Operational playbook
Server lifecycle management
Treat each server as cattle, not pets. This guide covers the routine workflows our reliability team follows to keep VaultScope deployments stable from day one through retirement.
Provision with a repeatable template
Use the billing storefront to select CPU, RAM and storage profiles. Save plan notes in your internal runbook so future environments reuse the same baseline. After checkout, verify provisioning by following the quickstart guide.
- Tag new servers in the panel with the environment and ticket number responsible for the deployment.
- Document custom configuration scripts in version control. Re-run them during disaster recovery.
- Keep at least one clean backup immediately after provisioning so you can roll back to a known-good state.
Scale resources deliberately
VaultScope supports vertical scaling (more CPU, RAM, disk) with minimal downtime. Open a billing ticket for upgrades or downgrades—changes apply within the same day and you only pay the pro-rated difference.
Schedule maintenance windows
Use the schedules feature to bundle restarts, command execution and backup generation. Stagger restarts between clusters so you always have at least one healthy lobby.
- Run pre-maintenance scripts that broadcast to players five minutes before downtime.
- Capture a backup before patching binaries or updating plugins.
- Document the maintenance checklist in your internal wiki and link to the control panel reference for screenshots.
Move fast with clones and migrations
Cloning is as simple as restoring a backup to a fresh server. For zero-downtime migrations, run both servers in parallel and shift traffic using DNS or proxies.
- Provision a new target server and note its allocations.
- Restore the latest backup from the source server to the target.
- Update subdomain or proxy rules to point players at the new endpoint.
- Monitor for errors, then retire the old server by cancelling it from the billing portal.
Delegate ownership safely
Invite collaborators through the Users tab, but keep least privilege in mind. Grant console and SFTP access sparingly and review user lists after each season or team change.
- Separate billing access from operational access—only finance needs the billing portal.
- Enable two-factor authentication for everyone with elevated permissions (see account security).
- Log significant changes in your #operations channel so the rest of the team stays informed.
Decommission gracefully
When a server reaches end-of-life, shut it down cleanly to avoid data loss or surprise invoices.
- Announce the retirement date internally and to affected communities.
- Export the final backup and verify you can restore it in a different region.
- Delete credentials from password managers and revoke panel access for users tied to the project.
- Cancel the service from the billing portal and confirm the invoice status reads Cancelled.
Need to resurrect a retired server? Contact support@vaultscope.dev with the original order ID—we retain backups for seven days post-cancellation.