Deploying a web application safely: staging, backups and rollbacks

Releases that depend on someone copying files to a server late at night eventually go wrong. A simple, repeatable process removes most of the risk.

Use a staging environment

Keep a staging copy of the application that mirrors production — same software versions, similar configuration, realistic data. Every change is deployed and checked there first.

Automate the build

Build the release from version control with a script or pipeline, not from a developer's laptop. The same commit should always produce the same artefact.

Back up before changing

Take a database backup before every release that changes data or schema. Make migrations reversible where possible.

Deploy in a repeatable way

• Upload the new release alongside the old one.
• Switch traffic to the new release.
• Keep the previous release on the server for a quick rollback.

Check after release

Run a short smoke test of the main user journeys and watch error logs and response times for the first hour.

Plan the rollback

Know exactly how to return to the previous release — and test it occasionally.

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