Deployment Options

Choose the deployment method that fits your infrastructure and team.

Decision Guide

Factor	Docker	Heroku	Kubernetes	Bare Metal
Setup time	Minutes	Minutes	Hours	Hours
Ops overhead	Low	Minimal	Medium	High
Scaling	Manual	Auto	Auto	Manual
SSL/TLS	Reverse proxy	Built-in	Ingress	Manual
Cost	Infrastructure	Platform fee	Infrastructure	Infrastructure
Best for	Small teams, on-prem	Quick start, prototyping	Large orgs, multi-tenant	Full control, air-gapped

Quick Recommendations

Just trying Vulcan? Start with Docker — single command to run.

Production for a small team? Docker with a reverse proxy (nginx/traefik) for SSL.

Managed platform? Heroku handles infrastructure, SSL, and backups.

Enterprise / multi-tenant? Kubernetes with Helm chart for scaling and isolation.

Air-gapped / classified network? Bare Metal for full control without container dependencies.

Common Requirements (All Deployments)

Every production deployment needs:

1. Secrets — SECRET_KEY_BASE, CIPHER_PASSWORD, CIPHER_SALT (generate with openssl rand -hex 64)
2. PostgreSQL 18 — dedicated database with secure password
3. Authentication — at least one provider (OIDC recommended, LDAP, or local login)
4. SSL/TLS — HTTPS for all production traffic

See Configuration for the full "What You Must Provide" checklist.

Authentication Setup

All deployment methods support the same authentication providers:

• OIDC/Okta — recommended for production (Okta, Azure AD, Keycloak, Auth0)
• LDAP — Active Directory / OpenLDAP integration
• GitHub OAuth — lightweight OAuth for development teams
• Local login — email/password (enabled by default, disable for production)