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What I Check Before Deploying a Website to Production

Check the release build, production configuration, HTTPS, credentials, recovery plan, and monitoring before deploying a website to production.
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Before deploying a website to production, I verify the release build and tests, review production settings and access, check HTTPS and data protections, confirm that recovery works, and make sure the live service can be monitored. Treat the list below as a release gate: adapt each check to your framework, hosting provider, architecture, and the sensitivity of the data your site handles.

1. Build and test the release candidate

Start with the exact code and configuration intended for release. Generate the production build, run the project’s automated tests, and make failures block deployment rather than treating them as warnings. A staging URL is useful for a final review when the change needs to be checked in a production-like environment. MDN describes building, testing, and staging as core parts of a deployment workflow: MDN deployment overview.

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  • Confirm the production build completes using the release configuration.
  • Run the project’s test suite and resolve failures before release.
  • Review the release on staging when visual, functional, or integration checks need a deployed environment.

2. Review what ships and who can change it

Inspect the release contents for demo features, test endpoints, debug code, unused functionality, unnecessary files, and exposed source-control metadata. Ensure only authorized people can change production, and use a controlled process that records changes. OWASP’s secure configuration guidance emphasizes secure defaults and limiting unnecessary functionality: OWASP secure defaults.

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  • Remove development-only features and files that do not belong in the release.
  • Check that source-control metadata and other sensitive artifacts are not publicly served.
  • Limit production access to the people and services that need it; retain a record of changes.

3. Review production configuration and credentials

Verify that the deployed application points to production services, including the intended database, rather than development or staging resources. Keep credentials out of source control, client-side code, and build artifacts. Use a secrets-management mechanism appropriate to the stack, and grant runtime components only the access they need. MDN’s deployment guidance discusses configuration and security considerations: MDN deployment overview. OWASP also recommends secure configuration and appropriate protection of sensitive data: secure defaults and data protection.

4. Verify HTTPS and browser-facing protections

Check HTTPS on the production domain and confirm its TLS certificate is valid. Review secure cookie settings and the response headers appropriate to the application. HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) can help enforce HTTPS, but apply it with a deliberate rollout: a broad policy such as includeSubDomains affects every covered subdomain, so use it only when those hosts are ready. OWASP recommends TLS for externally accessible HTTP services and secure cookie practices: OWASP data protection. MDN highlights security headers as part of deployment preparation: MDN deployment overview.

  • Load the production site over HTTPS and check certificate validity.
  • Confirm cookies carrying session or other sensitive data use suitable security attributes.
  • Review response headers for the application’s needs, and roll out HSTS in a way that accounts for all affected hosts.

5. Prepare and test recovery

A backup is useful only if it can be restored when needed. Configure encrypted backups with restricted access, and keep copies isolated from the original environment so one compromise or failure does not affect every copy. Define recovery expectations for the service and test the restore process. AWS guidance recommends secure automated backups and immutable copies outside the original environment: AWS Well-Architected: data backup.

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  • Restrict access to backup creation, storage, and restoration.
  • Keep protected copies separate from the environment they are meant to recover.
  • Perform a restore test and document the steps needed to bring the service back.

6. Make the live site observable

Plan to detect operational failures and security-relevant events after deployment. Centralize logs when the application’s components are distributed, and protect log access and integrity. Avoid logging passwords, tokens, or personal data that is not needed. Alerts should name an owner and indicate an action, so a notification can lead to a response rather than simply add noise. OWASP defines logging as recording security information during an application’s runtime operation and provides guidance on logging and monitoring: OWASP logging and monitoring. Google Cloud’s baseline framework includes monitoring, logging, and alerting alongside identity, infrastructure, data protection, and network security: Google Cloud security foundations.

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  • Capture errors and security-relevant events that help diagnose problems.
  • Protect log access and avoid collecting secrets or unnecessary sensitive data.
  • Ensure alerts identify who responds and what action is expected.
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7. Adapt the checklist to your hosting environment

No short checklist guarantees security or availability across every website. Translate provider-specific controls to the actual architecture, and consult current documentation for the framework and host. Google Cloud organizes baseline security around identity and authorization, organization, infrastructure, data protection, network security, and monitoring, logging, and alerting. These categories can help expose gaps, but cloud recommendations need to be mapped to the provider and services you actually use: Google Cloud security foundations.

For a smaller site, the same questions still apply even if one person handles several roles: who can change production, where credentials live, how data is protected, how restoration is tested, and who investigates alerts. Choose controls that fit the application’s risks and operational capacity rather than adding complexity without a clear benefit.

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