Rallly on GKE Autopilot

Rallly is an open-source, self-hosted meeting-scheduling and group-poll application — a privacy-friendly alternative to Doodle — built with Next.js and Prisma. This module deploys Rallly on GKE Autopilot on top of the App_GKE foundation, which provisions and manages the shared Google Cloud and Kubernetes infrastructure.

This guide focuses on the cloud services Rallly uses and how to explore and operate them from the Google Cloud Console and the command line. For the mechanics common to every GKE application — Workload Identity, ingress, autoscaling, CI/CD, Cloud Armor, IAP, Binary Authorization, VPC Service Controls, backups, and the deployment lifecycle — refer to the App_GKE foundation guide rather than repeating them here.

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1. Overview

Rallly runs as a single Next.js web workload. The deployment wires together a focused set of Google Cloud services:

Capability	Google Cloud service	Notes
Compute	GKE Autopilot	Next.js pods, 1 vCPU / 2 GiB by default, horizontally autoscaled
Database	Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15	Required — Rallly does not support MySQL or other engines
Email	SMTP relay (external)	Passwordless email login; provide your own SMTP host/credentials
Secrets	Secret Manager	Auto-generated SECRET_PASSWORD and NEXTAUTH_SECRET; optional SMTP_PWD; database password
Ingress	Cloud Load Balancing	External LoadBalancer Service, optional custom domain + managed certificate

Sensible defaults worth knowing up front:

• PostgreSQL 15 is mandatory. The database engine is fixed by the shared application layer; selecting any other engine breaks startup. All Rallly state (polls, votes, comments, users) lives in this database.
• SECRET_PASSWORD and NEXTAUTH_SECRET are generated automatically and stored in Secret Manager. These keys must not be rotated after first boot without a maintenance window — rotating SECRET_PASSWORD invalidates previously encrypted data, and rotating NEXTAUTH_SECRET invalidates all active sessions and in-flight login links.
• Rallly login is passwordless and email-based. Users register and sign in by receiving a verification link/code, so a working SMTP configuration is effectively required before anyone can log in. On this variant smtp_host is empty by default; set smtp_host, smtp_user, and smtp_password to enable email.
• The public base URL must be set for external access. NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL / NEXTAUTH_URL come from base_url. Set it to the external LoadBalancer or custom domain URL once known, so invite and login links resolve to the address users visit.
• Deployment workload, stateless on disk. workload_type = Deployment with no PVC — Rallly keeps all state in PostgreSQL, so pods are freely replaceable.
• NFS and Redis are disabled. Rallly needs no shared filesystem or cache; both are off by default (Redis is hard-wired off).
• Migrations run on start. The container's own ./docker-start.sh runs prisma migrate deploy on every boot, so version upgrades apply schema changes without a separate migration step. The db-init job only provisions the empty database and role.

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2. Google Cloud Services & How to Explore Them

All commands assume you have run gcloud container clusters get-credentials <cluster> --region <region> --project <project> and that PROJECT, REGION, and NAMESPACE are set. The namespace and other identifiers are reported in the deployment Outputs.

A. GKE Autopilot — the Rallly workload

Rallly pods are scheduled on Autopilot, which bills for the CPU/memory the pods actually request. Horizontal Pod Autoscaling sizes the deployment between the minimum and maximum replica counts.

• Console: Kubernetes Engine → Workloads → select the Rallly workload to see pods, revisions, and events. Kubernetes Engine → Services & Ingress shows the external IP.
• CLI:

  kubectl get pods,svc,hpa -n "$NAMESPACE"
  kubectl logs -n "$NAMESPACE" deploy/<service-name> --tail=100
  kubectl describe hpa -n "$NAMESPACE"          # current vs target utilisation

See App_GKE for how Autopilot, scaling, and the workload type (Deployment vs StatefulSet) are managed.

B. Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15

Rallly stores all application data (polls, options, participants, votes, comments, and user accounts) in a managed Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15 instance. Pods reach it privately through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy sidecar over loopback (enable_cloudsql_volume = true); no public IP is exposed. On first deploy the db-init Job creates the application database and role; Rallly then applies its own Prisma schema on start.

• Console: SQL → select the instance for connections, backups, flags, and metrics.
• CLI:

  gcloud sql instances list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud sql instances describe <instance-name> --project "$PROJECT"
  # Open an interactive shell to inspect schema/data:
  gcloud sql connect <instance-name> --user=<db-user> --database=<db-name> --project "$PROJECT"

The instance name, database (rallly), user (rallly), and the Secret Manager secret holding the password are all surfaced in the Outputs. For the connection model, automated backups, and password rotation, see App_GKE.

C. Email (SMTP)

Rallly sends login/verification and invitation emails through an external SMTP relay. When smtp_host is set, the pod receives SMTP_HOST, SMTP_PORT, SMTP_USER, SMTP_SECURE, and the SMTP_PWD secret. There is no managed Google email service — supply your own (SendGrid, Mailgun, Gmail SMTP, etc.).

• CLI (verify the injected settings in the running pod):

  kubectl exec -n "$NAMESPACE" deploy/<service-name> -- env | grep -E 'SMTP_|NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL'

D. Secret Manager

Two cryptographic secrets are generated automatically and stored in Secret Manager: SECRET_PASSWORD (Rallly's data-encryption / session secret) and NEXTAUTH_SECRET (signs NextAuth session tokens and email login links). A third, SMTP_PWD, is created only when SMTP is configured. The database password is managed separately by the foundation. Secrets are projected into the pod through the Secret Store CSI driver.

• Console: Security → Secret Manager.
• CLI:

  gcloud secrets list --project "$PROJECT" --filter="name~rallly"
  gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret=<secret-name> --project "$PROJECT"

The database password secret name is in the Outputs. See App_GKE for the Secret Store CSI integration and rotation.

E. Networking & ingress

By default the workload is exposed through an external Cloud Load Balancing IP (service_type = LoadBalancer). A custom domain with a Google-managed certificate can be enabled, and a static IP reserved so the address survives redeploys. Set base_url to the external URL so Rallly's invite and login links match the address users visit.

• Console: Network services → Load balancing; VPC network → IP addresses.
• CLI:

  kubectl get ingress,svc -n "$NAMESPACE"
  gcloud compute addresses list --project "$PROJECT"

See App_GKE for custom domains, Cloud CDN, and static IP details.

F. Cloud Logging & Monitoring

Pod stdout/stderr flow to Cloud Logging; GKE and Cloud SQL metrics flow to Cloud Monitoring. Optional uptime checks and alert policies are available.

• Console: Logging → Logs Explorer; Monitoring → Dashboards / Alerting.
• CLI:

  gcloud logging read 'resource.type="k8s_container" AND resource.labels.namespace_name="'"$NAMESPACE"'"' \
    --project "$PROJECT" --limit 50

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3. Rallly Application Behaviour

• First-deploy database setup. An initialization Job runs db-init.sh using postgres:15-alpine. It connects through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy and idempotently creates the application database and role, grants privileges, and then signals the proxy to shut down. It is configured with max_retries = 3 and is safe to re-run.
• Schema migrations on start. Rallly's own ./docker-start.sh runs prisma migrate deploy on every startup, so the schema is created on the first boot after db-init and upgrading the application version applies schema changes without a separate migration step.
• SECRET_PASSWORD and NEXTAUTH_SECRET are immutable after first boot. They are generated once and written to Secret Manager. Changing SECRET_PASSWORD invalidates previously encrypted data; changing NEXTAUTH_SECRET invalidates all active sessions and in-flight login links. Only rotate during a planned maintenance window.
• Passwordless email login. Rallly authenticates users via emailed verification links/codes. Without a working SMTP relay, users cannot receive login emails and effectively cannot sign in. Confirm SMTP settings in the running pod after deploy.
• Public base URL requires the external IP. Set base_url (or environment_variables NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL) to the external LoadBalancer or custom domain URL once the IP is assigned, so invite and login links resolve correctly:

  kubectl get svc <service-name> -n "$NAMESPACE" \
    -o jsonpath='{.status.loadBalancer.ingress[0].ip}'

• Health path. Startup and liveness probes target /api/status — Rallly's public, unauthenticated status endpoint. Allow time on first boot for the Prisma migration step (the default startup probe provides a 30-second initial delay plus a 20-retry, 15-second-interval window).
• Inspect job execution:

  kubectl get jobs -n "$NAMESPACE"
  kubectl logs -n "$NAMESPACE" job/<job-name>

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4. Configuration Variables

Variables are grouped exactly as they appear on the deployment platform. Only settings specific to or notable for Rallly are listed; every other input is inherited from App_GKE with its standard behaviour and defaults.

Group 2 — Application Identity

Variable	Default	Description
application_name	rallly	Base name for resources. Do not change after first deploy.
application_version	latest	Rallly image tag (lukevella/rallly); pin to a specific release in production.

Group 3 — Runtime & Scaling

Variable	Default	Description
deploy_application	true	Set false to provision infrastructure only.
cpu_limit	2000m	CPU per pod; Rallly API operations and asset transformation benefit from at least 1 vCPU.
memory_limit	2Gi	Memory per pod.
min_instance_count	0	Minimum replicas.
max_instance_count	3	Maximum replicas; Rallly is stateless in Postgres and can scale horizontally.
container_port	3000	Rallly listens on port 3000.
enable_cloudsql_volume	true	Cloud SQL Auth Proxy sidecar (loopback) for PostgreSQL.
base_url	""	Public URL for NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL / NextAuth links. Set to the external LoadBalancer or custom domain URL.

Group 5 — Access, Ingress & Email

Variable	Default	Description
smtp_host	""	SMTP relay hostname. A non-empty value provisions SMTP_PWD and injects the SMTP_* env vars. Required for email login.
smtp_port	587	SMTP port (587 STARTTLS, 465 SSL).
smtp_user	""	SMTP username — set this (with smtp_password) to enable email login.
smtp_password	"" (sensitive)	SMTP password. Empty → an auto-generated secret is stored.
smtp_secure_enabled	false	Enable implicit TLS/SSL (true for port 465).
mail_from	""	Sender address for NOREPLY_EMAIL / SUPPORT_EMAIL. Empty → noreply@rallly.local.

Group 6 — GKE Backend & Cluster

Variable	Default	Description
service_type	LoadBalancer	How the Kubernetes Service is exposed.
workload_type	Deployment	Deployment (stateless) — Rallly stores all state in PostgreSQL.

Group 11 — Database Backend

Variable	Default	Description
db_name	rallly	PostgreSQL database name. Immutable after first deploy.
db_user	rallly	Application database user. Password auto-generated in Secret Manager.
database_type	POSTGRES_15	Fixed — Rallly requires PostgreSQL 15.

Group 13 — Filesystem & Observability

Variable	Default	Description
enable_nfs	false	NFS is off — Rallly needs no shared filesystem.
startup_probe	HTTP /api/status, 0s initial delay, 10 failures	Startup probe; allow for the first-boot Prisma migration.
liveness_probe	HTTP /api/status 60s delay	Liveness probe.

Group 20 — Redis Cache

Variable	Default	Description
enable_redis	false	Rallly uses no Redis; leave disabled.

All other inputs follow standard App_GKE behaviour.

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5. Outputs

These values are returned on a successful deployment and are the quickest way to locate and explore the running resources.

Output	Description
service_name	Kubernetes Service name.
namespace	Namespace the workload runs in.
service_cluster_ip	In-cluster ClusterIP.
stage_service_cluster_ips	Map of ClusterIPs for stage-specific services.
service_external_ip	External LoadBalancer IP (when a static IP is reserved).
service_url	URL to reach Rallly.
database_instance_name	Cloud SQL instance name.
database_name	Application database name.
database_user	Application database user.
database_password_secret	Secret Manager secret holding the DB password.
database_host / database_port	DB endpoint (127.0.0.1 via the Auth Proxy) / port.
storage_buckets	Created Cloud Storage buckets (none by default for Rallly).
network_name / network_exists / regions	VPC network, presence, available regions.
container_image / container_registry	Deployed image and Artifact Registry repo.
monitoring_enabled / monitoring_notification_channels	Monitoring status and channels.
initialization_jobs / db_import_job	Names of the setup (db-init) and (optional) import jobs.
deployment_id / tenant_id / resource_prefix	Naming identifiers.
project_id / project_number	Project identifiers.
cicd_enabled / cicd_configuration	CI/CD status and details (repo, trigger, registry).
github_repository_url / github_repository_owner / github_repository_name	CI/CD GitHub details.
artifact_registry_repository / cloudbuild_trigger_name / cloudbuild_trigger_id	Registry and build trigger.
kubernetes_ready	Whether the cluster/workload is ready.
vpc_sc_enabled / vpc_sc_perimeter_name / vpc_sc_dry_run_mode	VPC-SC status.
audit_logging_enabled / artifact_registry_cmek_enabled	Audit logging and CMEK status.

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6. Configuration Pitfalls & Sensible Defaults

Risk: Critical (data loss / outage / security) — High (service degraded) — Medium (cost or partial degradation) — Low (minor).

Inherited plan-time validation. This module passes its configuration through the App_GKE foundation engine, which validates values and combinations at plan time — min_instance_count > max_instance_count, IAP with no OAuth client id/secret, enable_redis without a redis_host or NFS, enable_cloudsql_volume = true with database_type = NONE. Invalid configuration fails the plan with a clear, named error before any resource is created, so most mistakes below are caught up front rather than at apply or runtime.

Setting	Sensible value	Risk	Consequence if wrong
SECRET_PASSWORD (auto-generated)	Never rotate after first boot	Critical	Rotating it invalidates previously encrypted data and active sessions.
NEXTAUTH_SECRET (auto-generated)	Only rotate in a maintenance window	Critical	Rotating it invalidates all active sessions and in-flight email login links.
db_name / db_user	Set once	Critical	Immutable after first deploy; renaming recreates the DB/role and destroys all data.
database_type	POSTGRES_15	Critical	Rallly supports only PostgreSQL 15; any other engine breaks startup.
enable_backup_import	false unless restoring	Critical	Enabling without a valid backup_uri fails the import job.
smtp_host / smtp_user / smtp_password	Set to enable email	High	Without a working SMTP relay, login emails never send and users cannot sign in.
base_url	External LoadBalancer / custom domain URL	High	If left empty, invite and login links do not resolve to the address users visit.
enable_cloudsql_volume	true	High	The Auth Proxy sidecar is required for PostgreSQL connectivity; a plan-time guard blocks it with database_type = NONE.
min_instance_count / max_instance_count	min ≤ max	High	An inverted range creates a conflicting HPA configuration; the validation guard rejects it.
enable_redis	false	Medium	Rallly uses no Redis; enabling it without a redis_host or NFS is rejected by the validation guard.
startup_probe timing	Keep the generous default	Medium	Too tight a window can fail the probe during the first-boot Prisma migration.
backup_retention_days	7 (raise for prod)	Medium	Too short for compliance retention.

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For the foundation behaviour referenced throughout — IAM and Workload Identity, autoscaling, ingress and certificates, CI/CD, Cloud Armor, IAP, Binary Authorization, VPC-SC, backups, and image mirroring — see App_GKE. Rallly-specific application configuration shared with the Cloud Run variant is described in Rallly_Common.