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Deploying Blocksweb Applications ​

This guide covers everything you need to know about deploying your Blocksweb applications to production environments. Follow these best practices to ensure your site is fast, secure, and maintainable.

Preparing for Deployment ​

Before deploying your Blocksweb application, ensure you have completed the following preparation steps:

Environment Configuration ​

Set up your environment variables for production:

bash
# Example .env.production file
BLOCKSWEB_API_KEY=your_production_api_key
NODE_ENV=production

Build Optimization ​

Blocksweb applications should be built for production using:

bash
npm run build

This command creates an optimized production build with the following enhancements:

  • Minified JavaScript and CSS
  • Optimized asset loading
  • Tree-shaking to eliminate unused code
  • Code splitting for better performance

Deployment Options ​

Blocksweb applications can be deployed to various platforms. Here are the most common deployment options:

Static Hosting Providers ​

For statically generated sites:

  1. Netlify

    • Connect your Git repository
    • Set build command: npm run build
    • Set publish directory: dist or build (depending on your configuration)

  2. Vercel

    • Import your Git repository
    • Vercel will automatically detect Blocksweb configuration
    • Deploy with zero-configuration

  3. GitHub Pages

    • Build your site locally: npm run build
    • Push the build output to a GitHub repository
    • Configure GitHub Pages to serve from the appropriate branch/folder

Server Environments ​

For server-rendered applications:

  1. Traditional VPS (DigitalOcean, AWS EC2, etc.)

    bash
    # Example deployment using PM2
npm run build
pm2 start npm --name "blocksweb-app" -- start

  2. Docker Deployment Create a Dockerfile:

    dockerfile
    FROM node:16-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --only=production
COPY . .
RUN npm run build
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["npm", "start"]

    Build and run the Docker container:

    bash
    docker build -t blocksweb-app .
docker run -p 3000:3000 blocksweb-app

Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment ​

Set up CI/CD pipelines to automate your deployment process:

GitHub Actions Example ​

Create a .github/workflows/deploy.yml file:

yaml
name: Deploy Blocksweb Application

on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]

jobs:
  build-and-deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
          node-version: '16'
          
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
        
      - name: Build
        run: npm run build
        env:
          BLOCKSWEB_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.BLOCKSWEB_API_KEY }}
          
      - name: Deploy to production
        # Add your deployment action here, e.g.:
        uses: netlify/actions/cli@master
        with:
          args: deploy --dir=dist --prod
        env:
          NETLIFY_SITE_ID: ${{ secrets.NETLIFY_SITE_ID }}
          NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN }}

Post-Deployment Considerations ​

Performance Monitoring ​

Monitor your Blocksweb application's performance using:

  • Lighthouse audits
  • Google PageSpeed Insights
  • Real User Monitoring (RUM) tools

Content Delivery Network (CDN) ​

Implement a CDN to improve load times globally:

  • Cloudflare
  • Akamai
  • AWS CloudFront

Security Considerations ​

Enhance the security of your deployed Blocksweb application:

  • Enable HTTPS
  • Implement Content Security Policy (CSP)
  • Set appropriate CORS headers
  • Use security headers (X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, etc.)
javascript
// Example Express middleware for security headers
app.use((req, res, next) => {
  res.setHeader('X-Content-Type-Options', 'nosniff');
  res.setHeader('X-Frame-Options', 'DENY');
  res.setHeader('X-XSS-Protection', '1; mode=block');
  next();
});

Deployment Checklist ​

Use this checklist before deploying to production:

  • [ ] API keys and environment variables are properly set
  • [ ] Production build is generated and tested
  • [ ] Assets are properly optimized (images, scripts, styles)
  • [ ] 404 and error pages are configured
  • [ ] SEO metadata is complete
  • [ ] Accessibility standards are met
  • [ ] Browser compatibility is verified
  • [ ] Performance metrics meet requirements

Maintenance and Updates ​

Scheduled Updates ​

Establish a regular update schedule for your Blocksweb application:

  1. Keep dependencies updated using:

    bash
    npm outdated   # Check for outdated packages
npm update     # Update packages to compatible versions

  2. Plan for major version upgrades

  3. Monitor security advisories using npm audit

Rollback Procedure ​

Always have a rollback plan in case of deployment issues:

  1. Keep previous builds accessible
  2. Use versioned deployments
  3. Document the rollback process for your specific hosting environment

See Also ​