Pre-production database checklist

Topic: Databases core

Use this checklist before putting a database into production: backups, users, security, config, monitoring, and restore test. Ensures nothing is missed and the database is ready for production load and recovery.

Intent: Checklist

Quick answer

  • Backups: backup job scheduled and successful; retention configured; restore test passed. Users: least-privilege users for each app; no default passwords; credentials in vault.
  • Security: bind to private IP; firewall and pg_hba or user host restricted; TLS for connections. Config: memory and connection limits tuned; logging appropriate for prod.
  • Monitoring: health check (connect and simple query); disk and connection metrics; backup success alert. Runbook: restore and failover steps documented and tested.

Prerequisites

Steps

  1. Backups and restore

    Backup schedule and retention confirmed; last backup successful; restore test passed. Off-site or second-region copy if required.

  2. Users and security

    Dedicated users per app with minimal privileges; passwords in vault. Network restricted; TLS enabled; audit or logging enabled as required.

  3. Config and capacity

    Memory and connection parameters tuned; max_connections and pool size aligned. Disk space and growth monitored; no test or default databases exposed.

  4. Monitoring and runbook

    Health check and metrics (connections, disk, replication lag); alerts on failure and capacity. Restore and failover runbook documented and tested; on-call knows how to use it.

Summary

Checklist for backups, users, security, config, monitoring, and runbook before production. Use this so the database is ready for go-live and recovery.

Prerequisites

Steps

Step 1: Backups and restore

Confirm backup schedule, retention, and a successful restore test.

Step 2: Users and security

Least-privilege users; credentials in vault; network and TLS locked down.

Step 3: Config and capacity

Parameters tuned; connections and disk monitored; no test DBs in use.

Step 4: Monitoring and runbook

Health and metrics; alerts; restore and failover runbook tested and known.

Verification

  • All checklist items complete; database is ready for production and recovery.

Troubleshooting

Missing backup — Set up and verify before go-live. Restore not tested — Run restore test and document; do not skip.

Next steps

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