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Operations Documentation

Production Deployment & Service Recovery Runbook

Operational procedures for deploying, validating, monitoring, and recovering Sentinel Privilege Manager in a production environment.

Product: Sentinel Privilege Manager Document Type: Production Runbook Version: 3.2 Audience: Operations & Support Teams

1. Purpose & Scope

This runbook provides standardized procedures for deploying and recovering Sentinel Privilege Manager (SPM) in a production environment.

It is intended to provide operations and support teams with a repeatable procedure for routine deployments, service validation, incident investigation, and service recovery.

When should this runbook be used? Use this runbook during planned production deployments, post-deployment validation, service outages, application health issues, and controlled recovery activities.

1.1 Scope

  • Production application deployment
  • Service startup and shutdown
  • Post-deployment validation
  • Basic service recovery
  • Incident triage
  • Rollback procedures
  • Operational escalation

2. Ownership & Responsibilities

Role Responsibility
Release Engineer Executes the production deployment and validates the release.
System Administrator Manages server access, services, operating system health, and infrastructure dependencies.
Application Support Performs application-level troubleshooting and incident triage.
Security Administrator Validates authentication, privilege policies, and security-related functionality.
Incident Manager Coordinates major incidents, communication, escalation, and recovery activities.

3. Environment Overview

The sample production environment contains application services, a database, an API gateway, and an administrative web interface.

Application Server

Hosts the SPM application services and background processing components.

API Gateway

Routes API requests between clients and backend application services.

Database Server

Stores application configuration, identity information, policies, and operational data.

Administration Console

Provides the administrative interface used by authorized administrators.

3.1 Example Service Components

Component Example Service Purpose
API Service SPM-API Handles application API requests.
Policy Service SPM-Policy Processes privilege policies.
Synchronization Service SPM-Sync Processes identity synchronization.
Gateway SPM-Gateway Routes client requests.

4. Prerequisites

Complete the following prerequisites before starting a production deployment.

Confirm an approved change request exists for the deployment.
Confirm the deployment package has passed required testing.
Confirm a recent database backup is available.
Confirm application and database connectivity.
Confirm required administrator credentials are available.
Confirm the support team is aware of the planned maintenance window.
Confirm the rollback package or previous version is available.
Do not proceed: If a required prerequisite is not satisfied, stop the deployment and escalate to the release owner.

5. Pre-Deployment Checklist

5.1 Application Health

Check Expected Result Status
Application services All required services are running. Required
Database connectivity Application can connect to database. Required
API availability API health endpoint responds successfully. Required
Authentication Test administrator can sign in. Required

5.2 Backup Verification

Confirm that the latest approved database backup completed successfully before modifying the production environment. 

Backup Status:
Database: spm-production
Backup Type: Full
Status: Successful
Retention: 7 days

6. Deployment Procedure

1

Notify Stakeholders

Confirm that the maintenance window has started and notify relevant stakeholders.

2

Stop Application Services

Stop the SPM application services according to the approved deployment sequence.

3

Backup Configuration

Back up the current application configuration and deployment metadata.

4

Deploy the New Version

Deploy the approved release package to the production application server.

5

Apply Configuration

Apply approved configuration changes and verify environment-specific values.

6

Start Services

Start application services in the documented dependency order.

7

Perform Validation

Execute the post-deployment validation checklist before declaring the deployment successful.

Deployment Principle Do not consider a deployment complete when files have been successfully installed. The deployment is complete only after application, API, authentication, and critical business workflows have been validated.

7. Post-Deployment Validation

Complete the following checks immediately after the deployment.

Verify all required services are running.
Verify the administration console is accessible.
Verify administrator authentication.
Verify API health endpoint.
Verify database connectivity.
Verify endpoint inventory is accessible.
Verify privilege policy retrieval.
Review application logs for errors.

7.1 API Health Check 

GET https://spm.example.com/health

Expected Response:

{
    "status": "healthy",
    "version": "3.2"
}
Successful Validation: Record the validation results in the approved change or deployment record.

8. Health Checks

Use the following checks when investigating application availability or performance issues.

Component Check Expected Result
API Service Check service status. Running
Policy Service Check service status. Running
Sync Service Check latest synchronization status. Successful
Database Test connectivity. Connection successful
Gateway Test API routing. Requests successfully routed

8.1 Service Status Commands

Example commands for a Windows-based deployment: 

Get-Service SPM-API
Get-Service SPM-Policy
Get-Service SPM-Sync
Get-Service SPM-Gateway

A healthy service should report a Running status.

9. Incident Response

Use this section when the SPM production environment experiences an unexpected service interruption or application issue.

9.1 Incident Severity

Severity Example Initial Action
Critical Production platform unavailable for all administrators. Start incident bridge and escalate immediately.
High Major functionality unavailable for a significant user group. Begin application triage and notify application support.
Medium Limited functionality or degraded performance. Investigate logs and affected components.
Low Non-critical warning or isolated issue. Record and investigate during normal support operations.

9.2 Initial Triage

  1. Confirm the reported issue and affected functionality.
  2. Determine whether the issue affects one user, multiple users, or the entire platform.
  3. Check application service status.
  4. Check database connectivity.
  5. Review recent deployment or configuration changes.
  6. Review application and system logs.
  7. Determine whether service recovery or escalation is required.

10. Service Recovery

If an application service is unavailable, perform the following controlled recovery procedure.

1

Confirm Service Failure

Verify that the affected service is stopped or unhealthy.

2

Review Recent Logs

Review the service logs for startup, dependency, configuration, or connectivity errors.

3

Verify Dependencies

Confirm that the database, gateway, network, and required dependent services are available.

4

Restart the Service

Restart the affected service using the approved operational procedure.

5

Validate Recovery

Confirm service status and execute the application health checks.

10.1 Example Restart Commands 

Restart-Service SPM-API

Restart-Service SPM-Policy

Restart-Service SPM-Sync

Restart-Service SPM-Gateway
Caution: Restart only the affected service unless the approved recovery procedure requires a broader restart. Record all recovery actions in the incident record.

11. Rollback Procedure

Use rollback when a deployment cannot be stabilized through standard recovery procedures and the release owner approves reverting to the previous version.

1

Confirm Rollback Decision

Obtain approval from the designated release or incident owner.

2

Stop Current Services

Stop affected application services according to the deployment sequence.

3

Restore Previous Application Version

Restore the previously approved application package.

4

Restore Configuration

Restore the configuration associated with the previous version.

5

Start Services

Start services using the approved startup sequence.

6

Validate the Environment

Perform the complete post-rollback validation checklist.

Rollback Warning: Do not restore database backups unless the approved rollback plan explicitly requires database restoration. Database rollback can result in data loss.

12. Escalation Matrix

Issue Type Primary Owner Escalate To
Application error Application Support Engineering Team
Database issue Database Administrator Infrastructure Team
Authentication issue Security Administrator Identity Platform Team
Infrastructure outage Infrastructure Team Incident Manager
Critical production outage Incident Manager Engineering & Leadership

13. Post-Incident Checklist

Confirm the service has returned to normal operating status.
Confirm affected workflows are functioning.
Review application and infrastructure logs.
Document the incident timeline.
Record actions taken during recovery.
Identify the root cause or suspected root cause.
Document corrective and preventive actions.
Close the change or incident record after required approvals.

13.1 Incident Record Template 

Incident ID:
Date:
Start Time:
End Time:

Affected Component:
Severity:

Customer/User Impact:

Initial Symptoms:

Actions Taken:

Root Cause:

Resolution:

Preventive Actions:

Owner:

Closure Date:

14. Operational Best Practices

  • Always use an approved change process for production deployments.
  • Validate backups before performing high-impact changes.
  • Record operational actions during incidents and recovery.
  • Avoid making undocumented configuration changes in production.
  • Validate critical workflows after every production deployment.
  • Keep rollback packages and recovery procedures accessible to authorized operations teams.
  • Review and update the runbook whenever architecture, deployment procedures, or operational ownership changes.
  • Review the runbook periodically to ensure procedures remain accurate and executable.
Runbook Principle A good runbook should allow an authorized operator to execute a procedure consistently without depending on undocumented tribal knowledge.

Document Information

Document Type Production Deployment Runbook
Product Sentinel Privilege Manager
Version 3.2
Audience Release Engineers, System Administrators, Application Support, and Incident Managers
Status Portfolio Sample
Author Anshula Raina
Portfolio Disclaimer: Sentinel Privilege Manager is a fictional product created for portfolio demonstration. Server names, commands, URLs, service names, configurations, and operational procedures are illustrative examples and are not intended for production use.