What to Monitor Before Launching
The pre-launch monitoring checklist for founders and developers. Set up alerts before you need them.
You're about to launch. The code is ready. The landing page looks good. You've told everyone to check it out on Monday.
Monday comes. The site is down. Or the SSL expired. Or the domain didn't renew because the card on file was from your old bank account.
Don't be that launch. Set up monitoring before you need it.
Before Launch: The Checklist
Domain
Verify ownership
Is the domain in an account you control? Not a contractor's personal account. Not a former cofounder's email.
Check expiry date
When does it expire? If it's within 90 days of launch, renew now. Don't risk it.
Enable auto-renewal
Turn it on. Then verify the payment method. Then check it's actually on — some registrars have confusing UIs.
Lock the domain
Enable registrar lock (also called transfer lock). Prevents unauthorized transfers.
SSL Certificate
Verify certificate is valid
Check in your browser. Click the padlock. Is the certificate issued to your domain?
Check expiry
Let's Encrypt certificates expire in 90 days. When does yours expire? Is auto-renewal configured?
Test the chain
Use SSL Labs (ssllabs.com/ssltest) to verify the full certificate chain. Intermediate cert issues don't show in your browser but break for others.
Cover all variants
Does your cert cover both example.com and www.example.com? What about api.example.com?
DNS
Verify records
A records point where you expect? CNAME for www? MX records for email?
Check propagation
Use a tool like whatsmydns.net to verify DNS has propagated globally. Don't assume your local lookup is universal.
Set reasonable TTLs
Low TTLs (300 seconds) let you fix mistakes fast. Increase after launch stabilizes.
Set up SPF
Create the TXT record listing your sending sources. Test with mail-tester.com.
Configure DKIM
Set up signing for your mail server and any third-party senders (transactional email, marketing tools).
Add DMARC
Start with p=none to monitor. Tells you if emails are failing authentication.
Send test emails
Actually send emails to Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo. Check they arrive in inbox, not spam.
Launch day is not the day to discover email is broken
Password reset emails, welcome emails, confirmation emails — all critical on launch day. Test the full flow before you announce.
Set Up Monitoring
Checking things once isn't monitoring. Monitoring means automated, continuous checks with alerts.
What to monitor from day one:
Uptime
Is the site responding? Check every minute from multiple locations.
SSL expiry
When does the cert expire? Alert at 30, 14, and 7 days out.
Domain expiry
When does the domain expire? Alert at 60, 30, and 14 days out.
Response time
Is the site slow? Set a threshold (e.g., alert if >3 seconds) so you catch performance issues before users complain.
Where alerts should go:
- An email that someone actually reads
- A Slack channel that isn't muted
- A phone number for critical alerts (downtime, SSL expired)
Not all three for everything. But downtime alerts should probably wake someone up.
The "It's Just a Launch" Trap
"We'll set up proper monitoring after launch."
You won't. After launch you'll be fixing bugs, responding to users, iterating on features. Monitoring will stay on the "someday" list until something breaks.
15 minutes before launch is better than "after we stabilize."
Launch with monitoring in place
The Infrastructure Suite monitors your domains, SSL certificates, and uptime — so you find out about problems before your users do.
Try It Now