Deploy a Next.js App on alawadi.cloud in 5 Minutes

You have a Next.js app (or any Node app). You want it live on a real URL, with TLS, auto-deploy from GitHub, and managed Postgres in the same project. This guide does exactly that in around five minutes of actual work.

What you'll need#

• A Next.js app in a GitHub repository
• Docker Desktop (to build and test locally)
• An alawadi.cloud account (open the portal, or email support if you need beta access)

Step 1: Write a production Dockerfile#

Create a Dockerfile at the repo root. Next.js produces a standalone build that we can embed in a minimal Node image:

FROM node:22-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build
 
FROM node:22-alpine AS runner
WORKDIR /app
ENV NODE_ENV=production
COPY --from=builder /app/.next/standalone ./
COPY --from=builder /app/.next/static ./.next/static
COPY --from=builder /app/public ./public
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "server.js"]

Make sure next.config.ts has output: "standalone" set.

Step 2: Create a project and container on alawadi.cloud#

1. Sign in with Google at portal.alawadi.cloud
2. Click New project, give it a name
3. Inside the project, click Add container
4. Choose a name (e.g. web) and leave the image field blank for now

Step 3: Set up push-to-deploy via GitHub OIDC#

In the container's Deploy tab, click Configure GitHub OIDC trust. Enter your repository name (owner/repo) and the branch you deploy from (e.g. main).

This creates a trust relationship: GitHub Actions can now authenticate as this container without storing any secrets.

Step 4: Add the GitHub Actions workflow#

Create .github/workflows/deploy.yml:

name: Deploy to alawadi.cloud
 
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
 
permissions:
  id-token: write
  contents: read
 
jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
      - name: Build and push image
        run: |
          docker build -t registry.alawadi.cloud/${{ secrets.REGISTRY_SLUG }}/web:${{ github.sha }} .
          echo "${{ secrets.REGISTRY_PASSWORD }}" | \
            docker login registry.alawadi.cloud -u ${{ secrets.REGISTRY_USER }} --password-stdin
          docker push registry.alawadi.cloud/${{ secrets.REGISTRY_SLUG }}/web:${{ github.sha }}
 
      - name: Get deploy token
        id: token
        run: |
          TOKEN=$(curl -sf -X POST \
            https://api.alawadi.cloud/v1/containers/${{ secrets.CONTAINER_ID }}/deploy-token \
            -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACTIONS_ID_TOKEN_REQUEST_TOKEN" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" | jq -r .token)
          echo "token=$TOKEN" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
      - name: Deploy
        run: |
          curl -sf -X POST \
            https://api.alawadi.cloud/v1/containers/${{ secrets.CONTAINER_ID }}/deploy \
            -H "Authorization: Bearer ${{ steps.token.outputs.token }}" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            -d '{"image":"registry.alawadi.cloud/${{ secrets.REGISTRY_SLUG }}/web:${{ github.sha }}"}'

Add REGISTRY_SLUG, REGISTRY_USER, REGISTRY_PASSWORD, and CONTAINER_ID as repository secrets in GitHub Settings → Secrets.

Step 5: Add Postgres#

In the same project, click Add database → Postgres. The connection string is injected automatically as the DATABASE_URL environment variable into your container. Read it in your app:

// lib/db.ts
import { Pool } from "pg";
export const pool = new Pool({ connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL });

What you get#

• Auto-deploy on every push to main, with no CI secrets leaking
• Live logs available from the portal dashboard
• Managed Postgres in the same isolated namespace
• TLS on your .alawadi.cloud subdomain, managed automatically
• Restart, stop, start from the dashboard or API

Push to main, watch the workflow run, and your app is live.

Questions? Open a support ticket in the portal, or email [email protected].