saleor-deploy

Saleor Deployment

Before writing code

Fetch live docs:

1. Web-search site:docs.saleor.io deployment production setup for production deployment guide
2. Fetch https://github.com/saleor/saleor-platform for Docker Compose reference configuration
3. Web-search site:docs.saleor.io environment variables configuration for required environment variables
4. Web-search saleor Celery worker configuration production for Celery setup details
5. Web-search site:docs.saleor.io cloud for Saleor Cloud managed hosting options

Production Docker Setup

Saleor provides an official Dockerfile with a multi-stage build:

| Stage | Purpose | Base Image | |-------|---------|------------| | build | Install dependencies, compile assets | python:3.12-slim | | production | Run the application | python:3.12-slim |

Docker Compose Services

| Service | Image | Purpose | Port | |---------|-------|---------|------| | api | saleor (custom build) | GraphQL API server (Gunicorn) | 8000 | | worker | saleor (same image) | Celery worker process | N/A | | db | postgres:15-alpine | PostgreSQL database | 5432 | | redis | redis:7-alpine | Cache and Celery broker | 6379 | | dashboard | saleor-dashboard | React admin UI | 9002 | | storefront | Custom Next.js | Customer-facing storefront | 3000 |

Saleor Cloud (Managed Hosting)

| Feature | Description | |---------|-------------| | Managed API | Fully managed Saleor backend, no server maintenance | | Auto-scaling | Scales based on traffic automatically | | Managed database | PostgreSQL with backups and replication | | CDN | Built-in CDN for media and static assets | | Environments | Staging and production environments per project | | CLI integration | Deploy and manage via saleor CLI |

Access via https://cloud.saleor.io/ — create projects, manage environments, and deploy Apps.

Environment Variables

Required Variables

| Variable | Description | Example | |----------|-------------|---------| | DATABASE_URL | PostgreSQL connection string | postgres://user:pass@host:5432/saleor | | SECRET_KEY | Django secret key (50+ chars) | Random string | | ALLOWED_HOSTS | Comma-separated hostnames | api.example.com,localhost | | DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL | Sender email address | noreply@example.com | | CELERY_BROKER_URL | Redis URL for Celery | redis://redis:6379/1 |

Optional Variables

| Variable | Description | Default | |----------|-------------|---------| | DEBUG | Django debug mode | False | | ALLOWED_CLIENT_HOSTS | Storefront origins for CORS | localhost | | DEFAULT_CURRENCY | Fallback currency code | USD | | DEFAULT_COUNTRY | Fallback country code | US | | MAX_CHECKOUT_LINE_QUANTITY | Max qty per checkout line | 50 | | JAEGER_AGENT_HOST | OpenTelemetry/Jaeger host | None | | SENTRY_DSN | Sentry error tracking DSN | None |

Celery Worker Configuration

Celery runs as a separate process using the same Saleor codebase:

| Setting | Value | Description | |---------|-------|-------------| | Broker | Redis | CELERY_BROKER_URL = redis://redis:6379/1 | | Result backend | Redis | Optional, for task result storage | | Concurrency | --concurrency=4 | Number of worker threads | | Queues | celery (default) | Default task queue name | | Beat | Optional | Periodic task scheduler |

Key Celery Tasks in Saleor

| Task | Purpose | |------|---------| | Webhook delivery | Send async webhook payloads to Apps | | Email sending | Transactional emails (order confirmation, etc.) | | Thumbnail generation | Generate product image thumbnails | | Search indexing | Update search index entries | | Export processing | Handle CSV/XLSX data exports |

S3-Compatible Media Storage

| Variable | Description | Example | |----------|-------------|---------| | AWS_MEDIA_BUCKET_NAME | S3 bucket name | saleor-media-prod | | AWS_MEDIA_CUSTOM_DOMAIN | CDN domain for media | media.example.com | | AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID | IAM access key | IAM credential | | AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY | IAM secret key | IAM credential | | AWS_S3_REGION_NAME | S3 region | us-east-1 | | AWS_S3_ENDPOINT_URL | Custom S3 endpoint (for MinIO, GCS) | https://s3.example.com |

• Works with any S3-compatible service (AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, MinIO, DigitalOcean Spaces)
• Set a CDN in front of the bucket for performance
• Configure CORS on the bucket to allow Dashboard uploads

PostgreSQL Configuration

| Setting | Recommendation | |---------|---------------| | Version | PostgreSQL 14 or 15 | | Connection pooling | Use PgBouncer in transaction mode | | SSL | Require SSL connections (sslmode=require in DATABASE_URL) | | Backups | Automated daily backups with point-in-time recovery | | Extensions | pg_trgm (required for search), btree_gin | | Max connections | Size for Gunicorn workers + Celery workers + buffer |

Redis Configuration

| Purpose | Database | Variable | |---------|----------|----------| | Cache | redis://redis:6379/0 | CACHE_URL | | Celery broker | redis://redis:6379/1 | CELERY_BROKER_URL |

• Use separate Redis databases (or instances) for cache and Celery
• Enable Redis persistence (RDB snapshots or AOF) for the Celery broker

Database Migrations

Run migrations during deployment before starting the new application version:

• Always run python manage.py migrate --noinput before starting Gunicorn/Celery with new code
• Back up the database before applying migrations
• Review migration SQL with python manage.py sqlmigrate <app> <migration>
• For zero-downtime: ensure migrations are backward-compatible with the running code

Scaling Strategies

Horizontal Scaling

| Component | Strategy | Notes | |-----------|----------|-------| | API (Gunicorn) | Add replicas behind load balancer | Stateless, scale freely | | Celery workers | Add worker processes/containers | Scale based on queue depth | | Database | Read replicas for queries | Write goes to primary | | Redis | Redis Cluster or managed Redis | Separate cache from broker |

Vertical Scaling

| Component | Tune | |-----------|------| | Gunicorn | --workers (2 * CPU + 1), --threads per worker | | Celery | --concurrency based on task type (I/O vs CPU) | | PostgreSQL | shared_buffers, work_mem, effective_cache_size |

Monitoring and Logging

| Tool | Purpose | Integration | |------|---------|-------------| | Sentry | Error tracking | SENTRY_DSN environment variable | | OpenTelemetry | Distributed tracing | OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT | | Prometheus | Metrics collection | django-prometheus middleware | | Health check | Liveness and readiness probes | /health/ endpoint |

Production Checklist

| Item | Action | |------|--------| | DEBUG | Set to False | | SECRET_KEY | Strong random value, stored in env var | | ALLOWED_HOSTS | Restrict to actual domain names | | Database | SSL enabled, connection pooling, backups configured | | Media storage | S3-compatible with CDN | | Celery | Running as separate process with monitoring | | HTTPS | SSL termination at load balancer or reverse proxy | | Migrations | Applied before deploying new code | | Monitoring | Sentry, metrics, and health checks enabled |

Best Practices

• Run Celery workers as a separate container or process, never in the API process
• Use connection pooling (PgBouncer) between Gunicorn/Celery and PostgreSQL
• Store all secrets in environment variables, never in source code or Docker images
• Use multi-stage Docker builds to minimize production image size
• Run database migrations in a separate init container or deployment step
• Configure health check endpoints for load balancer and orchestrator probes
• Use S3-compatible storage with a CDN for media files
• Monitor Celery queue depth to detect processing backlogs
• Set up automated database backups with tested