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I was grepping JSON over SSH while production was down
During an incident, my observability stack was an SSH session, docker logs, and grep. Here is the zero-budget setup that replaced it on the same VPS: Uptime Kuma on the healthchecks I already had, Dozzle for live logs, and the alert that now reaches my phone.
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Database backups that actually restore: the pgdata I lost
I deleted a Postgres data directory that lived in a bind mount with nothing behind it. My backup plan was hope. Here is the cheap, single-VPS backup setup I should have had, including the step everyone skips.
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Docker never restarted my database: the price of restart: no
A container died at night and nothing brought it back, because every service was set to restart: no. The healthchecks I did have could not help, and the reason why surprises most people.
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Docker bypassed my firewall: the database port was open to the internet
My host firewall blocked port 5432. It was reachable from the internet anyway, because Docker writes its own iptables rules that your INPUT and ufw rules never see. Why it happens, and how to actually close it.
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The docker build that filled the disk and took down production
Production went down with no code change. The cause was a docker compose build orphaning a new <none> image on every deploy until the disk filled. What actually cleared it, and the deeper fix.
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Shipping a SaaS on one VPS with Docker Compose: an honest audit
The whole product runs on a single VPS behind one docker-compose.yml. Here is why that was the right call at launch, and an honest map of every single point of failure it hides.