From 97e21bcb9bdb8dd7d0c603bbf5a8fce2600f0de7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alex Selimov <alex@alexselimov.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2026 12:02:48 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Update README with deployment instructions

---
 README.md | 86 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 83 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c6ce19b..2e85e42 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -6,11 +6,16 @@ I came across the [creator's (Herman Martinus) blogging site](https://herman.bea
 I wanted something similar and decided to implement it myself. 
 The goal is maximum simplicity.
 
-## Important Notes
 
-This service does NOT have any authentication/authorization, so you should NOT serve this to the public web. 
-I'm using this by just serving it on the same VPS as my blog.
+## Table of Contents
 
+- [Requirements](#requirements)
+- [Configuration](#configuration)
+- [Running locally](#running-locally)
+- [API](#api)
+- [Running tests](#running-tests)
+- [Actual deployment](#actual-deployment)
+- [License](#license)
 
 ## Requirements
 
@@ -24,6 +29,8 @@ The following environment variables are required:
 | Variable                     | Description                                                                            |
 |------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | `POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING` | PostgreSQL connection string (e.g. `postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/upvoters`) |
+| `ALLOWED_ORIGINS`            | Comma-separated list of allowed CORS origins (e.g. `localhost:1313,example.com`)       |
+| `PORT`                       | Port to listen on (default: `3000`)                                                    |
 
 ## Running locally
 
@@ -81,6 +88,79 @@ Tests require a running PostgreSQL instance at `postgres://uprs:password123@loca
 cargo test
 ```
 
+## Actual deployment 
+
+Here are the instructions for how I deployed this service. You might be able to just run it through the docker-compose on a VPS but I already had a postgres server set up:
+
+1. Install dependencies (rust/postgres) (For debian server).
+```bash
+sudo apt update
+sudo apt install -y postgresql postgresql-contrib
+```
+2. Create `postgres` user to manage postgres and `upvoters` user to run the app:
+```bash
+# Create the system user that will run the app
+sudo useradd --system --home /opt/upvoters --create-home upvoters
+
+# Create the PostgreSQL role with peer auth (no password needed)
+sudo -u postgres psql -c "CREATE USER upvoters;"
+sudo -u postgres psql -c "CREATE DATABASE upvoters OWNER upvoters;"
+
+# Enable peer auth for the upvoters role (append to pg_hba.conf)
+echo "local   upvoters   upvoters   peer" | sudo tee -a /etc/postgresql/16/main/pg_hba.conf
+sudo systemctl reload postgresql
+```
+3. Create the votes table as the `upvoters` user
+```bash
+sudo -u upvoters psql upvoters
+```
+```sql
+CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pgcrypto;
+
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS votes (
+    slug text not null,
+    voter_id uuid not null,
+    created_at timestamptz NOT NULL DEFAULT timezone('utc'::text, now()),
+    primary key (slug, voter_id)
+);
+```
+4. Download the binary (You can also install rust and build yourself if you prefer). Replace `v0.2.0` with the latest release tag.
+```bash
+sudo curl https://forge.alexselimov.com/aselimov/upvoters/releases/download/v0.2.0/upvoters-linux-x86_64 --output /opt/upvoters/upvoters
+sudo chmod +x /opt/upvoters/upvoters
+sudo chown upvoters /opt/upvoters/upvoters
+```
+5. Create a systemd service at /etc/systemd/system/upvoters.service
+```
+[Unit]
+Description=upvoters rust backend
+After=network.target postgresql.service
+
+[Service]
+User=upvoters
+Group=upvoters
+WorkingDirectory=/opt/upvoters
+ExecStart=/opt/upvoters/upvoters
+Restart=on-failure
+# The below connection string works if you have peer auth enabled and have postgresql running on 
+# a socket
+Environment='POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING=postgresql:///upvoters?host=/var/run/postgresql'
+Environment='ALLOWED_ORIGINS=https://example.com'
+# Specify a PORT if the default 3000 is already taken
+Environment='PORT=3000'
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target
+```
+6. Enable and start the service
+```bash
+sudo systemctl enable --now upvoters
+```
+7. Test from VPS using curl
+```bash
+curl https://example.com/api/posts/tests/votes
+```
+
 ## License
 
 MIT — see [LICENSE](LICENSE).