Maintenance Documentation
Regular maintenance procedures and update processes for the Method Grid backend infrastructure.
Available Guides
Updates
- PHP Updates - Upgrading PHP to latest version
- Server Updates - OS updates for webservers
- Database Updates - MariaDB and MongoDB updates
Backups
- SnapShooter Backups - Complete backup procedures
- Native Digital Ocean backups
- S3 backups with encryption
- Restoration procedures
Server Management
- Replacing Servers - Procedures for server replacement
Regular Maintenance Schedule
Daily
- Automated backups (every 3 hours via SnapShooter)
- SSL certificate renewal checks (automated via cron)
Weekly
- Review backup integrity
- Check server resource usage
- Review error logs
Monthly
- OS security updates (planned maintenance window)
- Review and rotate old backups
- Database performance review
Quarterly
- PHP version updates (if available)
- Database version updates (planned)
- Infrastructure security review
Update Process for Webservers
To minimize downtime:
- Remove server from load balancer
- Apply updates
- Test functionality
- Add server back to load balancer
- Repeat for remaining servers
Backup Retention Policy
- 3-hourly backups: Keep 21 (covering 2.5 days)
- Daily backups: Keep 7 (covering 1 week)
- Weekly backups: Keep 2 (covering 2 weeks)
- Monthly backups: None (not required per current policy)
Emergency Procedures
Service Outage
- Check service status:
systemctl status <service> - Review logs:
/var/log/<service>/ - Restart service if needed
- Escalate if issue persists
Data Restoration
- Identify backup to restore from
- Follow restoration procedures
- Verify data integrity after restoration
- Document restoration process and findings