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Environment Configuration Usage Guide

This project now supports multiple environments (local, staging, production) with automatic configuration management.

Quick Start

Local Development (Default)

# Start with local configuration (default)
./start_all_servers.sh

# Or explicitly set local environment
ENVIRONMENT=local ./start_all_servers.sh

# Use the dedicated production deployment script
./deploy-production.sh

# Or manually with environment
ENVIRONMENT=production ./start_all_servers.sh

Staging Environment

# Set staging environment  
ENVIRONMENT=staging ./start_all_servers.sh

Production Service Management

# Start/stop/restart individual services
sudo systemctl start asd-backend.service
sudo systemctl start asd-node-backend.service
sudo systemctl restart nginx

# Check service status
sudo systemctl status asd-backend.service asd-node-backend.service nginx

Environment Files

Configuration files are located in /config/:

  • local.env - Local development (ports 3000, 5000, 5001)
  • staging.env - Staging environment (ports 3001, 6000, 6001)
  • production.env - Production environment (ports 80, 8000, 8001)

What Gets Configured

Backend Services

  • Python Flask API: Uses PYTHON_BACKEND_PORT and DATABASE_URL
  • Node.js API: Uses NODE_BACKEND_PORT
  • Debug Settings: Uses DEBUG and FLASK_DEBUG flags

Frontend

  • React Development Server: Uses FRONTEND_PORT
  • API Endpoints: Uses REACT_APP_PYTHON_API_URL and REACT_APP_NODE_API_URL

Manual Environment Loading

You can also load environments manually:

# Load environment variables
source load-env.sh

# Check loaded configuration
echo "Python Backend: $PYTHON_BACKEND_PORT"
echo "Node Backend: $NODE_BACKEND_PORT"  
echo "Frontend: $FRONTEND_PORT"
echo "Environment: $ENVIRONMENT"

Production Deployment Workflow

Automated Deployment

Use the dedicated production deployment script for safe, automated deployments:

./deploy-production.sh

This script automatically:

  1. Sets up production environment variables
  2. Builds the React frontend
  3. Restarts systemd services (Python + Node backends)
  4. Reloads nginx to serve new build
  5. Verifies all services are running
  6. Tests API endpoints

Manual Production Configuration

For production deployment, the /config/production.env is already configured for your WWU server:

# Already configured for star.cs.wwu.edu
REACT_APP_PYTHON_API_URL=https://star.cs.wwu.edu/api
REACT_APP_NODE_API_URL=https://star.cs.wwu.edu/jobs
PYTHON_BACKEND_PORT=5000  # Matches nginx proxy
NODE_BACKEND_PORT=5001    # Matches nginx proxy
DEBUG=false               # Production-ready

Security Notes

  • Never commit production secrets to git
  • Use environment variables or CI/CD secrets for sensitive data
  • The DATABASE_URL and other secrets should be overridden in production
  • Consider using GitHub Secrets for automated deployments

Testing Configuration

Local Development Testing:

# Test local environment
ENVIRONMENT=local ./start_all_servers.sh

# In another terminal, check if services are running
curl http://localhost:5000/api/filters  # Python backend
curl http://localhost:5001/api         # Node backend
curl http://localhost:3000             # Frontend

Production Testing:

# Test production services
curl http://localhost:5000/api/filters  # Python backend (via systemd)
curl http://localhost:5001/api         # Node backend (via systemd)
curl https://star.cs.wwu.edu           # Frontend (via nginx)

# Check systemd service status
sudo systemctl status asd-backend.service asd-node-backend.service

Troubleshooting

Port Conflicts

If you get port conflicts, update the port numbers in the appropriate config file.

Environment Not Loading

Make sure to source the environment:

source load-env.sh

Frontend API Calls Failing

Check that REACT_APP_PYTHON_API_URL and REACT_APP_NODE_API_URL are correctly set in your environment config file.