> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://documentation.opencrvs.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://documentation.opencrvs.org/v2.0/technical/guides/installation/deploy-set-up-a-server-hosted-environment/preparation-steps.md).

# Preparation steps

#### Before you begin

Before running any scripts, you must complete the following **essential preparation steps**. Please carefully consider the information in these pages.

This section describes the environments, servers and network requirements that countries are required to prepare in order to install OpenCRVS.

We have an automated scripts to generate [Github environments](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/deployment/targeting-different-environments/using-environments-for-deployment) for you along with all the application secrets that Github needs to run the continuous provisioning and deployment scripts.

Github Actions use environment secrets and variables when installing software on servers and deploying OpenCRVS.

These secrets and variables are entirely dependant on the [prerequisite accounts and repositories](/v2.0/technical/guides/installation/deploy-set-up-a-server-hosted-environment/preparation-steps/create-prerequisite-accounts-and-repositories.md).

#### Further reading

The [Advanced topics](/v2.0/technical/guides/installation/advanced-topics.md) section gives you important detail on the various configurations related to servers, TLS, SSH access (to comply with internal procedures), Kubernetes cluster management and disk space.

The [OpenCRVS maintenance tasks](/v2.0/technical/guides/installation/opencrvs-maintenance-tasks.md) section explains how to manage data and disaster recovery.

The [Monitoring](/v2.0/technical/guides/monitoring.md) section explains how to use the ELK stack to track server and application health and respond to issues.

This further reading guides you through how to configure, provision, deploy and maintain OpenCRVS server deployments technically.


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