Deployment Guide

This guide covers deploying EaseLMS to production. We’ll walk through deploying on popular platforms and setting up the required services.

Pre-Deployment Checklist

Before deploying, ensure you have:

Supabase project created and database migrated
All environment variables documented
AWS S3 bucket configured (for production)
Payment gateways configured (if using paid courses)
SendGrid account set up (for email notifications)
Domain name ready (optional but recommended)

Deployment Options

EaseLMS can be deployed to various platforms:

Vercel - Recommended for beginners, zero-config Next.js hosting
Railway - Easy deployment with PostgreSQL support
Docker - Self-hosted with full control
Traditional VPS - Ubuntu/Debian server with PM2

Deploy to Vercel

Vercel provides the easiest deployment experience for Next.js applications.

Install Vercel CLI (optional)

npm install -g vercel

Connect your repository

Push your code to GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket
Go to vercel.com and sign up
Click Add New Project
Import your repository

Configure project settings

Framework Preset: Next.js
Root Directory: apps/lms
Build Command: npm run build
Output Directory: .next

Add environment variables

In the Vercel dashboard, add all your environment variables:

NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=https://xxx.supabase.co
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=eyJ...
SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=eyJ...
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=https://yourdomain.com
AWS_REGION=us-east-1
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=AKIA...
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=wJa...
AWS_S3_BUCKET_NAME=your-bucket
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_...
NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_live_...
SENDGRID_API_KEY=SG...
SENDGRID_FROM_EMAIL=noreply@yourdomain.com

Use production keys, not test keys!

Deploy

Click Deploy and wait for the build to complete (usually 2-3 minutes).

Configure domain (optional)

Go to Settings → Domains
Add your custom domain
Update DNS records as instructed
Update NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL to your domain

Vercel CLI Deployment

Alternatively, deploy from the command line:

cd apps/lms
vercel

Follow the prompts to deploy.

Deploy to Railway

Railway offers a great deployment experience with built-in database support.

Create Railway account

Create new project

Click New Project
Select Deploy from GitHub repo
Authorize Railway and select your repository

Configure build settings

Railway should auto-detect Next.js. If not, set:

Build Command: cd apps/lms && npm install && npm run build
Start Command: cd apps/lms && npm start

Add environment variables

In the Railway dashboard:

Go to Variables tab
Add all your environment variables
Click Deploy

Get deployment URL

Railway provides a URL like https://your-app.up.railway.app. Update NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL to this URL.

Deploy with Docker

For self-hosting with full control over your infrastructure.

Create Dockerfile

Create Dockerfile in apps/lms/:

FROM node:18-alpine AS base

# Install dependencies
FROM base AS deps
RUN apk add --no-cache libc6-compat
WORKDIR /app

COPY package.json package-lock.json* ./
RUN npm ci

# Build the application
FROM base AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=deps /app/node_modules ./node_modules
COPY . .

ENV NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED 1
RUN npm run build

# Production image
FROM base AS runner
WORKDIR /app

ENV NODE_ENV production
ENV NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED 1

RUN addgroup --system --gid 1001 nodejs
RUN adduser --system --uid 1001 nextjs

COPY --from=builder /app/public ./public
COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/standalone ./
COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/static ./.next/static

USER nextjs

EXPOSE 3000
ENV PORT 3000

CMD ["node", "server.js"]

Create docker-compose.yml

version: '3.8'

services:
  app:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=${NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL}
      - NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=${NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY}
      - SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=${SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY}
      - NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=${NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL}
      - AWS_REGION=${AWS_REGION}
      - AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=${AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID}
      - AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=${AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}
      - AWS_S3_BUCKET_NAME=${AWS_S3_BUCKET_NAME}
      - STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=${STRIPE_SECRET_KEY}
      - NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=${NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY}
      - SENDGRID_API_KEY=${SENDGRID_API_KEY}
      - SENDGRID_FROM_EMAIL=${SENDGRID_FROM_EMAIL}
    restart: unless-stopped

Deploy with Docker Compose

# Build and start
docker-compose up -d

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f

# Stop
docker-compose down

AWS S3 Setup

AWS S3 is required for production to handle file uploads and video streaming.

Create S3 Bucket

Sign in to AWS Console
Navigate to S3
Click Create bucket
Choose a unique bucket name (e.g., easelms-production)
Select a region close to your users
Uncheck “Block all public access” (we’ll use signed URLs)
Click Create bucket

Configure CORS

In your bucket settings, go to Permissions → CORS and add:

[
  {
    "AllowedHeaders": ["*"],
    "AllowedMethods": ["GET", "PUT", "POST", "DELETE"],
    "AllowedOrigins": ["https://yourdomain.com"],
    "ExposeHeaders": ["ETag"]
  }
]

Create IAM User

Go to IAM → Users
Click Add users
User name: easelms-s3-user
Access type: Programmatic access
Attach policy: AmazonS3FullAccess (or create custom policy)
Save the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key

Add to environment variables

AWS_REGION=us-east-1
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=AKIA...
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=wJa...
AWS_S3_BUCKET_NAME=easelms-production

Optional: CloudFront CDN

For better performance, set up CloudFront:

Create CloudFront Distribution

Go to CloudFront in AWS Console
Click Create Distribution
Origin domain: Select your S3 bucket
Origin access: Legacy access identities
Create new OAI and grant bucket permissions
Click Create distribution

Add CloudFront domain to env

AWS_CLOUDFRONT_DOMAIN=d123456.cloudfront.net

Database Migration in Production

Run the database migration on your production Supabase instance:

Access production Supabase

Run migration

Go to SQL Editor
Paste contents of apps/lms/supabase/migrations/database_setup.sql
Click Run

Create admin user

Sign up through your production app
In Supabase, go to Table Editor → profiles
Find your user and change user_type to admin

Post-Deployment Configuration

Configure Webhook Endpoints

For payment gateways, set up webhooks:

Stripe Webhooks

Go to Stripe Dashboard → Webhooks
Click Add endpoint
Endpoint URL: https://yourdomain.com/api/webhooks/stripe
Select events: payment_intent.succeeded, payment_intent.payment_failed
Save the webhook signing secret to your environment variables

Flutterwave Webhooks

Go to Flutterwave Dashboard → Settings → Webhooks
Webhook URL: https://yourdomain.com/api/webhooks/flutterwave
Save the secret hash

Verify Email Sending

Test that SendGrid emails are working:

Create a test account on your production site
Verify you receive the welcome email
Check spam folder if not received
Verify sender domain in SendGrid if issues persist

SSL/HTTPS Configuration

Most platforms (Vercel, Railway) provide automatic SSL. For self-hosted:

Using Let’s Encrypt with Nginx

# Install certbot
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx

# Get certificate
sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com

# Auto-renewal is configured automatically

Monitoring and Logging

Vercel Analytics

EaseLMS includes @vercel/analytics. It’s automatically enabled on Vercel deployments.

Custom Monitoring

Consider adding:

Sentry - Error tracking
LogRocket - Session replay
Plausible - Privacy-friendly analytics

Performance Optimization

Enable Caching

Configure appropriate cache headers in next.config.js:

module.exports = {
  async headers() {
    return [
      {
        source: '/images/:path*',
        headers: [
          {
            key: 'Cache-Control',
            value: 'public, max-age=31536000, immutable',
          },
        ],
      },
    ];
  },
};

Use Image Optimization

Next.js automatically optimizes images. Ensure you’re using the <Image> component.

Backup Strategy

Database Backups

Supabase provides automatic daily backups on paid plans. For custom backups:

# Using pg_dump
pg_dump -h db.xxx.supabase.co -U postgres -d postgres > backup.sql

File Storage Backups

Enable S3 versioning:

Go to your S3 bucket
Properties → Versioning
Enable versioning

Troubleshooting

Build fails

Check Node.js version (minimum 18.0)
Verify all dependencies are in package.json
Check build logs for specific errors

Environment variables not working

Ensure NEXT_PUBLIC_ prefix for client variables
Redeploy after changing environment variables
Check variable names match exactly

Database connection issues

Verify Supabase credentials
Check that database migration was run
Ensure RLS policies are enabled

File upload not working

Verify AWS credentials
Check S3 bucket permissions
Ensure CORS is configured

Next Steps

After deploying:

Customize your platform
Set up your first course
Configure platform branding
Test payment flows
Monitor performance and errors

Get Started

Core Features

Guides

Advanced

Deployment Guide

Pre-Deployment Checklist

Deployment Options

Deploy to Vercel

Vercel CLI Deployment

Deploy to Railway

Deploy with Docker

Create Dockerfile

Create docker-compose.yml

Deploy with Docker Compose

AWS S3 Setup

Optional: CloudFront CDN

Database Migration in Production

Post-Deployment Configuration

Configure Webhook Endpoints

Stripe Webhooks

Flutterwave Webhooks

Verify Email Sending

SSL/HTTPS Configuration

Using Let’s Encrypt with Nginx

Monitoring and Logging

Vercel Analytics

Custom Monitoring

Performance Optimization

Enable Caching

Use Image Optimization

Backup Strategy

Database Backups

File Storage Backups

Troubleshooting

Build fails

Environment variables not working

Database connection issues

File upload not working

Next Steps

​Pre-Deployment Checklist

​Deployment Options

​Deploy to Vercel

​Vercel CLI Deployment

​Deploy to Railway

​Deploy with Docker

​Create Dockerfile

​Create docker-compose.yml

​Deploy with Docker Compose

​AWS S3 Setup

​Optional: CloudFront CDN

​Database Migration in Production

​Post-Deployment Configuration

​Configure Webhook Endpoints

​Stripe Webhooks

​Flutterwave Webhooks

​Verify Email Sending

​SSL/HTTPS Configuration

​Using Let’s Encrypt with Nginx

​Monitoring and Logging

​Vercel Analytics

​Custom Monitoring

​Performance Optimization

​Enable Caching

​Use Image Optimization

​Backup Strategy

​Database Backups

​File Storage Backups

​Troubleshooting

​Build fails

​Environment variables not working

​Database connection issues

​File upload not working

​Next Steps

Pre-Deployment Checklist

Deployment Options

Deploy to Vercel

Vercel CLI Deployment

Deploy to Railway

Deploy with Docker

Create Dockerfile

Create docker-compose.yml

Deploy with Docker Compose

AWS S3 Setup

Optional: CloudFront CDN

Database Migration in Production

Post-Deployment Configuration

Configure Webhook Endpoints

Stripe Webhooks

Flutterwave Webhooks

Verify Email Sending

SSL/HTTPS Configuration

Using Let’s Encrypt with Nginx

Monitoring and Logging

Vercel Analytics

Custom Monitoring

Performance Optimization

Enable Caching

Use Image Optimization

Backup Strategy

Database Backups

File Storage Backups

Troubleshooting

Build fails

Environment variables not working

Database connection issues

File upload not working

Next Steps