---
title: Production Deployment Guide
layout: documentation
description: Comprehensive guide for deploying Caxton multi-agent systems in production environments with high availability, load balancing, and backup strategies.
---
# Production Deployment Guide
This guide covers deploying Caxton multi-agent systems in production environments, including system requirements, installation methods, configuration best practices, and operational considerations.
## System Requirements
### Minimum Requirements
- **CPU**: 4 cores (x86_64 or ARM64)
- **Memory**: 8 GB RAM
- **Storage**: 50 GB SSD
- **Network**: 1 Gbps connection
- **OS**: Linux (Ubuntu 22.04+, RHEL 8+, CentOS 8+)
### Recommended Requirements
- **CPU**: 16+ cores with AVX2 support
- **Memory**: 32+ GB RAM
- **Storage**: 200+ GB NVMe SSD
- **Network**: 10 Gbps connection with low latency
- **OS**: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or RHEL 9
### WebAssembly Runtime Requirements
- **WASI Support**: Full WASI preview 1 compatibility
- **Memory Management**: Support for linear memory up to 4GB per instance
- **Multi-threading**: WASM threads support for concurrent agent execution
- **Security**: Sandboxing with capability-based security model
## Installation Methods
### Docker Deployment
#### Single Node Setup
```bash
# Pull the official Caxton image
docker pull caxton/caxton:latest
# Create data directory
mkdir -p /opt/caxton/data
# Run Caxton container
docker run -d \
--name caxton-runtime \
--restart unless-stopped \
-p 8080:8080 \
-p 9090:9090 \
-v /opt/caxton/data:/data \
-e CAXTON_CONFIG_PATH=/data/config.toml \
caxton/caxton:latest
```
#### Docker Compose Configuration
```yaml
# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'
services:
caxton-runtime:
image: caxton/caxton:latest
restart: unless-stopped
ports:
- "8080:8080" # HTTP API
- "9090:9090" # Metrics
- "4317:4317" # OTLP gRPC
volumes:
- ./config:/config:ro
- caxton-data:/data
environment:
- CAXTON_CONFIG_PATH=/config/production.toml
- CAXTON_LOG_LEVEL=info
- CAXTON_METRICS_ENABLED=true
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8080/health"]
interval: 30s
timeout: 10s
retries: 3
volumes:
caxton-data:
```
### Kubernetes Deployment
#### Namespace and ConfigMap
```yaml
# namespace.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
name: caxton-system
---
# configmap.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
name: caxton-config
namespace: caxton-system
data:
production.toml: |
[runtime]
max_agents = 1000
wasm_memory_limit = "512MB"
execution_timeout = "30s"
[networking]
bind_address = "0.0.0.0:8080"
metrics_address = "0.0.0.0:9090"
[observability]
enable_tracing = true
otlp_endpoint = "http://jaeger-collector:14268/api/traces"
[coordination]
# Local state storage
local_state_path = "/data/local.db"
# Cluster coordination
cluster_enabled = true
bind_addr = "0.0.0.0:7946"
gossip_interval = "200ms"
```
#### Deployment Configuration
```yaml
# deployment.yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: caxton-runtime
namespace: caxton-system
spec:
replicas: 3
selector:
matchLabels:
app: caxton-runtime
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: caxton-runtime
spec:
containers:
- name: caxton
image: caxton/caxton:latest
ports:
- containerPort: 8080
- containerPort: 9090
env:
- name: CAXTON_CONFIG_PATH
value: "/config/production.toml"
volumeMounts:
- name: config-volume
mountPath: /config
resources:
requests:
memory: "2Gi"
cpu: "1000m"
limits:
memory: "4Gi"
cpu: "2000m"
livenessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /health
port: 8080
initialDelaySeconds: 30
periodSeconds: 10
readinessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /ready
port: 8080
initialDelaySeconds: 5
periodSeconds: 5
volumes:
- name: config-volume
configMap:
name: caxton-config
---
# service.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
name: caxton-service
namespace: caxton-system
spec:
selector:
app: caxton-runtime
ports:
- name: http
port: 8080
targetPort: 8080
- name: metrics
port: 9090
targetPort: 9090
type: ClusterIP
```
### Bare Metal Installation
#### System Preparation
```bash
# Install dependencies
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y \
curl wget \
build-essential \
pkg-config \
libssl-dev
# Install Rust toolchain
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source ~/.cargo/env
# Install WebAssembly targets
rustup target add wasm32-wasi
rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown
```
#### Binary Installation
```bash
# Download latest release
CAXTON_VERSION="v0.2.0"
curl -L "https://github.com/caxton/caxton/releases/download/${CAXTON_VERSION}/caxton-linux-amd64.tar.gz" \
| tar xz -C /usr/local/bin/
# Create system user
sudo useradd --system --shell /bin/false --home-dir /opt/caxton caxton
# Create directories
sudo mkdir -p /opt/caxton/{bin,config,data,logs}
sudo chown -R caxton:caxton /opt/caxton
# Create systemd service
sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/caxton.service > /dev/null << EOF
[Unit]
Description=Caxton Multi-Agent Runtime
After=network.target
[Service]
Type=exec
User=caxton
Group=caxton
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/caxton --config /opt/caxton/config/production.toml
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal
SyslogIdentifier=caxton
# Security settings
NoNewPrivileges=yes
ProtectSystem=strict
ProtectHome=yes
ReadWritePaths=/opt/caxton/data /opt/caxton/logs
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF
# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable caxton
sudo systemctl start caxton
```
## Configuration Best Practices
### Production Configuration
```toml
# /opt/caxton/config/production.toml
[runtime]
# Agent execution limits
max_agents = 1000
max_concurrent_executions = 100
wasm_memory_limit = "512MB"
wasm_stack_limit = "1MB"
execution_timeout = "30s"
agent_idle_timeout = "300s"
# Resource management
cpu_quota = "8.0" # CPU cores
memory_limit = "16GB"
temp_storage_limit = "10GB"
[networking]
# Bind addresses
bind_address = "0.0.0.0:8080"
metrics_address = "0.0.0.0:9090"
admin_address = "127.0.0.1:8081"
# Connection limits
max_connections = 10000
connection_timeout = "30s"
request_timeout = "60s"
keepalive_timeout = "60s"
# TLS configuration
tls_enabled = true
tls_cert_path = "/opt/caxton/config/server.crt"
tls_key_path = "/opt/caxton/config/server.key"
tls_ca_path = "/opt/caxton/config/ca.crt"
[coordination]
# Local state storage (per instance)
local_state_path = "/opt/caxton/data/local.db"
journal_mode = "WAL"
# Cluster coordination
cluster_enabled = true
bind_addr = "0.0.0.0:7946"
advertise_addr = "auto"
seeds = [
"caxton-node-1:7946",
"caxton-node-2:7946",
"caxton-node-3:7946"
]
gossip_interval = "200ms"
probe_interval = "1s"
[observability]
# Logging
log_level = "info"
log_format = "json"
log_file = "/opt/caxton/logs/caxton.log"
log_rotation = "daily"
log_retention_days = 30
# Metrics
enable_metrics = true
metrics_prefix = "caxton"
histogram_buckets = [0.005, 0.01, 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2.5, 5.0, 10.0]
# Tracing
enable_tracing = true
trace_sample_rate = 0.1
otlp_endpoint = "http://jaeger-collector:14268/api/traces"
otlp_timeout = "10s"
[security]
# Authentication
auth_enabled = true
jwt_secret = "${JWT_SECRET}"
jwt_expiry = "1h"
api_key_header = "X-API-Key"
# Rate limiting
rate_limit_enabled = true
rate_limit_per_second = 100
rate_limit_burst = 200
# CORS
cors_enabled = true
cors_origins = ["https://dashboard.example.com"]
cors_methods = ["GET", "POST", "PUT", "DELETE"]
```
### Environment Variables
```bash
# /opt/caxton/config/caxton.env
CAXTON_CONFIG_PATH=/opt/caxton/config/production.toml
CAXTON_LOG_LEVEL=info
JWT_SECRET=your-jwt-secret
OTLP_ENDPOINT=http://jaeger:14268/api/traces
```
## High Availability Setup
### Multi-Node Cluster
#### Load Balancer Configuration (HAProxy)
```haproxy
# /etc/haproxy/haproxy.cfg
global
daemon
log stdout local0 info
defaults
log global
option httplog
option dontlognull
timeout connect 5000ms
timeout client 50000ms
timeout server 50000ms
frontend caxton_frontend
bind *:80
bind *:443 ssl crt /etc/ssl/certs/caxton.pem
redirect scheme https if !{ ssl_fc }
default_backend caxton_backend
backend caxton_backend
balance roundrobin
option httpchk GET /health
server caxton1 10.0.1.10:8080 check
server caxton2 10.0.1.11:8080 check
server caxton3 10.0.1.12:8080 check
frontend caxton_metrics
bind *:9090
default_backend caxton_metrics_backend
backend caxton_metrics_backend
balance roundrobin
server caxton1 10.0.1.10:9090 check
server caxton2 10.0.1.11:9090 check
server caxton3 10.0.1.12:9090 check
```
#### Cluster Coordination Setup
```bash
# Each Caxton instance automatically discovers others via SWIM protocol
# No external coordination service required
# Instances share agent registry through gossip
# Message routing works without shared state
```
### Health Checks and Failover
```yaml
# kubernetes/healthcheck-service.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
name: caxton-healthcheck
namespace: caxton-system
spec:
selector:
app: caxton-runtime
ports:
- port: 8080
targetPort: 8080
type: LoadBalancer
externalTrafficPolicy: Local # Preserve source IP
healthCheckNodePort: 32000 # Custom health check port
```
## Load Balancing
### Nginx Configuration
```nginx
# /etc/nginx/sites-available/caxton
upstream caxton_backend {
least_conn;
server 10.0.1.10:8080 max_fails=3 fail_timeout=30s;
server 10.0.1.11:8080 max_fails=3 fail_timeout=30s;
server 10.0.1.12:8080 max_fails=3 fail_timeout=30s;
}
server {
listen 80;
listen 443 ssl http2;
server_name caxton.example.com;
ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/caxton.crt;
ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/caxton.key;
ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
ssl_ciphers ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA512:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA512;
location / {
proxy_pass http://caxton_backend;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
# WebSocket support
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
# Timeouts
proxy_connect_timeout 60s;
proxy_send_timeout 60s;
proxy_read_timeout 60s;
}
location /health {
access_log off;
proxy_pass http://caxton_backend/health;
}
}
```
### Session Affinity
For stateful agent sessions, configure session affinity:
```nginx
# Add to upstream block
upstream caxton_backend {
ip_hash; # Route based on client IP
server 10.0.1.10:8080;
server 10.0.1.11:8080;
server 10.0.1.12:8080;
}
# Or use consistent hashing
upstream caxton_backend {
hash $request_uri consistent;
server 10.0.1.10:8080;
server 10.0.1.11:8080;
server 10.0.1.12:8080;
}
```
## Backup Strategies
### Data Backup
#### Local State Backup Script
```bash
#!/bin/bash
# /opt/caxton/scripts/backup-state.sh
BACKUP_DIR="/opt/caxton/backups"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
STATE_PATH="/opt/caxton/data/local.db"
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
# Create SQLite backup
sqlite3 "$STATE_PATH" ".backup '$BACKUP_DIR/state_$DATE.db'"
# Compress backup
gzip "$BACKUP_DIR/state_$DATE.db"
# Clean old backups (keep last 7 days)
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name "state_*.db.gz" -mtime +7 -delete
echo "State backup completed: $BACKUP_DIR/state_$DATE.db.gz"
```
#### Configuration Backup
```bash
#!/bin/bash
# /opt/caxton/scripts/backup-config.sh
BACKUP_DIR="/opt/caxton/backups"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
CONFIG_DIR="/opt/caxton/config"
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
# Backup configuration files
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/config_$DATE.tar.gz" -C "$(dirname "$CONFIG_DIR")" "$(basename "$CONFIG_DIR")"
# Clean old backups
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name "config_*.tar.gz" -mtime +30 -delete
echo "Configuration backup completed: $BACKUP_DIR/config_$DATE.tar.gz"
```
### Automated Backup with Systemd
```ini
# /etc/systemd/system/caxton-backup.service
[Unit]
Description=Caxton Backup Service
After=caxton.service
[Service]
Type=oneshot
User=caxton
ExecStart=/opt/caxton/scripts/backup-state.sh
ExecStartPost=/opt/caxton/scripts/backup-config.sh
# /etc/systemd/system/caxton-backup.timer
[Unit]
Description=Run Caxton backup daily
Requires=caxton-backup.service
[Timer]
OnCalendar=daily
Persistent=true
[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target
```
### Disaster Recovery
#### Recovery Procedures
1. **Local State Recovery**:
```bash
sudo systemctl stop caxton
gunzip -c state_backup.db.gz > /opt/caxton/data/local.db
sudo chown caxton:caxton /opt/caxton/data/local.db
sudo systemctl start caxton
```
2. **Configuration Recovery**:
```bash
tar -xzf config_backup.tar.gz -C /opt/caxton/
sudo chown -R caxton:caxton /opt/caxton/config
sudo systemctl restart caxton
```
3. **Full System Recovery**:
```bash
kubectl apply -f kubernetes/
kubectl wait --for=condition=ready pod -l app=caxton-runtime
kubectl exec -it caxton-runtime-0 -- /scripts/restore-data.sh
```
## Performance Optimization
### Resource Limits
```toml
# Fine-tuned resource limits
[runtime]
max_agents = 2000
max_concurrent_executions = 200
wasm_memory_limit = "1GB"
agent_startup_timeout = "10s"
agent_shutdown_timeout = "5s"
# Memory management
gc_interval = "60s"
memory_pressure_threshold = 0.8
agent_memory_reclaim = true
```
### Monitoring and Alerts
Set up monitoring for:
- CPU and memory usage
- Agent execution metrics
- Network I/O
- Storage I/O
- Error rates
- Response times
## Troubleshooting
### Common Issues
1. **High Memory Usage**:
- Check agent memory limits
- Monitor for memory leaks
- Adjust garbage collection settings
2. **Agent Startup Failures**:
- Verify WASM module validity
- Check resource limits
- Review error logs
3. **Network Connectivity Issues**:
- Verify firewall rules
- Check DNS resolution
- Test load balancer health
### Debugging Tools
```bash
# Check service status
systemctl status caxton
# View logs
journalctl -u caxton -f
# Monitor metrics
curl http://localhost:9090/metrics
# Agent debugging
caxton debug --agent-id <agent-id>
```
## Security Considerations
- Enable TLS encryption for all communications
- Use strong authentication mechanisms
- Implement proper network segmentation
- Regular security updates and patches
- Monitor for suspicious activity