> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.qovery.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Production Environment Management

> Manage production environments with Qovery

## Overview

Managing production environments requires robust infrastructure, high availability, security, and comprehensive monitoring. Qovery provides the tools and features to ensure your production workloads run reliably and securely.

## Prerequisites

<Warning>
  **Production Cluster Required**: Before following this guide, you need a Kubernetes cluster flagged as **Production** in Qovery.
</Warning>

**Don't have a cluster yet?**

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Managed Cluster (Recommended)" icon="cloud" href="/getting-started/quickstart/cloud">
    Let Qovery provision and manage your production-grade Kubernetes cluster on AWS, GCP, Azure, or Scaleway
  </Card>

  <Card title="Bring Your Own Cluster (BYOK)" icon="server" href="/configuration/integrations/kubernetes/byok">
    Connect your existing Kubernetes cluster
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Info>
  When creating your cluster:

  * Flag it as **Production** environment type
  * Use production-grade instance types (minimum 2 vCPU, 8GB RAM)
  * Enable multi-AZ deployment for high availability
</Info>

## Key Production Features

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="High Availability" icon="server" href="/configuration/clusters">
    Multi-AZ deployment with automatic failover
  </Card>

  <Card title="Auto-Scaling" icon="chart-line" href="/configuration/application#auto-scaling">
    Horizontal pod autoscaling based on CPU/memory
  </Card>

  <Card title="Monitoring & Logs" icon="chart-mixed" href="/getting-started/guides/qovery-101/observe">
    Built-in observability with Prometheus, Thanos, and Loki
  </Card>

  <Card title="Security & Compliance" icon="shield" href="/getting-started/security-and-compliance/overview">
    SOC 2, GDPR compliant infrastructure
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Production Setup

### 1. Application Configuration

Deploy your application and configure it for production.

<Card title="Deploy Your First Application" icon="rocket" href="/getting-started/guides/getting-started/deploy-your-first-application">
  Follow the guide to deploy your application to production
</Card>

**Production application settings**:

* Enable **Auto-Scaling** to handle traffic spikes
* Set appropriate **resource limits** (CPU and memory)
* Configure **health checks** (liveness and readiness probes)
* Set up **custom domains** with SSL/TLS

### 2. Database Configuration

Configure your production database with backups and high availability.

<Card title="Connect Database" icon="database" href="/getting-started/guides/getting-started/connect-database">
  Follow the guide to set up and connect your database
</Card>

**Production database recommendations**:

* Use **Managed** mode for automatic backups and maintenance
* Enable **Multi-AZ** for high availability (cloud provider feature)
* Configure backup retention via your cloud provider
* Use strong passwords and restrict access

### 3. Environment Variables & Secrets

Securely manage your production configuration.

<Card title="Environment Variables" icon="key" href="/configuration/environment-variables">
  Configure variables and secrets for your applications
</Card>

**Best practices**:

* Use **Secrets** type for sensitive data (passwords, API keys)
* Never commit secrets to Git
* Use environment-specific variables
* Consider [Doppler integration](/integrations/secret-managers/doppler) for advanced secret management

### 4. Access Control

Configure role-based access control for your team.

<Card title="RBAC Configuration" icon="user-lock" href="/configuration/organization/members-rbac">
  Set up roles and permissions for your organization
</Card>

**Production access**:

* Limit production access to essential team members
* Use custom roles with specific permissions
* Enable MFA for all production users
* Regular access reviews

## Monitoring and Observability

### Application Monitoring

Qovery provides built-in observability for your production applications.

<Card title="Qovery Observe" icon="chart-mixed" href="/getting-started/guides/qovery-101/observe">
  Access logs, metrics, and monitoring for your services
</Card>

**Available features**:

* **Logs**: 12-week retention with Loki
* **Metrics**: Prometheus and Thanos for monitoring
* **Service Metrics**: CPU, memory, network, and application metrics
* **Events**: Track deployments and service events

## Deployment Strategy

Configure your deployment pipeline for production.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Auto-Deploy" icon="rotate" href="/configuration/deployment/auto-deploy">
    Automatic deployments on Git push
  </Card>

  <Card title="Deployment Pipeline" icon="diagram-project" href="/configuration/deployment/pipeline">
    Configure multi-stage deployments
  </Card>

  <Card title="Deployment History" icon="clock-rotate-left" href="/configuration/deployment/history">
    View and rollback deployments
  </Card>

  <Card title="CI/CD Integration" icon="code-branch" href="/configuration/integrations/ci-cd/github-actions">
    Integrate with GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, etc.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Production Checklist

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Infrastructure" icon="server">
    * [ ] Production cluster created and flagged as Production
    * [ ] Multi-AZ deployment enabled
    * [ ] Production-grade instance types configured
    * [ ] Network and security configured
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Applications" icon="code">
    * [ ] Auto-scaling configured
    * [ ] Resource limits set
    * [ ] Health checks enabled
    * [ ] Custom domains configured with SSL
    * [ ] Multiple replicas running
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Database" icon="database">
    * [ ] Managed database configured
    * [ ] Backups enabled via cloud provider
    * [ ] Multi-AZ enabled for high availability
    * [ ] Strong passwords configured
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Security" icon="shield">
    * [ ] RBAC configured with appropriate roles
    * [ ] Secrets used for sensitive data
    * [ ] Access limited to essential team members
    * [ ] Network security configured
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Monitoring" icon="chart-line">
    * [ ] Qovery Observe configured
    * [ ] Logs retention configured
    * [ ] External monitoring integrated (optional)
    * [ ] Key metrics monitored
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Observe Your Apps" icon="chart-mixed" href="/getting-started/guides/qovery-101/observe">
    Set up monitoring and logging
  </Card>

  <Card title="Secure Your Infrastructure" icon="shield" href="/getting-started/guides/qovery-101/secure">
    Configure RBAC, secrets, and audit logs
  </Card>

  <Card title="Ephemeral Environments" icon="code-branch" href="/getting-started/guides/use-cases/ephemeral-environment">
    Set up preview environments for testing
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cloud Migration" icon="cloud" href="/getting-started/guides/use-cases/cloud-migration-and-scaling">
    Migrate your application from Heroku to AWS
  </Card>
</CardGroup>