# Production Deployment & Data Persistence Guide

To ensure that user data (and other settings/services) is not lost when you deploy updates to the application, follow these guidelines.

---

## 1. Do Not Use SQLite in Ephemeral Environments
By default, the application is configured to use **SQLite** (`database/database.sqlite`). 

SQLite is a file-based database. In modern hosting environments—such as **Heroku**, **AWS ECS**, **Docker containers**, or **digital ocean app platform**—the local container storage is ephemeral (destroyed and recreated on every deployment or restart). 

### Recommended: Switch to a Managed Database (MySQL / PostgreSQL)
For production deployments, change your database connection in your server's `.env` file to a persistent RDBMS like MySQL or PostgreSQL:

```ini
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=your-production-db-host.com
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=singlelogin
DB_USERNAME=admin
DB_PASSWORD=your_secure_password
```

---

## 2. If You Must Use SQLite in Production
If you deploy to a Virtual Private Server (VPS) like **DigitalOcean Droplet**, **Linode**, or **AWS EC2**, or if you use Docker with persistent volumes, you can continue using SQLite securely:

### Step A: Move the SQLite Database File to a Shared/Persistent Directory
Do not leave the `database.sqlite` file inside the deployment root directory (which gets overwritten/cleaned on deployment). Instead, place it in a persistent folder (e.g. `/var/www/shared/` or `/data/`):

1. On your production server, create a directory for persistent data:
   ```bash
   mkdir -p /var/www/shared
   ```
2. Move your existing database file there (so you don't lose current users):
   ```bash
   mv /var/www/singlelogin/database/database.sqlite /var/www/shared/database.sqlite
   ```
3. Set the correct permissions so the web server can read and write to the database and its parent folder:
   ```bash
   chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/shared
   chmod -R 775 /var/www/shared
   ```

### Step B: Configure the Absolute Path in `.env`
Update the `DB_DATABASE` environment variable in your production `.env` file to point to this absolute persistent path:

```ini
DB_CONNECTION=sqlite
DB_DATABASE=/var/www/shared/database.sqlite
```

---

## 3. Safe Migration Commands on Deployment
When deploying updates, make sure your deployment scripts run migrations safely:

* **DO RUN**:
  ```bash
  php artisan migrate --force
  ```
  This command runs only new, pending migration files and keeps all existing data safe. The `--force` flag allows it to run in production without prompting.

* **NEVER RUN**:
  ```bash
  php artisan migrate:fresh --seed
  ```
  This command drops all database tables, destroying all registered users and data, and then rebuilds the schema from scratch. Do not use this in production.

---

## 4. Git Configurations
The SQLite database file `database.sqlite` is already ignored in git (`database/.gitignore`). Do not force-add or commit database files to your git repository, as doing so would cause your local database to overwrite your production database during deployment.