Capstone: Final Acceptance and Handover

July 16, 2026 ยท View on GitHub

Completion is a set of verified outcomes, not a feeling that the configuration looks correct.

Registration Acceptance

  • The exact domain appears in Domain List.
  • The registration status is ready for use.
  • The expiration date is recorded.
  • Renewal reminders have named owners.
  • Registrant and recovery data are current.
  • Current namespace policies have been reviewed.

Evidence:

Dashboard status and expiration date recorded in the private notebook

DNS Acceptance

  • Parent delegation matches the intended nameservers.
  • Every authoritative server answers for the zone.
  • Root A points to the intended server.
  • Root AAAA is correct or intentionally absent.
  • www resolves intentionally.
  • No obsolete address or verification record remains.

Commands:

dig +trace NS example.dpdns.org
dig NS example.dpdns.org
dig @ns1.dns-service.example SOA example.dpdns.org
dig A example.dpdns.org
dig AAAA example.dpdns.org
dig CNAME www.example.dpdns.org

HTTP and HTTPS Acceptance

  • HTTP redirects to the canonical HTTPS URL.
  • The redirect chain has no loop.
  • The canonical page returns 200.
  • The About page returns 200.
  • The certificate is valid and covers every public name.
  • Renewal was tested.
  • No mixed HTTP content appears.

Commands:

curl -IL http://www.example.dpdns.org/
curl -I https://example.dpdns.org/
curl -I https://example.dpdns.org/about.html

Content Acceptance

  • The home page states the audience and purpose.
  • The About page contains accurate information.
  • Contact information is monitored and intentionally public.
  • Navigation works with a keyboard.
  • Focus is visible.
  • Headings follow a logical order.
  • The layout works on narrow and wide screens.
  • No secret, private note, or local path is public.

Operations Acceptance

  • Account ownership and recovery are documented.
  • DNS ownership is documented.
  • Server access is assigned and recoverable.
  • Required ports are known.
  • Updates have an owner and schedule.
  • Logs rotate and disk space is monitored.
  • An external website check exists.
  • Certificate expiration is monitored.
  • A backup exists outside the server.
  • A restoration drill succeeded.
  • The rollback procedure was reviewed.

Handover Runbook

Create a private runbook with:

# Website Operations Runbook

## Service Purpose

## Public URLs

## Registration Owner

## DNS Owner

## Server Owner

## Renewal Procedure

## Deployment Procedure

## Rollback Procedure

## Certificate Renewal

## Backup and Restore

## Monitoring and Alerts

## Incident Contacts

## Known Risks

The runbook should tell an authorized operator where credentials are managed without copying the credentials into the document.

Independent Operator Test

Ask another authorized person to use the runbook to answer:

  1. When does the domain expire?
  2. Which nameservers are expected?
  3. How is the site deployed?
  4. How is a failed deployment rolled back?
  5. How is the certificate renewed?
  6. Where is the latest backup?
  7. How is restoration verified?
  8. Who responds to an abuse or security report?

If the original builder must explain every answer, the handover is not complete.

Final Practical Examination

Without copying commands blindly, demonstrate:

  1. A trace of the nameserver delegation.
  2. A direct query to an authoritative server.
  3. Separate IPv4 and IPv6 reasoning.
  4. The HTTP-to-HTTPS redirect.
  5. Certificate hostname and date inspection.
  6. A local restoration of the website files.
  7. A rollback decision based on an unexpected result.

Reflection

Write one paragraph for each question:

  • Which layer was hardest to understand?
  • Which verification prevented the largest possible mistake?
  • Which part of the design is still a single failure boundary?
  • What would change if the site accepted user accounts or payments?
  • What maintenance action must happen next month?

Completion

You have completed the capstone when every applicable item has evidence, not merely a checked box. Keep the runbook, inventory, change log, and recovery procedure current as the website evolves.

Continue to the Workbook and Practice Exercises.