---
id: vudovn/ag-kit/server-management
version: "1d524408"
license: MIT
install: manual
updated: 2026-07-26
---

# server-management — Master the thinking behind running production servers rather than memorizing commands. This skill covers process management tool selection, monitoring strategy across availability and performance, log rotation principles, and scaling decisions. You'll learn health check implementation, security practices, and a structured troubleshooting priority system to diagnose server issues.

Publisher: vudovn · Stars: 8011 · Updated: 2026-07-26

Install (manual): `git clone https://github.com/vudovn/ag-kit`

## SKILL.md

# Server Management

> Server management principles for production operations.
> **Learn to THINK, not memorize commands.**

---

## 1. Process Management Principles

### Tool Selection

| Scenario | Tool |
|----------|------|
| **Node.js app** | PM2 (clustering, reload) |
| **Any app** | systemd (Linux native) |
| **Containers** | Docker/Podman |
| **Orchestration** | Kubernetes, Docker Swarm |

### Process Management Goals

| Goal | What It Means |
|------|---------------|
| **Restart on crash** | Auto-recovery |
| **Zero-downtime reload** | No service interruption |
| **Clustering** | Use all CPU cores |
| **Persistence** | Survive server reboot |

---

## 2. Monitoring Principles

### What to Monitor

| Category | Key Metrics |
|----------|-------------|
| **Availability** | Uptime, health checks |
| **Performance** | Response time, throughput |
| **Errors** | Error rate, types |
| **Resources** | CPU, memory, disk |

### Alert Severity Strategy

| Level | Response |
|-------|----------|
| **Critical** | Immediate action |
| **Warning** | Investigate soon |
| **Info** | Review daily |

### Monitoring Tool Selection

| Need | Options |
|------|---------|
| Simple/Free | PM2 metrics, htop |
| Full observability | Grafana, Datadog |
| Error tracking | Sentry |
| Uptime | UptimeRobot, Pingdom |

---

## 3. Log Management Principles

### Log Strategy

| Log Type | Purpose |
|----------|---------|
| **Application logs** | Debug, audit |
| **Access logs** | Traffic analysis |
| **Error logs** | Issue detection |

### Log Principles

1. **Rotate logs** to prevent disk fill
2. **Structured logging** (JSON) for parsing
3. **Appropriate levels** (error/warn/info/debug)
4. **No sensitive data** in logs

---

## 4. Scaling Decisions

### When to Scale

| Symptom | Solution |
|---------|----------|
| High CPU | Add instances (horizontal) |
| High memory | Increase RAM or fix leak |
| Slow response | Profile first, then scale |
| Traffic spikes | Auto-scaling |

### Scaling Strategy

| Type | When to Use |
|------|-------------|
| **Vertical** | Quick fix, single instance |
| **Horizontal** | Sustainable, distributed |
| **Auto** | Variable traffic |

---

## 5. Health Check Principles

### What Constitutes Healthy

| Check | Meaning |
|-------|---------|
| **HTTP 200** | Service responding |
| **Database connected** | Data accessible |
| **Dependencies OK** | External services reachable |
| **Resources OK** | CPU/memory not exhausted |

### Health Check Implementation

- Simple: Just return 200
- Deep: Check all dependencies
- Choose based on load balancer needs

---

## 6. Security Principles

| Area | Principle |
|------|-----------|
| **Access** | SSH keys only, no passwords |
| **Firewall** | Only needed ports open |
| **Updates** | Regular security patches |
| **Secrets** | Environment vars, not files |
| **Audit** | Log access and changes |

---

## 7. Troubleshooting Priority

When something's wrong:

1. **Check if running** (process status)
2. **Check logs** (error messages)
3. **Check resources** (disk, memory, CPU)
4. **Check network** (ports, DNS)
5. **Check dependencies** (database, APIs)

---

## 8. Anti-Patterns

| ❌ Don't | ✅ Do |
|----------|-------|
| Run as root | Use non-root user |
| Ignore logs | Set up log rotation |
| Skip monitoring | Monitor from day one |
| Manual restarts | Auto-restart config |
| No backups | Regular backup schedule |

---

> **Remember:** A well-managed server is boring. That's the goal.


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