VoiceAssist Production Readiness Checklist

Version: 1.0 Date: 2025-11-21 Phase: 14 - Production Deployment

Overview

This comprehensive checklist ensures all requirements are met before deploying VoiceAssist to production. Review each section and mark items as complete.

Deployment Date: **___** Reviewed By: **___** Approved By: **___**

1. Infrastructure ✅

Server Requirements

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or later installed
Minimum 32 GB RAM (64 GB recommended)
Minimum 8 CPU cores (16 recommended)
Minimum 500 GB SSD storage (1 TB recommended)
Public static IP address assigned
Server hostname configured
Time zone set to UTC
NTP service enabled and syncing

Network Configuration

Domain name registered
DNS A record configured (domain → server IP)
DNS propagation verified (dig/nslookup)
Firewall configured (ports 80, 443, 22 only)
Outbound internet access verified
Network bandwidth adequate (minimum 100 Mbps)

Security Hardening

SSH key-based authentication configured
SSH password authentication disabled
Fail2ban installed and configured
UFW firewall enabled and configured
Automatic security updates enabled
System audit logging enabled (auditd)
Intrusion detection system configured (optional)

2. Software Prerequisites ✅

Required Software

Optional Software

Terraform 1.5+ (for IaC)
Ansible 2.14+ (for automation)
kubectl (for Kubernetes deployment)

System Updates

All system packages updated (apt update && apt upgrade)
Kernel up to date
Security patches applied
Reboot performed after kernel updates

3. Application Configuration ✅

Environment Variables

.env file created from template
DOMAIN set to production domain
ENVIRONMENT=production set
LOG_LEVEL=INFO set
All CHANGE_ME placeholders replaced
File permissions set to 600 (.env)
File owned by root:root

Database Configuration

POSTGRES_USER configured
POSTGRES_PASSWORD set (16+ characters, strong)
POSTGRES_DB configured
DATABASE_URL constructed correctly
Database pool settings configured
Connection timeout configured

Redis Configuration

REDIS_HOST configured
REDIS_PORT configured
REDIS_PASSWORD set (16+ characters, strong)
REDIS_URL constructed correctly
Redis cache TTL configured
Max connections configured

Security Keys

SECRET_KEY generated (64 random characters)
JWT_SECRET_KEY generated (64 random characters)
ENCRYPTION_KEY generated (32 bytes, base64)
QDRANT_API_KEY generated
All keys stored securely
Keys documented in secure vault

External Services

OpenAI API key obtained and tested
OPENAI_API_KEY configured
SMTP credentials obtained
SMTP_HOST, SMTP_PORT, SMTP_USER, SMTP_PASSWORD configured
Email sending tested
Nextcloud credentials configured (if using)

4. SSL/TLS Configuration ✅

Certificate Setup

Let's Encrypt certificate obtained
Certificate installed in /etc/letsencrypt/live/
Certificate chain complete
Private key secured (permissions 600)
Auto-renewal configured (cron job)
Certificate expiry monitoring enabled

Nginx Configuration

Nginx configuration file created
HTTP to HTTPS redirect configured
TLS 1.2 and 1.3 enabled
Strong cipher suites configured
HSTS header configured
Security headers configured (X-Frame-Options, CSP, etc.)
Nginx configuration tested (nginx -t)
Nginx reloaded successfully

SSL Testing

SSL Labs test performed (Grade A or better)
Certificate valid and trusted
No mixed content warnings
HTTPS working on all endpoints

5. Database Setup ✅

PostgreSQL Configuration

PostgreSQL container running
Database created
User and permissions configured
Database migrations run (alembic upgrade head)
Migrations verified (\dt in psql)
Connection pooling configured
Replication configured (primary-replica)

Database Performance

Indexes created (15+ strategic indexes)
PostgreSQL tuning applied
shared_buffers configured (25% of RAM)
effective_cache_size configured (75% of RAM)
max_connections configured (200+)
Query performance profiling enabled

Database Backup

Backup script configured
Backup schedule set (daily at 2 AM)
Backup encryption configured (GPG)
Backup storage configured (S3 or local)
Backup retention policy set (30 days)
Initial backup performed and tested
Restore procedure documented and tested

6. Redis Configuration ✅

Redis Setup

Redis container running
Password authentication enabled
Persistence configured (AOF + RDB)
Maxmemory policy set (allkeys-lru)
Maxmemory limit configured (2 GB)
Redis connection tested

Redis Backup

AOF persistence enabled
RDB snapshots configured
Backup schedule configured
Restore procedure tested

7. Vector Database (Qdrant) ✅

Qdrant Setup

8. Monitoring & Observability ✅

Prometheus

Prometheus container running
Metrics endpoints exposed
Scrape configs configured
Alert rules configured
Retention policy set (30 days)
Prometheus accessible via nginx proxy

Grafana

Grafana container running
Admin password changed from default
Data sources configured (Prometheus, Loki)
Dashboards imported (7 dashboards)
SMTP configured for alerts
User accounts created
Grafana accessible via nginx proxy

Jaeger Tracing

Jaeger container running
OpenTelemetry instrumentation enabled
Traces being collected
Jaeger UI accessible

Loki Logging

Loki container running
Log aggregation configured
Retention policy set
Logs flowing from all services

AlertManager

9. High Availability & Disaster Recovery ✅

PostgreSQL Replication

Automated Backups

Daily backups scheduled (2 AM)
Backup encryption enabled (GPG)
Backup compression enabled
Backup verification enabled (weekly)
Off-site backup storage configured
Backup retention policy enforced (30 days)
Restore procedure tested successfully

Disaster Recovery

RTO documented (30 minutes)
RPO documented (< 1 minute)
Disaster recovery runbook created
Recovery procedures documented for 5 scenarios
DR testing schedule defined (quarterly)
Emergency contacts documented

10. Application Deployment ✅

Container Deployment

All containers built successfully
All containers running (docker-compose ps)
Health checks passing for all services
Container restart policies set (always)
Resource limits configured (CPU, memory)
Container logs configured (json-file, 10MB, 3 files)

Service Verification

API Gateway responding (/health)
Worker service running
All dependencies accessible (DB, Redis, Qdrant)
WebSocket connections working
File uploads working
Email sending working

Database Migrations

Migrations run successfully
Database schema verified
Test data created (if needed)
Data integrity verified

11. Security Hardening ✅

HIPAA Compliance

HIPAA compliance matrix reviewed (42/42 requirements)
PHI data encryption at rest enabled
PHI data encryption in transit (TLS 1.3)
Audit logging enabled
Access controls implemented (RBAC)
Business Associate Agreement (BAA) signed

Encryption

Encryption at rest configured (all data stores)
TLS 1.3 for all communications
mTLS for internal services (optional)
Key management configured (Vault or Secrets Manager)
Secrets never in version control

Network Security

Zero-trust network policies configured
NetworkPolicies applied (Kubernetes)
Firewall rules strict (deny all, allow specific)
DDoS protection enabled (Cloudflare or similar)
Rate limiting configured

Access Control

RBAC implemented (admin, user roles)
Strong password policy enforced
MFA available for users
API authentication required (JWT)
Token expiration configured (30 min access, 7 days refresh)
Session management configured

Security Scanning

12. Testing & Validation ✅

Smoke Tests

Integration Tests

Full test suite run (pytest)
E2E tests passing (20+ tests)
Voice interaction tests passing (10+ tests)
Integration tests passing (15+ tests)
Test coverage > 90%

Performance Tests

Security Tests

13. Documentation ✅

Technical Documentation

Architecture documentation updated
Deployment guide complete
Production runbook created
Disaster recovery runbook complete
RTO/RPO documentation complete
API documentation up to date
Database schema documented

Operational Documentation

Monitoring guide created
Troubleshooting guide complete
Maintenance procedures documented
Escalation procedures documented
Emergency contacts documented
Runbook procedures tested

User Documentation

14. Training & Handoff ✅

Team Training

Operations team trained on deployment
Operations team trained on monitoring
Operations team trained on disaster recovery
Support team trained on troubleshooting
Knowledge transfer sessions completed

Runbook Review

Deployment runbook reviewed with team
Disaster recovery runbook reviewed
Emergency procedures reviewed
Escalation path reviewed
On-call rotation established

15. Communication & Launch ✅

Pre-Launch Communication

Launch Plan

Launch time scheduled (low-traffic period)
Rollback plan documented
On-call team alerted
Monitoring dashboards open
Communication channels open (Slack, PagerDuty)

Post-Launch

System monitored for 24 hours post-launch
No critical issues detected
Performance metrics within targets
User feedback collected
Launch retrospective scheduled

16. Compliance & Legal ✅

HIPAA Compliance

HIPAA Security Rule compliance verified (all 42 requirements)
Business Associate Agreements signed
Risk assessment completed
Policies and procedures documented
Workforce training completed

Data Protection

GDPR compliance reviewed (if applicable)
Privacy policy updated
Data processing agreements signed
User consent mechanisms implemented
Data retention policies enforced

Audit Requirements

Audit logging enabled (7-year retention)
Access logs maintained
Change logs maintained
Compliance audit schedule established

Final Sign-Off

Deployment Approval

Infrastructure Lead: Name: ******_****** Signature: ******_****** Date: ******_******

Security Lead: Name: ******_****** Signature: ******_****** Date: ******_******

DevOps Lead: Name: ******_****** Signature: ******_****** Date: ******_******

Project Manager: Name: ******_****** Signature: ******_****** Date: ******_******

CTO/Engineering Director: Name: ******_****** Signature: ******_****** Date: ******_******

Post-Deployment Actions

After successful deployment:

Update status page to "Operational"
Announce launch to stakeholders
Monitor system for 48 hours
Schedule 1-week post-launch review
Schedule 1-month post-launch review
Update documentation based on lessons learned

Checklist Version: 1.0 Last Updated: 2025-11-21 Phase: 14 - Production Deployment Complete