dyolink/infrastructure/STAGING-DEPLOY.md

Dyolink — Staging deploy (Gitea + Windows)

Automatic staging on a self-hosted Gitea machine: merge (or push) to master → build Docker images → push to Gitea Container Registry → deploy on the same host.

Example: Gitea at http://178.131.50.201:3000, staging app at http://178.131.50.201:8088.

Production (nudentic.ir on Linux, tag-based releases) is documented in DEPLOY.md.

---

Architecture

Push / merge to master
        ↓
Gitea Actions (self-hosted act_runner on Windows)
        ↓
Build backend + frontend → push to Gitea registry
        ↓
docker compose pull + up -d (docker-compose.registry.yml)
        ↓
http://<host-ip>:8088  →  nginx → frontend / backend → postgres

Service	Image source
postgres	postgres:15-alpine (pulled from Docker Hub)
backend	<REGISTRY_HOST>/<owner>/dyolink-backend:<sha>
frontend	<REGISTRY_HOST>/<owner>/dyolink-frontend:<sha>
nginx	nginx:alpine

Frontend public URLs are baked in at build time via PUBLIC_BASE_URL.

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Triggers

Event	Staging deploy?
Push to master	Yes
PR merged into master	Yes (merge = push to master)
Push to other branches only	No
Git tag (e.g. v1.0.0)	No — reserved for production later
Manual	Gitea → Actions → Registry — build, push, deploy → Run workflow

Workflow file: .gitea/workflows/registry-build-deploy.yml

---

One-time setup (Windows host)

1. Docker Desktop

• Install and keep Docker Desktop running during builds/deploys.
• Settings → Docker Engine — allow HTTP registry:

{
  "insecure-registries": [
    "host.docker.internal:3000",
    "127.0.0.1:3000",
    "178.131.50.201:3000",
    "192.168.1.100:3000"
  ]
}

Apply & restart Docker Desktop.

Why host.docker.internal? Docker Desktop runs in a Linux VM. docker login runs from that VM — 127.0.0.1:3000 is the VM, not Gitea on Windows.

2b. Gitea app.ini — match registry URL

Edit C:\gitea\custom\conf\app.ini:

[server]
ROOT_URL = http://host.docker.internal:3000/

Restart Gitea. Gitea uses ROOT_URL for Docker registry auth redirects.

2c. Gitea Actions runner

Download act_runner → e.g. C:\gitea-runner\act_runner.exe.

Important — runner level: the registration token decides which repos can use the runner.

Token from	Runner level	Works for admin/dyolink?
Site Administration → Actions → Runners	Instance (global)	Yes (recommended)
Repo → Settings → Actions → Runners	Repository	Yes
User profile → Settings → Actions → Runners	Individual	Often no — jobs stay queued with “no matching online runner”

If your runner shows Type: Individual in Gitea but jobs never start, delete it and re-register with an instance or repository token (table above).

Register (use localhost when Gitea runs on the same PC — public IP often fails locally):

cd C:\gitea-runner
# Stop daemon first (Ctrl+C) if running
.\act_runner.exe register `
  --instance "http://127.0.0.1:3000" `
  --token "<token-from-Site-Admin-OR-repo-Runners-page>" `
  --name "windows-staging" `
  --labels "windows:host"

Start (leave running, or install as a Windows service later):

.\act_runner.exe daemon

Verify: open your repo → Settings → Actions → Runners — windows-staging must appear here as Idle/Online (not only under user settings).

Requires: git on PATH (for workflow checkout step).

3. Secret env files (not in git)

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "C:\dyolink\secrets"

Copy examples and edit:

• infrastructure/database.staging.env.example → C:\dyolink\secrets\database.staging.env
• infrastructure/backend.staging.env.example → C:\dyolink\secrets\backend.staging.env

Rules:

• DATABASE_URL password must match POSTGRES_PASSWORD.
• FRONTEND_URL must match PUBLIC_BASE_URL (e.g. http://178.131.50.201:8088).
• Replace JWT secrets with long random values (not CHANGE_ME).

4. Gitea repository Variables

Settings → Actions → Variables

Name	Example	Notes
REGISTRY_HOST	host.docker.internal:3000	Windows + Docker Desktop: Docker runs in a Linux VM — 127.0.0.1 is the VM, not Gitea. Use host.docker.internal:3000. Also set Gitea ROOT_URL to match (see below).
REGISTRY_OWNER	admin	Gitea user/org owning packages
PUBLIC_BASE_URL	http://178.131.50.201:8088	How users open staging in a browser (public IP OK)
DEPLOY_SECRETS_DIR	C:/dyolink/secrets	Forward slashes OK on Windows
CLONE_HOST	127.0.0.1:3000	Git clone (runs on Windows host, not inside Docker VM)
STAGING_HTTP_PORT	8088	Optional (8088 is default)

Naming note: Gitea rejects variable names starting with GITEA_ or GITHUB_. Use CLONE_HOST, not GITEA_CLONE_URL.

5. Gitea repository Secrets

Settings → Actions → Secrets

Name	Value
REGISTRY_USERNAME	Gitea username
REGISTRY_PASSWORD	Gitea access token with package read/write

Create token: profile → Settings → Applications → Generate New Token.

6. Firewall (once)

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Dyolink Staging 8088" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 8088 -Action Allow

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Test the pipeline

Before first run

• Docker Desktop running
• act_runner.exe daemon running
• All Variables + Secrets set (including CLONE_HOST)
• Secret env files exist under DEPLOY_SECRETS_DIR
• Workflow enabled on master (see repo)

Option A — Manual workflow (safest first test)

1. Gitea → repo → Actions
2. Registry — build, push, deploy → Run workflow → branch master
3. Watch jobs: build-and-push → deploy (first run ~15–30 min)

Option B — Push to master

git push origin master

Or merge a PR into master — same result.

Verify success

On Windows (PowerShell):

docker ps

Expect: dyolink_nginx_staging, dyolink_backend_staging, dyolink_frontend_staging, dyolink_postgres_staging.

From browser or another machine:

http://178.131.50.201:8088

Health check:

curl http://178.131.50.201:8088/api/health

Expected: {"status":"ok",...}

Gitea packages: profile/org → Packages — should list dyolink-backend and dyolink-frontend after first build.

---

Manual deploy (without CI)

Useful when debugging registry/compose without re-running the full workflow.

On the Windows host, from repo infrastructure/:

1. Create deploy.registry.env from deploy.registry.env.example
2. Set REGISTRY_PREFIX, IMAGE_TAG, STAGING_HTTP_PORT, DEPLOY_SECRETS_DIR
3. docker login 178.131.50.201:3000 -u <user>
4. docker compose -f docker-compose.registry.yml --env-file deploy.registry.env pull backend frontend
5. docker compose -f docker-compose.registry.yml --env-file deploy.registry.env up -d

---

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
no matching online runner with label	Runner offline → start act_runner.exe daemon. Or wrong runner level → re-register with token from Site Administration → Actions → Runners or repo → Settings → Actions → Runners (not user profile). Confirm runner appears on repo Runners page as Online.
Runner can't register on public IP	Use http://127.0.0.1:3000 for --instance
Variable name rejected in Gitea	No GITEA_* / GITHUB_* prefixes; use CLONE_HOST
docker login connection refused on 127.0.0.1:3000	Docker Desktop on Windows: set REGISTRY_HOST=host.docker.internal:3000, add it to insecure-registries, set Gitea ROOT_URL=http://host.docker.internal:3000/. Keep CLONE_HOST=127.0.0.1:3000 for git.
docker login / push denied, redirect to public IP	Set Gitea ROOT_URL to a host Docker can reach (host.docker.internal:3000 on Windows Docker Desktop).
server gave HTTP response to HTTPS client	Add registry host to Docker insecure-registries, restart Docker
Missing database.staging.env	Check DEPLOY_SECRETS_DIR path and file names
docker login denied	Token needs package permissions; check username/secret
Git clone fails in workflow	Set CLONE_HOST=127.0.0.1:3000
Port 8088 unreachable	Windows firewall rule; confirm nginx container is up
Backend restart loop	JWT secrets still placeholder; fix backend.staging.env
Backend DB auth error	DATABASE_URL password ≠ POSTGRES_PASSWORD
dumb-init docker-entrypoint.sh: No such file or directory	Windows CRLF in shell scripts — fixed in Dockerfiles (rebuild images).
frontend is unhealthy / deploy waits on frontend	Next.js / redirects to /en (3xx). Rebuild after healthcheck fix (accepts 2xx/3xx).

Logs:

docker logs dyolink_backend_staging --tail 50
docker logs dyolink_nginx_staging --tail 50
docker logs dyolink_frontend_staging --tail 50

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File reference

Path	Role
.gitea/workflows/registry-build-deploy.yml	CI: build, push, deploy
infrastructure/docker-compose.registry.yml	Staging stack (pull-only images)
infrastructure/deploy.registry.env.example	Manual deploy env template
infrastructure/database.staging.env.example	Postgres secrets template
infrastructure/backend.staging.env.example	API secrets template
infrastructure/nginx/http-only.conf	HTTP reverse proxy for staging

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Production (later)

Environment	Trigger	Host
Staging	Push/merge to master	Windows + Gitea
Production	Git tag v*.*.*	Linux + nudentic.ir

Production flow will use Docker Hub (or registry) + DEPLOY.md — not yet wired to the same workflow.