StudyBuddy

A collaborative, microservices-based platform for students to form study groups, share resources, manage tasks, and communicate in real time.

Click to view architecture diagram

flowchart LR
    subgraph Cloud
      A[OpenStack]
      B[Kubernetes]
    end
    subgraph Backend
      C[Spring Boot]
      D[MySQL]
      E[PostgreSQL]
    end
    subgraph Frontend
      F[Angular]
    end
    A --> B
    B --> C
    C --> D
    C --> E
    B --> F

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Table of Contents

• StudyBuddy
  • Table of Contents
  • Overview
  • Features
  • Architecture
  • Microservices
  • Tech Stack
  • Security
  • Kubernetes Deployment
  • Setup Instructions
    • Prerequisites
    • Quick Start
  • Database Setup
  • CI/CD
  • Monitoring and Troubleshooting
  • Contributing
  • License
  • Project Status

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Overview

StudyBuddy is built with Spring Boot, Angular, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and WebSockets for scalability, security, and seamless deployment on Kubernetes over OpenStack.

Key Capabilities:

• Form and manage study groups with role-based permissions
• Share and categorize resources securely
• Assign and track tasks with deadlines and priorities
• Communicate via real-time group and private chat

The modular microservices architecture ensures maintainability and scalability, while JWT authentication and Kubernetes Secrets provide robust security.

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Features

• User Management: Registration, login, profile management, JWT-based authentication
• Study Groups: Create, join, and manage groups with owner, admin, member, and guest roles
• Resource Sharing: Upload, categorize, and version study materials; access restricted to group members
• Task Management: Create, assign, and track tasks with deadlines and priorities
• Real-Time Chat: Group and private messaging via WebSockets with persistent chat history
• Scalable Deployment: Runs on Kubernetes with persistent storage and ingress routing

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Architecture

StudyBuddy uses a microservices approach, with each service responsible for a specific domain. Services communicate via REST or WebSockets and are deployed in a Kubernetes cluster on OpenStack (Dalmatian, Ubuntu 24.04), provisioned using Ansible.

View Architecture Diagram

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Microservices

Service	Description	Database	Key Endpoints	Config File
User Management	Registration, login, profile, JWT authentication	MySQL	/api/doRegister, /api/login	user-service-properties
Study Group	Group creation, membership, role management	MySQL	/api/groups	group-service-properties
Resources	Upload/download, categorization, versioning	PostgreSQL	/api/ressources	resources-service-properties
Tasks	CRUD, deadlines, status tracking, group validation	MySQL	/api/tasks	tasks-service-properties
Chat	Real-time messaging, chat history, membership check	MySQL	/api/chat	chat-service-properties

All configuration files are placed in each service’s src/main/resources directory.

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Tech Stack

• Backend: Spring Boot (Java 21)
• Frontend: Angular (served via Kubernetes Ingress)
• Databases: MySQL (User, Group, Tasks, Chat), PostgreSQL (Resources)
• Authentication: JWT (HMAC-SHA256, managed via Kubernetes Secrets)
• Real-Time: Spring WebSockets
• Orchestration: Kubernetes (Pods, Deployments, Services, Ingress)
• Storage: Kubernetes Persistent Volumes (OpenEBS on OpenStack)
• CI/CD: GitHub Actions (self-hosted runner)
• Monitoring: Prometheus, Grafana

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Security

• JWT Authentication: Stateless, short-lived tokens (15–60 min), validated on every request
• Password Hashing: BCrypt for secure credential storage
• Kubernetes Secrets: Encrypted storage for JWT keys and DB credentials
• RBAC: Kubernetes role-based access controls
• TLS: NGINX Ingress controller for HTTPS with TLS termination
• Access Control: Enforced group membership and role-based permissions

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Kubernetes Deployment

StudyBuddy is deployed on a Kubernetes cluster provisioned on OpenStack (Dalmatian, Ubuntu 24.04) using Ansible.

Key Components:

• Pods/Deployments: Run and manage microservice containers
• Services: Stable IPs/DNS for inter-service communication
• Persistent Volumes: OpenEBS-backed storage for databases and files
• Ingress: NGINX controller routes external traffic
• Namespaces: Separate studybuddy-prod and studybuddy-dev
• ConfigMaps/Secrets: Store configuration and sensitive data
• GitHub Actions Runner: Self-hosted for CI/CD

Sample Ingress Configuration:

location ^~ /api/users {
  proxy_pass http://user-service:8083;
  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;
}

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Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

• OpenStack (Dalmatian, Ubuntu 24.04) with Nova, Neutron, Cinder, Keystone, Swift, Placement, Glance, Heat, Horizon
• Kubernetes cluster (deployed via Ansible)
• OpenEBS (Jiva storage class)
• Docker, Git
• MySQL and PostgreSQL (deployed via CI/CD)
• NGINX Ingress Controller
• GitHub Actions self-hosted runner
• GitHub Secrets: KUBE_CONFIG, DOCKER_USERNAME, DOCKER_PASSWORD

Quick Start

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone https://github.com/<your-repo>/studybuddy.git
   cd studybuddy

2. Configure Service Properties

   • Create <service>-properties files in each backend service’s src/main/resources directory.
   • Example for user service:

     spring.datasource.url=jdbc:mysql://mysql:3306/studybuddy_user
     spring.datasource.username=root
     spring.datasource.password=<your-mysql-password>
     jwt.secret=<your-jwt-secret>

3. Set Up Kubernetes Secrets

   kubectl create secret generic studybuddy-secrets \
     --from-literal=jwt-secret=<your-jwt-secret> \
     --from-literal=mysql-password=<your-mysql-password> \
     --from-literal=postgres-password=<your-postgres-password>

4. Deploy with CI/CD

   • Push to the production branch to trigger deployment:

     git push origin production

   • Monitor deployment in GitHub Actions.

5. Verify Deployment

   kubectl get pods -n studybuddy-prod
   kubectl get ingress -n studybuddy-prod

6. Access the Application

   • Open https://studybuddy.example.com in your browser.

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Database Setup

MySQL and PostgreSQL instances are automatically deployed by the CI/CD pipeline for each service. Ensure credentials in <service>-properties match those in Kubernetes Secrets.

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CI/CD

• Pipeline: Defined in .github/workflows/production.yml
• Triggers: Pushes to production branch
• Steps: Deploys databases, builds/pushes Docker images, applies Kubernetes manifests, ensures rollout

Monitor pipeline status in the GitHub Actions tab.

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Monitoring and Troubleshooting

• Monitoring: Prometheus and Grafana dashboards
• Troubleshooting:
  • PVC Not Bound: Check OpenEBS and storage class
  • Runner Offline: Verify runner pod and GitHub registration
  • Deployment Fails: Inspect pod logs and configuration files
  • Database Errors: Check service credentials and DB status
  • OpenStack Issues: Use Horizon and CLI tools for diagnostics

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Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/your-feature)
3. Commit changes with descriptive messages
4. Push to your branch and open a Pull Request

See our Code of Conduct and Contributing Guidelines.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.md for details.

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Project Status

Production-ready as of May 2025, running on OpenStack Dalmatian and Kubernetes.
For issues or feature requests, use GitHub Issues.

Planned enhancements: Resource versioning and ELK Stack logging.