```bash
./scripts/external-boundaries-run.sh local-boundaries
```
The script creates a uniquely named Compose project on an internal-only Docker
network. It generates independent one-run OAuth and push credentials in an
ignored mode-`0600` environment file, including a separate bearer token for the
protected metrics endpoint, builds the production release plus a non-root
standard-library Python protocol mock, and then verifies:
`compose.external-boundaries.yaml` is the only deployment file that sets
`ALLOW_INSECURE_EXTERNAL_HTTP=true`. Ordinary runtime configuration requires
HTTPS for OAuth and push endpoints so provider credentials are not sent over
plain HTTP.
1. GitHub-compatible OAuth authorization, PKCE S256, token exchange, normalized
user lookup, state mismatch, provider rejection, one-time-code replay,
a fresh flow after a temporary token error, and a token timeout;
2. SMTP acceptance, permanent recipient rejection without retry, one retry
after a temporary greeting failure, a greeting timeout, and the result of
submitting the same message twice;
3. the disabled default push boundary plus HTTP success, permanent rejection,
one temporary retry, replay deduplication, and deduplication after an
ambiguous timeout using the same idempotency key;
4. a fresh PostGIS database, current migrations, and two Oban worker replicas;
request acceptance and new-chat domain transactions enqueue stable
user-recipient events, replay is deduplicated before HTTP, an injected
temporary chat delivery fails its first Oban attempt and completes on its
second, and private message text is absent from the push payload.
The evidence JSON and mock state contain counters, booleans, normalized
identity fields, payload digests, run-scoped user/event identifiers, and the
privacy-safe notification metadata asserted by the drill. The script fails if
any generated secret appears in retained evidence. Its trap validates exact
Compose labels, removes only that project, volumes and one-run images, and
deletes the temporary credential file. Failure logs are retained under the
same ignored evidence directory.
This drill uses the application's real Assent/Req and Swoosh/gen_smtp clients,
but the providers are local. It therefore verifies client-side protocol and
product integration, not GitHub, SMTP-provider, FCM, or APNs availability.
SMTP permits duplicate delivery after ambiguous outcomes, so the result
explicitly makes no exactly-once claim. Push currently targets a stable
`user:<uuid>` recipient; selecting a provider, registering device tokens, and
resolving that user to devices remain deployment/provider work.
The implementation follows the configured adapter interfaces and protocol
semantics documented by
[Assent 0.3.1](https://hexdocs.pm/assent/0.3.1/Assent.HTTPAdapter.html),
[GitHub OAuth](https://docs.github.com/en/apps/oauth-apps/building-oauth-apps/authorizing-oauth-apps),
and [SMTP RFC 5321](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5321).
## Isolated restore drill
Run a real restore into a uniquely named temporary database:
```bash
./scripts/restore-drill-compose.sh output/backups/compose-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.dump
```
The drill:
1. validates the SHA-256 manifest;
2. validates the archive table of contents;
3. creates a pristine database from `template0`;
4. restores with `pg_restore --exit-on-error`;
5. reads every restored public application table and checks the PostGIS
library;
6. runs the current immutable release's migrations and migration-readiness check
against only the temporary database;
7. drops only the temporary drill database and verifies that it is gone.
A trap also attempts to drop the exact temporary database if a check fails.
The source application database is never passed to `pg_restore`, `dropdb`, a
clean operation, or the drill migration runner. The drill intentionally does
not compare an older backup's row counts to the live source, because concurrent
legitimate writes or a historical archive would make that comparison invalid.
## Isolated Compose upgrade rehearsal
After creating a current custom-format backup, run the complete current release
against an isolated restored copy:
```bash
./scripts/upgrade-rehearsal-compose.sh \
output/backups/compose-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.dump
```
The rehearsal validates the checksum and archive catalog, reads the public
origin configuration from ignored `.env`, and uses only the independently
generated credentials in ignored mode-`0600` `.env.e2e`. It builds a uniquely
tagged production release, creates a uniquely named Compose project and
database from `template0`, restores the archive, records application-table
counts, and then:
1. applies every current timestamped Ecto migration;
2. requires the localized category column and all 11 valid cursor indexes;
3. starts 2 web and 2 worker replicas behind the isolated Traefik instance;
4. requires the four-node BEAM cluster and cross-node PubSub probe;
5. checks the production HTTP-to-HTTPS redirect, trusted-proxy public pages,
and both health endpoints;
6. requires an empty before/after diff for every public application table
except the expected migration and Oban-internal tables;
7. removes and verifies removal of the exact containers, networks, database
volume, and one-run image.
The input archive is read-only and is not copied into the evidence directory.
The ordinary Compose project, source database, public route, and running
containers are outside the generated project scope. Non-secret evidence is
retained under ignored mode-`0700`
`output/upgrade-rehearsal/<run-id>/`, with files mode `0600`.
## Clean tracked-revision deployment drill
Run:
```bash
./scripts/clean-deploy-verify.sh
```
The script archives the current tracked Git revision into a new temporary
directory. It verifies that the archive contains no local `.env`, Git
metadata, generated output, or existing E2E/load environment. It generates
independent one-run PostgreSQL, Phoenix, handover, BEAM-cookie, and metrics
secrets with mode `0600`; optional GitHub OAuth and push delivery stay
disabled.
The drill uses a unique Compose project, application image, router/service
name, internal network, PostgreSQL volume, database, and dynamic host ports.
It requires exactly two healthy web and two running worker replicas, all
tracked migrations, seeded categories, an idempotent repeated migration,
working readiness/home/registration/Mailpit routes, four connected BEAM
nodes, and a cross-replica PubSub message. It then removes the exact project
including volumes, its one-run image, and the temporary archive, and verifies
that those scoped resources are absent. Evidence is retained under
`output/portability/<run-id>/`.
This is a local Docker portability observation. It does not establish
production SMTP, OAuth, push-provider, TLS, database-HA, storage, capacity, or
jurisdictional readiness.
## Service checks
```bash
docker compose ps
curl --fail http://localhost:4010/healthz/live
curl --fail http://localhost:4010/healthz/ready
./scripts/verify-realtime-cluster.sh compose
```
`live` verifies that the web process can serve HTTP. `ready` additionally runs
`SELECT 1` through the configured Ecto repository. The cluster probe subscribes
on one connected BEAM node and broadcasts from another.
Health checks do not replace alerting, database backups, restore drills, or
application-level synthetic checks.
## Local failure and rolling-replacement drills
The isolated load project can exercise process crashes, sequential container
replacement, and a real Oban retry without touching the normal Compose project:
```bash
./scripts/load-stack-up.sh
./scripts/load-resilience-run.sh local-resilience
```
The resilience script refuses `LOAD_PROJECT=who_need_help` and verifies the
Compose project/service labels of every container before stopping it. It:
1. continuously calls readiness through the isolated Traefik route;
2. terminates the BEAM process in one web and one worker container and requires
Docker's observed restart count to increase;
3. removes and replaces each web and worker replica one at a time;
4. waits for every configured BEAM node, then runs the cross-node PubSub probe;
5. enqueues a side-effect-free local worker that fails its first Oban attempt
and succeeds on its second;
6. removes that exact Oban row and requires no fixture domain rows to remain.
Traefik's retry middleware is attached to the HTTP and local TLS routers. Its
attempt count is an environment input. Traefik retries transport failures and,
with the checked configuration, does not opt in to retrying non-idempotent
requests. This reduces a stale-backend window; it is not a claim of production
availability.
For the project-owned kind cluster, run:
```bash
./scripts/kind-rolling-verify.sh local-kind-rollout
```
The kind control plane is an optional verification environment, not part of
the ordinary public Compose route. Pause it without deleting its container or
Kubernetes state when the cluster is not being tested:
```bash
./scripts/kind-stop.sh
```
The next `./scripts/kind-up.sh` validates the ownership marker and kind labels,
starts the stopped control plane, then continues with image loading and chart
reconciliation.
That script requires both the kind ownership marker and the control-plane
cluster label before invoking `rollout restart`. It changes only the web and
worker Deployment pod templates. It snapshots application-table counts before
and after, continuously probes the observed Docker mapping for the chart's
NodePort, requires all four old pod UIDs to disappear, waits for the exact BEAM
peer count, and verifies cross-node PubSub. PostGIS, its hostPath, the
Kubernetes Secret, and the namespace are not recreated.
The rollout timeout, probe interval/timeout/retry count, and cluster-join
timeout are experiment inputs. They are not production SLOs or resource
requirements.
## Isolated Oban burst measurement
The worker role consumes only `maintenance` and `push`. Configure their
per-worker limits with `OBAN_MAINTENANCE_CONCURRENCY` and
`OBAN_PUSH_CONCURRENCY`; multiplying either value by the number of worker
replicas gives the configured cluster-wide concurrency for that queue.
After starting the isolated load project, run an explicitly sized experiment:
```bash
./scripts/load-stack-up.sh
./scripts/oban-burst-run.sh local-oban-burst 1000 120
```
The three required arguments are an evidence label, job count, and recorded
experiment timeout in seconds. They are not capacity thresholds. The script
refuses the ordinary `who_need_help` project, verifies the expected worker
replicas, inserts only confirmed `LocalBurstProbe` jobs with a unique run id,
records each worker's effective queue configuration and container samples,
requires every job to complete, compares domain-table row counts, and deletes
exactly its own jobs. The probe worker has no product side effects and no
product flow enqueues it.
## Kubernetes ingress isolation
`networkPolicy.enabled=true` renders the chart's ingress NetworkPolicy.
Enforcement is a property of the cluster CNI, not of the YAML object alone.
Before relying on it, verify that the target cluster uses a NetworkPolicy-
capable plugin and run positive HTTP/cluster checks plus negative blocked-port
checks there. Egress remains intentionally unrestricted until the actual
database and external-service destinations are known.
## BEAM runtime memory guard
Compose sets `ERL_ZFLAGS="+Q ${ERLANG_PORT_LIMIT}"`; Helm renders the same flag
from `app.erlangPortLimit`. Both default to `65536`, OTP's normal port-table
limit. This makes the runtime independent of an unusually large host or nested
container `nofile` limit. Validate all live replicas after deployment:
```bash
./scripts/verify-beam-runtime.sh compose
./scripts/verify-beam-runtime.sh kind
```
The command records the effective port count/limit, allocated port-table bytes,
BEAM memory, process count, cgroup memory, and RSS for each web and worker
replica. It fails when a live VM does not use the configured limit; kind mode
also requires the desired number of Ready application pods.
`65536` is a concurrency ceiling for simultaneously existing Erlang ports
(files, sockets, and drivers), not a container memory limit. Do not lower or
raise it from a RAM estimate alone. A changed value must be validated against
measured peak port usage and the target environment.
## Protected Prometheus metrics
The web role exposes Prometheus text format at `/metrics`. It requires the
independent `METRICS_TOKEN` deployment secret:
```bash
curl --fail \
--header "Authorization: Bearer $METRICS_TOKEN" \
http://localhost:4010/metrics
```
The endpoint returns `401` without the exact token, disables response caching,
and does not put the credential in a URL. The reporter exports cumulative HTTP
request and duration, router exception, database query and duration, WebSocket
connection, VM memory, and scheduler run-queue metrics. Cumulative durations are
integer microseconds because the selected reporter's sum accumulator is
integer-based; divide by `1_000_000` in PromQL when seconds are required.
Definitions intentionally have no request path, user, request, or event-name
labels that could create unbounded cardinality.
Metrics are local to each BEAM process. Discover and scrape every web pod or
container as a distinct target and preserve Prometheus's `instance` label. A
request through the load-balanced public route reaches only one replica and is
therefore useful as an authorization/smoke check, not as a cluster-wide
aggregate.
The isolated load project includes a local observability profile:
```bash
./scripts/load-stack-up.sh
./scripts/observability-run.sh local-observability
```
The run script refuses the staging project, validates every current web
container's Compose labels, and writes a `file_sd` target for each observed
internal IP. Prometheus reads the Bearer value from a mode-`0600` runtime file,
not a tracked config or URL. Its direct request includes the internal
`X-Forwarded-Proto: https` signal required by the application's production SSL
rewrite while preserving the target's own `instance` label.
Prometheus, Alertmanager, and Grafana are pinned by tag and digest. Their host
ports default to Docker-assigned values bound only to `127.0.0.1`; the run
prints the observed URLs. Grafana uses the random admin password generated in
ignored `.env.load`, disables anonymous signup, update checks, suggested plugin
installation, and its unused built-in alert engine. The Prometheus datasource
and ten-panel dashboard are provisioned from tracked files. The dashboard
separates all discovered web and worker replicas and includes HTTP
traffic/latency, BEAM memory and scheduler run queues, Ecto execution and
pool-wait latency, and Oban outcomes and queue wait by queue.
The verification stops exactly one scoped load web container. The
`WhoNeedHelpWebReplicaUnavailable` rule is based only on the factual
`up == 0` result; it is a local failure drill, not an invented latency,
capacity, or production SLO threshold. The script requires both firing and
resolved webhook payloads from Alertmanager, starts the same container, waits
for every direct target, and compares read-only database counts before and
after. Evidence is retained in `output/observability/` without the metrics or
Grafana secrets.
Stop only the monitoring services with:
```bash
./scripts/observability-stop.sh
```
Prometheus/Grafana/Alertmanager retention, production notification
destinations, production availability, and measured alert policies remain
deployment decisions. In Kubernetes, put the metrics token in
`existingSecret`; configure the external scraper to send it as a Bearer token.
## Rollback boundary
The release image is immutable and migrations run as a separate one-shot role.
Before a schema rollout, create and restore-test a current backup. Application
rollback and database migration rollback are separate decisions: do not run an
Ecto down migration merely because an image is rolled back. Inspect the exact
migration and compatibility boundary first.
The repository intentionally does not ship an automatic destructive production
restore command.