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[#14] Phase 2: Twelve-Factor App Refactoring - Persistent Data Volume Implementation #20

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merged 15 commits into from
Jul 29, 2025
Merged

[#14] Phase 2: Twelve-Factor App Refactoring - Persistent Data Volume Implementation #20

merged 15 commits into from
Jul 29, 2025

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🎯 Overview

This pull request implements Phase 2 of the twelve-factor app refactoring for the Torrust Tracker Demo, focusing on persistent data volume implementation and deployment script simplification.

Resolves #14

📋 Summary of Changes

🗄️ Persistent Data Volume Implementation

  • Centralized Storage: All persistent application data now stored in /var/lib/torrust/ volume
  • Data Separation: Clean separation between application code and persistent data
  • Volume Structure: Organized subdirectories for tracker, database, monitoring, and proxy configurations

🚀 Deployment Script Simplification

  • 63 lines of code removed: Eliminated complex backup/restore logic during repository updates
  • Direct Transfer: Configuration files copied directly from local machine to persistent volume via SCP
  • Streamlined Flow: Local generation → Direct transfer → Service start (no intermediate steps)
  • Error Reduction: Fewer file operations and reduced chance of deployment failures

📁 Configuration Management

  • Local Generation: All config files generated locally using environment templates
  • Direct Placement: Configuration files placed directly in final persistent volume locations
  • Template System: Proper environment-based configuration rendering

🔧 Technical Implementation

Persistent Volume Structure

/var/lib/torrust/
├── tracker/
│   ├── etc/tracker.toml          # Tracker configuration
│   ├── lib/database/             # Database storage
│   └── log/                      # Tracker logs
├── prometheus/
│   ├── data/                     # Prometheus time-series data
│   └── etc/prometheus.yml        # Prometheus configuration
├── proxy/
│   ├── webroot/                  # Nginx webroot
│   └── etc/nginx-conf/nginx.conf # Nginx configuration
├── mysql/
│   └── init/                     # MySQL initialization scripts
├── certbot/
│   ├── etc/                      # SSL certificates
│   └── lib/                      # Certbot data
├── dhparam/                      # DH parameters
└── compose/
    └── .env                      # Docker Compose environment

Deployment Workflow Improvements

  • Before: Repository → Storage backup → Configuration → Restore → Deploy
  • After: Repository → Configuration direct copy → Deploy

Configuration File Management

  • Local generation via infrastructure/scripts/configure-env.sh
  • Direct SCP transfer to /var/lib/torrust/*/ locations
  • Proper ownership and permissions set during transfer

✅ Testing & Validation

Test Coverage

  • Unit Tests: All infrastructure and application layer tests pass
  • Integration Tests: Complete E2E deployment workflow validated
  • Deployment Tests: Services start correctly and health checks pass
  • Persistent Data: Data survives container restarts and redeployments

Validation Results

  • All Docker Compose services start successfully
  • Health check endpoints respond correctly
  • Persistent data maintained across deployments
  • Configuration files correctly generated and deployed

🔄 Twelve-Factor Compliance Status

This PR fully implements Factors 1-12:

Factor Status Implementation
1. Codebase ✅ Complete Git repository with proper branching
2. Dependencies ✅ Complete Docker Compose service definitions
3. Config ✅ Complete Environment-based template system
4. Backing Services ✅ Complete MySQL, Prometheus as attached resources
5. Build/Release/Run ✅ Complete Clean separation with make infra-apply + make app-deploy
6. Processes ✅ Complete Stateless containers with persistent volume
7. Port Binding ✅ Complete Service export via defined ports
8. Concurrency ✅ Complete Docker Compose orchestration
9. Disposability ✅ Complete Fast startup/graceful shutdown
10. Dev/Prod Parity ✅ Complete Environment template system
11. Logs ✅ Complete Docker logging + persistent log storage
12. Admin Processes ✅ Complete Health checks and monitoring tools

📖 Key Commits

  1. f13b08d: Implement persistent data volume for VM data persistence
  2. 2cc9fb8: Standardize environment file path structure
  3. ba4d174: Copy generated configuration files to persistent volume
  4. 9877fa6: Move Docker Compose .env to persistent volume
  5. d3e9ed5: Simplify deployment script configuration file handling

🚀 Benefits

  • Reliability: Simplified deployment with fewer failure points
  • Maintainability: Clean separation of concerns between code and data
  • Performance: Persistent data survives redeployments without regeneration
  • Debugging: Easier to troubleshoot with direct file transfers
  • Scalability: Foundation for multi-environment deployments

🔄 Migration Impact

  • Breaking Changes: None - new deployments work seamlessly
  • Data Migration: Automatic - persistent data properly handled
  • Rollback: Simple branch revert if needed

📝 Next Steps

This completes Phase 2 of the twelve-factor refactoring. Future phases will include:

  • Production environment deployment (Hetzner migration)
  • SSL certificate automation
  • Multi-environment configuration management
  • Performance optimization

Ready for review and merge into main 🚀

josecelano added 13 commits July 28, 2025 12:08
@josecelano
docs: [#14] update twelve-factor refactoring status to reflect curren…
cf05572 
…t implementation

- Updated twelve-factor refactoring documentation to show Phase 1 is COMPLETE
- Changed status from 'IN PROGRESS' to 'PHASE 1 COMPLETE' with all 12 factors implemented
- Updated twelve-factor violations table to show full compliance (all ✅)
- Added twelve-factor architecture diagram to main README.md in Mermaid format
- Added twelve-factor architecture diagram to copilot-instructions.md in ASCII art format
- Updated main README.md to use twelve-factor deployment workflow commands
- Documented all working configuration management features:
  - Environment templates (local.env, production.env.tpl)
  - Configuration processing (configure-env.sh)
  - Template rendering (.tpl → actual configs)
  - Multi-environment support
- Updated implementation phases to reflect actual completion status
- Fixed documentation to accurately represent the production-ready state
@josecelano
fix: [#1] update default API token from local-dev-admin-token-12345 t…
d6e6a11 
…o MyAccessToken in local environment

- Ensures consistency with documentation and configuration templates
- Resolves API authentication failures in E2E tests
- All environment configs now use the standardized MyAccessToken
@josecelano
feat: [#1] improve API error reporting and complete token standardiza…
ac254c4 
…tion

This commit completes the replacement of 'local-dev-admin-token-12345' with
'MyAccessToken' across all components and improves error reporting for API
endpoint failures.

Changes:
- Replace old token with MyAccessToken in documentation (integration-testing-guide.md, smoke-testing-guide.md)
- Replace old token with MyAccessToken in test scripts (test-e2e.sh)
- Improve API endpoint error reporting in deploy-app.sh and health-check.sh
  - Show HTTP status code and response body on API failures
  - Use proper HTTP status checking and temp file handling
- Fix ShellCheck linting issues with variable assignments and comparisons

Benefits:
- API authentication failures now show actual error details
- Consistent token usage across all environments and documentation
- Better debugging capabilities for deployment issues
- Cleaner code that passes linting validation

Testing:
- Validated API endpoint works with MyAccessToken
- Confirmed error reporting shows detailed failure information
- E2E tests now use standardized token consistently
@josecelano
refactor: [#1] rename local.env to local.env.tpl for consistency
15e142d 
- Renamed infrastructure/config/environments/local.env to local.env.tpl
- Updated configure-env.sh to process local.env.tpl template into local.env
- Modified .gitignore to exclude generated local.env while keeping template
- Updated documentation references in README, copilot-instructions, and guides
- Ensures consistent template-based configuration approach for all environments

Both local and production environments now use the same .env.tpl -> .env pattern:
- local.env.tpl (committed template) -> local.env (generated, git-ignored)
- production.env.tpl (template) -> production.env (generated, git-ignored)
@josecelano
feat: add git status warning and environment config documentation
bc9a9e2 
- Add comprehensive README to infrastructure/config/environments/ explaining git archive deployment behavior
- Add git status check to deployment script that warns about uncommitted changes
- Explains why E2E tests might fail when template changes aren't committed
- Documents git archive benefits for production safety and reproducibility
- Provides troubleshooting guide for configuration deployment issues
- Includes best practices for development and production workflows
@josecelano
docs: [#14] add multi-provider infrastructure abstraction plan
1f49a67 
- Create comprehensive plan for supporting multiple infrastructure providers
- Document proposed architecture with provider-specific modules
- Include detailed implementation plan with 5-week timeline
- Add Hetzner provider implementation examples
- Maintain twelve-factor app compliance throughout
- Enable easy addition of future providers (AWS, GCP, etc.)
- Preserve backward compatibility with existing local workflow

This plan enables the repository to support multiple cloud providers
while maintaining clean separation between infrastructure provisioning
and application deployment as per twelve-factor methodology.
@josecelano
feat: [#14] implement persistent data volume for VM data persistence
f13b08d 
This commit implements a dedicated 20GB persistent data volume that survives
VM destruction, ensuring critical application data is preserved across
infrastructure changes.

## Infrastructure Changes

**Terraform Configuration:**
- Add  variable (default: 20GB)
- Add  resource
- Attach persistent volume as second disk to VM

**Cloud-init Configuration:**
- Add disk setup for  with GPT partition table
- Add ext4 filesystem creation with 'torrust-data' label
- Add automatic mount to  with noatime option
- Add directory structure creation and ownership setup

## Application Changes

**Docker Compose Volume Mounts:**
- Replace all `./storage/` paths with `/var/lib/torrust/` direct mounts
- Remove symlink complexity for cleaner, more explicit configuration
- Maintain same container functionality with persistent storage

**Deployment Script Updates:**
- Replace symlink creation with direct directory structure setup
- Update all docker compose commands to use `--env-file /var/lib/torrust/compose/.env`
- Add comprehensive persistent storage directory creation
- Preserve existing .env files during deployment

## Data Persistence Benefits

**What Survives VM Destruction:**
- MySQL database (tracker data, user accounts, statistics)
- Environment configuration (.env file with passwords/tokens)
- Prometheus metrics (historical monitoring data)
- Tracker logs and state
- SSL certificates (when configured)
- All application persistent data

**What Gets Refreshed:**
- Application code (deployed fresh from git)
- System configuration (VM rebuilt from cloud-init)
- Docker images (pulled fresh)

## Architecture Improvements

**Twelve-Factor Compliance:**
- Clean separation between infrastructure (Build) and application (Release/Run)
- Configuration persists while code is deployed fresh
- Maintains stateless application design with persistent data store

**Filesystem Hierarchy Standard:**
- Uses `/var/lib/torrust` for application persistent data
- Follows Linux FHS conventions for service data storage
- Clear separation between transient and persistent data

## Testing

- All infrastructure tests pass
- Docker Compose syntax validation passes
- End-to-end deployment tests successful
- Persistent data preservation verified across VM recreations

This implementation provides production-ready data persistence while
maintaining the clean twelve-factor architecture and deployment workflow.
@josecelano
style: [#14] remove trailing spaces from multi-provider abstraction R…
ed2c45a 
…EADME

Clean up trailing whitespace in documentation to maintain consistent
code style and satisfy linting requirements.
@josecelano
refactor: [#14] standardize environment file path structure
2cc9fb8 
- Use consistent 'application' subdirectory in persistent volume
- Change from /var/lib/torrust/compose/.env to /var/lib/torrust/application/.env
- Update all deployment script references to use new path structure
- Update application tests to reflect new persistent volume architecture
- Maintain consistency between local (application/.env) and VM paths

Benefits:
- Consistent directory structure inside and outside VM
- Cleaner path organization aligned with project structure
- Better maintainability and understanding for developers

All tests pass after refactoring.
@josecelano
docs: [#14] add comprehensive persistent volume documentation
a0062c9 
- Add detailed comment explaining persistent data volume configuration
- Clarify that /dev/vdb is the second disk attached for persistent storage
- Document specific data types stored: database, config, SSL certs, logs, metrics
- Explain data survival across VM destruction and infrastructure recreation
- Improve maintainability and understanding of storage architecture

This makes the cloud-init configuration self-documenting for the persistent
data strategy implemented in the twelve-factor architecture.
@josecelano
fix: [#14] copy generated configuration files to persistent volume
ba4d174 
- Add missing step to copy generated config files from application/storage/ to /var/lib/torrust/
- Copy tracker.toml, prometheus.yml, and nginx.conf to persistent volume after generation
- Fixes container startup issues where services couldn't find configuration files
- Ensures all generated configs are available in the persistent volume for Docker mounts
- Resolves Prometheus restart loop and nginx 502 errors
- Validates persistent data volume implementation with E2E tests

Problem: Configuration files were generated in application/storage/ but Docker Compose
was mounting from /var/lib/torrust/, causing containers to fail to start.

Solution: Added explicit copy step in deploy-app.sh to move generated configs
to persistent volume after configure-env.sh runs.
@josecelano
refactor: move Docker Compose .env to persistent volume
9877fa6 
Implements persistent data architecture with standardized directory structure:

- Move Docker Compose .env from application/.env to application/storage/compose/.env
- Update configure-env.sh to generate .env in persistent storage location
- Update deploy-app.sh to use /var/lib/torrust/compose/.env path in VM
- Add local configuration generation in deploy-app.sh (twelve-factor Build stage)
- Update all Docker Compose commands to use new .env path
- Create application/storage/compose/.gitignore to maintain directory structure

This ensures all application data (DB, config, SSL, logs, .env) is stored
in the persistent volume /var/lib/torrust/ for proper data separation
and backup capabilities.

Fixes deployment issues where .env file was not found in VM due to
improper configuration generation order.
@josecelano
refactor: simplify deployment script configuration file handling
d3e9ed5 
Streamlines the deployment process by directly copying configuration files from
local machine to persistent volume, eliminating intermediate storage steps:

- Remove complex storage backup/restore logic during repository updates
- Eliminate intermediate configuration file copying through VM storage folder
- Copy generated config files directly from local to /var/lib/torrust/ via SCP
- Simplify repository replacement logic (no storage preservation needed)
- Reduce deployment complexity and potential error points

Benefits:
- 63 lines of code removed (103 removed, 40 added)
- Cleaner deployment flow: Local generation → Direct transfer → Service start
- Better separation of concerns between repository and persistent data
- Fewer file operations and reduced chance of deployment failures
- Easier to debug and maintain

All E2E tests pass confirming the deployment works correctly with the
simplified approach.
@josecelano josecelano requested a review from da2ce7 July 28, 2025 18:47
@josecelano josecelano self-assigned this Jul 28, 2025
@josecelano josecelano added the Code Cleanup / Refactoring Tidying and Making Neat label Jul 28, 2025
@josecelano josecelano marked this pull request as draft July 28, 2025 18:47
@josecelano
cleanup: remove obsolete deployment and installation scripts
ab2e551 
Remove legacy scripts replaced by twelve-factor deployment workflow:

- application/share/bin/deploy-torrust-tracker-demo.com.sh
- application/share/bin/install.sh

These scripts have been superseded by the new infrastructure-based
deployment process:
- Configuration generation: infrastructure/scripts/configure-env.sh
- Deployment automation: infrastructure/scripts/deploy-app.sh
- Twelve-factor workflow: make infra-apply + make app-deploy

Also updated:
- application/README.md: Remove references to deleted scripts
- application/docs/deployment.md: Document new deployment workflow
- application/tests/test-unit-application.sh: Test remaining utility scripts

Benefits:
- Reduces maintenance burden
- Eliminates duplicate/conflicting deployment methods
- Simplifies codebase to focus on modern twelve-factor approach
- Removes potential confusion between legacy and new workflows
@josecelano
cleanup: remove backup Makefile files
21df7d8 
Remove temporary backup files that are no longer needed:
- Makefile.backup
- Makefile.old

These were likely created during development iterations and should
not be tracked in version control.
@josecelano josecelano marked this pull request as ready for review July 28, 2025 18:57
@josecelano
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ACK 21df7d8

@josecelano josecelano merged commit 2a5bab3 into main Jul 29, 2025
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Phase 2: 12-Factor App Refactoring

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