1. What site, app, or service is being reviewed?
Write down the website, internal app, API, dashboard, or small service you want reviewed. A short description of what it does and who relies on it is enough.
Website / Service Deployment Readiness Checklist
Use this plain-English checklist to organize deployment context, routing notes, and rollback questions before a manual KITPro conversation.
Use this before the first deployment-readiness review note.
The goal is to make the current deploy path easier to explain and easier to review. You do not need a polished runbook before starting a manual KITPro conversation.
Readiness checklist
Short answers are enough. The point is to see what is clear, what still depends on memory, and what would help another person handle a routine change more safely.
2. Where is it hosted?
Note whether it runs on a VPS, cloud instance, homelab host, shared server, container platform, or another environment. Include the basic host context if you know it.
3. What port, process, container, or service manager runs it?
Write down how the service stays alive today: direct process, PM2, system service, Docker, compose stack, reverse proxy target, or something more informal.
4. Is DNS pointed where expected?
Record whether the domain or subdomain appears to resolve to the expected place. If the DNS path feels uncertain or spread across multiple providers, note that.
5. Is HTTPS or TLS working?
Note whether certificates are valid, renewals are understood, and the public entry point behaves the way people expect in a normal browser session.
6. Is reverse proxy routing documented?
Write down what routes traffic, where requests land, and whether the current proxy setup is documented clearly enough for someone else to follow later.
7. Are environment variables and access values handled safely?
Record whether runtime configuration is stored in a controlled way and whether the team understands where those values live without pushing raw access material into routine notes.
8. Are deploy steps documented?
List the basic release steps, build commands, restart actions, checks, and anything easy to forget during a normal update window.
9. Are logs easy to find?
Note whether someone can quickly locate app logs, proxy logs, service-manager output, or container output when a deploy does not behave the way it should.
10. Is there a rollback or restart plan?
Write down what happens if the latest deploy needs to be undone or restarted. If the answer is mostly memory or improvisation, that is useful to note.
11. What breaks if the host reboots?
Think through what happens after a reboot: which processes come back, which routes fail, what depends on manual steps, and what only one person knows to fix.
12. What needs cleanup first?
Pick the highest-value cleanup targets first: stale deploy notes, unclear restarts, old proxy rules, confusing host ownership, or anything that makes routine changes harder than they should be.
Do not send
Keep the first conversation safe and high level. A readiness review does not need raw access material in the opening note.
- Login details
- Integration access credentials
- SSH credential files
- Recovery codes
- Full environment variable files
- Private client records
- Production access material
- Anything sensitive that does not need to be in email
Signs this review may be useful
If several of these fit, the Website / Service Deployment Readiness preview lane may be a reasonable next conversation.
- The service runs, but the deployment path feels more fragile than it should.
- Routing or restart behavior depends too much on memory.
- A host reboot would create confusion.
- Deploy steps exist, but another person would struggle to follow them cleanly.
- You want a manual readiness review before the next release window gets harder.
Want help reviewing your deployment readiness? Start a KITPro conversation.
Keep the first note short, manual, and recommendation-focused. Explain what service is involved, what feels unclear in the current deploy path, and which part should be reviewed first.
Related resources
Keep the deployment prep path connected.
Use these nearby resources if deployment readiness overlaps with backup assumptions, restore notes, or the first manual context you want to organize before reaching out.
Backup Review Prep
Organize a useful first email before contacting KITPro.
Open resourceBackup Terms
Use the glossary when a backup or recovery term is unclear.
Open resourceBackup Mistakes to Avoid
Review common gaps before assuming a backup plan is ready.
Open resourceRestore Test Notes
Document what worked, what failed, and what needs attention.
Open resource