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Rallly on GKE Autopilot

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.

What Rallly costs on RAD, and how that compares​

Running Rallly in your own GCP project costs about $129.18/month in Google Cloud charges; RAD's module fee is a one-time 75 credits (or 67.5 credits in a RAD-managed project), covering setup and support -- not the ongoing cloud bill, which Google bills you directly in your own project or RAD meters hourly in credits in a RAD-managed one. If a lower running cost matters more than the deployment target, see the Cloud Run guide for the lower-cost option; otherwise, if you deploy into a RAD-managed project you can pause the whole thing for free when you are not using it -- see Pause it for free below.

What you pay on RAD​

Your own projectRAD-managed project
Module fee75 credits, once67.5 credits, once (10% lower)
Build timemetered in credits as the build runs (a few credits, typically)same
Google Cloud running cost~$129.18/month, billed to your own billing account at Google's list price~101 credits/day, metered hourly by RAD at list price plus margin

Default running cost in your own project

ResourceUS$/month (Google list price, us-central1)
GKE Autopilot pod, 2x vCPU / 2 GiB$72.16
Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL, 1 vCPU / 3.75 GB, zonal, 10 GB SSD$51.02
Cloud NAT and networking$5.00
Cloud Storage (add-ons, backups)$1.00
GKE cluster management feeshared across every GKE app in the project; $0 if this is your only cluster, else ~$73
Total$129.18

How it compares​

  • Rallly's own hosted Pro plan is $6/seat/month, billed yearly (source: https://rallly.co/pricing) -- a per-seat SaaS price rather than a flat hosting fee, so it only compares directly once you know your own seat count.
  • Running it yourself on a bare VPS is still the cheapest cash option -- Hetzner CPX22 (2 vCPU/4GB) runs about $24/month, a DigitalOcean 2 vCPU/4GB Droplet is also $24/month, and a GCP Compute Engine e2-standard-2 (2 vCPU/8GB) is about $49/month -- plus the admin's own time for backups, security patches and upgrades, which RAD's managed Cloud SQL, Secret Manager and monitoring cover for you -- but RAD's price is never meant to beat a VPS, only to replace the admin time a VPS still needs.
  • A scheduling and group-poll tool is used in bursts around planning a meeting, not continuously, so this running cost is what drives the bill far more than the module fee.

Pause it for free: delete a RAD-managed project, restore it when you need it​

This is the headline for a RAD-managed project. Deleting a RAD-managed project first unlinks its billing, then asks Google to delete the project outright -- Google's own 30-day recoverable soft delete. Unlike deleting one module, this does not tear down Cloud SQL, any VM or the compute resource one by one: the whole project simply stops, and nothing is charged while it waits, because billing is already unlinked.

Restoring, within 30 days and only by the project's owner, asks Google to undelete the project and reattaches its billing account, then asks you to run Update on each deployment to confirm everything came back. Because nothing was individually destroyed, that Update finds the same resources already there -- it is a check, not a rebuild, and an Update never charges the module fee again. This costs only a handful of credits (under US$1) in total for a typical 2-3-deployment chain.

What this needs: you must own the project (not one RAD only manages billing for), you must restore it yourself within 30 days -- after that Google deletes it for good -- and restoring is admitted like creating a new project, so your purchased credit balance must still clear the tier's floor (100 credits for the sandbox tier most study/demo use fits). Google says most services are fully working again within 36 hours of a restore.

One real gap: nightly backups are written to a bucket inside the project, and that bucket has Cloud Storage's soft-delete explicitly turned off, so it is very likely gone as soon as you delete the project -- even though the project itself is recoverable for 30 days. If you have customised the app and want to keep that work, copy a backup out (to Google Drive, or a bucket outside the project) before deleting. For a default install with nothing irreplaceable in it, this does not matter.

Pay only while you use it, the other way: delete and redeploy​

In your own project (or once you are past the 30-day restore window above), the alternative is to delete Rallly outright and redeploy it later. A redeploy costs the module fee again, plus the builds -- roughly 75 + 3-6 credits of build time.

Deleting saves money only once Rallly would otherwise sit unused long enough to clear that redeploy cost against its own daily running cost -- against the own-project total above, that works out to about 2 days or more. Most of the running cost here is usually the database; it stops only when nothing else in the project uses it, so deleting this app while something else shares the project saves only this app's own compute part.

Keep data first: nightly backups go to a bucket inside the deployment and are deleted with it, so copy the latest backup out before deleting if you want to keep it.

Lab sessions and Managed Environments​

  • Lab sessions, for training: a trainer runs a session for a class. Each participant gets the app in their own Google Cloud project for 15 minutes to 24 hours, within an allowance the trainer sets. Either the trainer funds every place, or each participant pays for their own. Everything is deleted when the session ends and unused credits go back to the trainer.
  • Managed Environments, for consultancies: a partner runs the app for a client from a ring-fenced wallet it funds, and settles with the client directly. If the wallet runs low, billing pauses and the data is kept, so nobody receives an unexpected charge. At the end the partner hands the project over and the deployments become the client's own.
  • Credits can be bought in more than 20 currencies, including XAF, XOF, NGN, GHS, KES and ZAR, by card, bank transfer or mobile money.

Sources (8 October 2026): Google Cloud Billing Catalog API list prices; radmodules.dev/pricing for RAD's own fees and daily-credit estimates; https://cloud.google.com/resource-manager/docs/delete-restore-projects for the pause/restore mechanics; https://rallly.co/pricing for the named competitor's price.

1. Overview​

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

CapabilityGoogle Cloud serviceNotes
ComputeGKE AutopilotNext.js pods, 1 vCPU / 2 GiB by default, horizontally autoscaled
DatabaseCloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15Required — Rallly does not support MySQL or other engines
EmailSMTP relay (external)Passwordless email login; provide your own SMTP host/credentials
SecretsSecret ManagerAuto-generated SECRET_PASSWORD and NEXTAUTH_SECRET; optional SMTP_PWD; database password
IngressCloud Load BalancingExternal 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.

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

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>

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​

VariableDefaultDescription
application_nameralllyBase name for resources. Do not change after first deploy.
application_versionlatestRallly image tag (lukevella/rallly); pin to a specific release in production.

Group 3 — Runtime & Scaling​

VariableDefaultDescription
deploy_applicationtrueSet false to provision infrastructure only.
cpu_limit2000mCPU per pod; Rallly API operations and asset transformation benefit from at least 1 vCPU.
memory_limit2GiMemory per pod.
min_instance_count0Minimum replicas.
max_instance_count3Maximum replicas; Rallly is stateless in Postgres and can scale horizontally.
container_port3000Rallly listens on port 3000.
enable_cloudsql_volumetrueCloud 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​

VariableDefaultDescription
smtp_host""SMTP relay hostname. A non-empty value provisions SMTP_PWD and injects the SMTP_* env vars. Required for email login.
smtp_port587SMTP 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_enabledfalseEnable 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​

VariableDefaultDescription
service_typeLoadBalancerHow the Kubernetes Service is exposed.
workload_typeDeploymentDeployment (stateless) — Rallly stores all state in PostgreSQL.

Group 11 — Database Backend​

VariableDefaultDescription
db_nameralllyPostgreSQL database name. Immutable after first deploy.
db_userralllyApplication database user. Password auto-generated in Secret Manager.
database_typePOSTGRES_15Fixed — Rallly requires PostgreSQL 15.

Group 13 — Filesystem & Observability​

VariableDefaultDescription
enable_nfsfalseNFS is off — Rallly needs no shared filesystem.
startup_probeHTTP /api/status, 0s initial delay, 10 failuresStartup probe; allow for the first-boot Prisma migration.
liveness_probeHTTP /api/status 60s delayLiveness probe.

Group 20 — Redis Cache​

VariableDefaultDescription
enable_redisfalseRallly uses no Redis; leave disabled.

All other inputs follow standard App_GKE behaviour.

5. Outputs​

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

OutputDescription
service_nameKubernetes Service name.
namespaceNamespace the workload runs in.
service_cluster_ipIn-cluster ClusterIP.
stage_service_cluster_ipsMap of ClusterIPs for stage-specific services.
service_external_ipExternal LoadBalancer IP (when a static IP is reserved).
service_urlURL to reach Rallly.
database_instance_nameCloud SQL instance name.
database_nameApplication database name.
database_userApplication database user.
database_password_secretSecret Manager secret holding the DB password.
database_host / database_portDB endpoint (127.0.0.1 via the Auth Proxy) / port.
storage_bucketsCreated Cloud Storage buckets (none by default for Rallly).
network_name / network_exists / regionsVPC network, presence, available regions.
container_image / container_registryDeployed image and Artifact Registry repo.
monitoring_enabled / monitoring_notification_channelsMonitoring status and channels.
initialization_jobs / db_import_jobNames of the setup (db-init) and (optional) import jobs.
deployment_id / tenant_id / resource_prefixNaming identifiers.
project_id / project_numberProject identifiers.
cicd_enabled / cicd_configurationCI/CD status and details (repo, trigger, registry).
github_repository_url / github_repository_owner / github_repository_nameCI/CD GitHub details.
artifact_registry_repository / cloudbuild_trigger_name / cloudbuild_trigger_idRegistry and build trigger.
kubernetes_readyWhether the cluster/workload is ready.
vpc_sc_enabled / vpc_sc_perimeter_name / vpc_sc_dry_run_modeVPC-SC status.
audit_logging_enabled / artifact_registry_cmek_enabledAudit logging and CMEK status.

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.

SettingSensible valueRiskConsequence if wrong
SECRET_PASSWORD (auto-generated)Never rotate after first bootCriticalRotating it invalidates previously encrypted data and active sessions.
NEXTAUTH_SECRET (auto-generated)Only rotate in a maintenance windowCriticalRotating it invalidates all active sessions and in-flight email login links.
db_name / db_userSet onceCriticalImmutable after first deploy; renaming recreates the DB/role and destroys all data.
database_typePOSTGRES_15CriticalRallly supports only PostgreSQL 15; any other engine breaks startup.
enable_backup_importfalse unless restoringCriticalEnabling without a valid backup_uri fails the import job.
smtp_host / smtp_user / smtp_passwordSet to enable emailHighWithout a working SMTP relay, login emails never send and users cannot sign in.
base_urlExternal LoadBalancer / custom domain URLHighIf left empty, invite and login links do not resolve to the address users visit.
enable_cloudsql_volumetrueHighThe Auth Proxy sidecar is required for PostgreSQL connectivity; a plan-time guard blocks it with database_type = NONE.
min_instance_count / max_instance_countmin ≤ maxHighAn inverted range creates a conflicting HPA configuration; the validation guard rejects it.
enable_redisfalseMediumRallly uses no Redis; enabling it without a redis_host or NFS is rejected by the validation guard.
startup_probe timingKeep the generous defaultMediumToo tight a window can fail the probe during the first-boot Prisma migration.
backup_retention_days7 (raise for prod)MediumToo short for compliance retention.

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.

Need RAD to do something it does not do yet? Request it on the roadmap, or vote on what is already there.

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