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🚀 FREE DEPLOYMENT GUIDE - Railway + Vercel

Prerequisites

📦 STEP 1: Prepare Your Code for GitHub

1.1 Initialize Git (if not already done)

cd d:\DVS
git init

1.2 Create .gitignore in root

# Create .gitignore file
@"
node_modules/
.env
.env.local
*.log
.DS_Store
backend/uploads/*
!backend/uploads/.gitkeep
backend/cache/
backend/artifacts/build-info/
frontend/build/
"@ | Out-File -FilePath .gitignore -Encoding utf8

1.3 Commit and Push to GitHub

git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit - Blockchain Voting System"
git branch -M main

# Create repo on GitHub first, then:
git remote add origin https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/YOUR_REPO_NAME.git
git push -u origin main

⚡ STEP 2: Deploy Backend on Railway.app

2.1 Install Railway CLI

npm install -g @railway/cli

2.2 Login to Railway

railway login

Browser will open - authorize Railway

2.3 Navigate to Backend

cd d:\DVS\backend

2.4 Initialize Railway Project

railway init

Select "Empty Project" → Give it a name like "voting-backend"

2.5 Add PostgreSQL Database

railway add

Select "PostgreSQL" from the list

2.6 Set Environment Variables

# Railway will auto-set DATABASE_URL from PostgreSQL
# You need to add these manually:

railway variables set JWT_SECRET="your_super_secret_jwt_key_$(Get-Random)"
railway variables set SESSION_SECRET="your_super_secret_session_key_$(Get-Random)"
railway variables set NODE_ENV="production"
railway variables set PORT="5000"

2.7 Link Your Code and Deploy

# Link to GitHub repo
railway link

# Or deploy directly
railway up

2.8 Run Migrations After First Deploy

# Open Railway shell
railway run npm run migrate
railway run node create-superadmin.js

2.9 Configure Start Command

Go to Railway Dashboard:

  1. Open your project
  2. Click on the service
  3. Go to "Settings" → "Deploy"
  4. Set Start Command: node railway-start.js
  5. Click "Redeploy"

2.10 Get Your Backend URL

railway status

Copy the URL (e.g., https://voting-backend-production.up.railway.app)

🎨 STEP 3: Deploy Frontend on Vercel

3.1 Install Vercel CLI

npm install -g vercel

3.2 Navigate to Frontend

cd d:\DVS\frontend

3.3 Update Environment Variable

Create/update .env.production:

@"
REACT_APP_API_URL=https://YOUR_RAILWAY_BACKEND_URL/api
"@ | Out-File -FilePath .env.production -Encoding utf8

Replace YOUR_RAILWAY_BACKEND_URL with actual Railway URL

3.4 Login to Vercel

vercel login

Follow the authentication steps

3.5 Deploy to Vercel

# First deployment (interactive)
vercel

# Answer prompts:
# Set up and deploy? Yes
# Which scope? Your account
# Link to existing project? No
# Project name? voting-frontend
# Directory? ./
# Override settings? No

# Deploy to production
vercel --prod

3.6 Set Environment Variables in Vercel Dashboard

  1. Go to https://vercel.com/dashboard
  2. Select your project
  3. Go to "Settings" → "Environment Variables"
  4. Add:
    • Variable: REACT_APP_API_URL
    • Value: https://your-railway-backend-url.up.railway.app/api
    • Environment: Production, Preview, Development
  5. Click "Save"
  6. Go to "Deployments" → Redeploy

3.7 Get Your Frontend URL

Your app is now live at: https://voting-frontend-xxx.vercel.app

🔧 STEP 4: Configure CORS in Backend

Update backend to allow Vercel domain:

  1. Go to Railway dashboard → Your service → Shell
  2. Or update locally and push:

Edit backend/src/server.js - update CORS:

const corsOptions = {
  origin: [
    'http://localhost:3000',
    'https://your-vercel-app.vercel.app', // Add your Vercel URL
    'https://*.vercel.app' // Allow all Vercel preview deployments
  ],
  credentials: true
};
  1. Push changes:
git add .
git commit -m "Update CORS for production"
git push

Railway will auto-redeploy.

✅ STEP 5: Verify Deployment

5.1 Test Backend

# Test health endpoint
curl https://your-railway-backend.up.railway.app/

# Should return: "Blockchain Voting System Backend Running"

5.2 Test Frontend

Open your Vercel URL in browser: https://your-app.vercel.app

5.3 Test Full Flow

  1. Register a voter
  2. Login
  3. Vote
  4. Check blockchain transaction

🔄 CONTINUOUS DEPLOYMENT

Auto-Deploy on Git Push

Railway (Backend):

  • Automatically deploys when you push to GitHub
  • Set up in Railway Dashboard → Settings → Deploy

Vercel (Frontend):

  • Automatically deploys on git push
  • Already configured by default

Manual Deploy Commands

# Backend (Railway)
cd d:\DVS\backend
railway up

# Frontend (Vercel)
cd d:\DVS\frontend
vercel --prod

📊 Free Tier Limits

Railway.app

  • ✅ 500 hours/month
  • ✅ 1GB RAM
  • ✅ PostgreSQL included
  • ✅ No credit card required

Vercel

  • ✅ Unlimited bandwidth
  • ✅ 100GB storage
  • ✅ Automatic SSL
  • ✅ No credit card required

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Backend Issues

# View logs
railway logs

# Restart service
railway restart

# Open shell
railway shell

Frontend Issues

# View deployment logs
vercel logs

# Redeploy
vercel --prod --force

Database Issues

# Connect to PostgreSQL
railway connect postgres

# Run migrations again
railway run npm run migrate

🎯 Quick Reference

Your Deployment URLs

Important Commands

# Railway
railway login
railway logs
railway shell
railway restart

# Vercel
vercel login
vercel logs
vercel --prod

🔐 Security Notes

  1. Never commit .env files
  2. Use strong JWT_SECRET and SESSION_SECRET
  3. Keep Railway and Vercel environment variables secure
  4. Enable 2FA on GitHub, Railway, and Vercel

📞 Support

Deployment Complete! 🎉