Deployment for dummies

Rails
#1

Any tutorials for windows users on how to deploy on a VPS like
rimuhosting? All the tutorials I’ve read assume Apache and Linux
knowledge. There was no answer on the rimuhosting forums. I just want
to get Mongrel up and running and make it accessible from my domain
name. Thanks in advance!

#2

Wow, I started writing this and it does rely on a certain amount of
linux and
apache configuration. I’ve been impressed with RimuHosting’s ability and
willingness to help but it sounds like you need a shared host more than
a
VPS if you’re just trying to get your feet wet with a single mongrel.

If you wanna keep going, people who help you will need to know what
linux
distro you selected and whether you asked for a rails stack to be
installed.

Taylor S.-2 wrote:

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#3
  1. I used the default Linux distribution, though I cannot find details
  2. The rails stack was installed.

A book or website link would be fine! I know what PuTTy, SSH, etc. is
but haven’t really used it much. How does one learn this usually from
outside Linux-world?

#4

ssh is the first essential tool you will need. The syntax is:

ssh -p [email protected]

You can normally omit the -p argument. Since you are on Windows,
consider
OpenSSH:

http://sshwindows.sourceforge.net/

Once you are on the server, you can set up your directories. One typical
directory tree places all Web stuff in /var/www, so:

cd /var/www
mkdir rails
cd rails
mkdir myfirstapp

Ok, you are good to go. Ctrl+D to exit.

Next, on your Windows box:

c:\some\place\you\develop: gem install capistrano
c:\some\place\you\develop: cap --apply-to myfirstapp

Now read this:

http://wiki.rubyonrails.org/rails/pages/Capistrano

If you are not using Subversion, you will have a much harder, uphill
climb.

Finally, back on the linux box, edit (emacs or vim)
/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf and stick this at the end:

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName www.myfirstapp.com
ServerAlias myfirstapp.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/rails/myfirstapp/current/public
ProxyRequests off
ProxyPass / http://localhost:10020/
ProxyPassReverse / http://localhost:10020
ProxyPreserveHost on

Save it.

Now type:

apachectl -t

This will syntax check your apache configuration file. Assuming that’s
ok:

apachectl graceful

Now all that’s left is to go to the directory where you put your rails
app:

cd /var/www/rails/myfirstapp/current
mongrel_rails start -p 10020 -e production -d

I probably forgot a few things, but this is a scratchpad version of how
I
typically set things up. You’ll want to tweak your initialization
sequence
so the mongrel restarts at reboot, but that’s a subject for another day.

As I said, you chose a complex topic.

Taylor S.-2 wrote:

Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

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#5

Thanks for all of your help! I’m starting to get the hang of things,
after botching a MySQL 5.0 upgrade and getting tech support
intervention. (^_^) After a lot of wrangling I have it up and running
on an IP address. I can’t seem to get it to forward from the domain
name, though. Here is what I did:

  1. set the nameservers to that of my host
  2. added “A” Zone -> “buwatercooler.org points to 72.249.22.50” (not
    necessary)
  3. edited apache’s httpd.conf to:

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName www.buwatercooler.org
ServerAlias buwatercooler.org
DocumentRoot /var/www/rails/watercooler
ProxyRequests off
ProxyPass / http://localhost:3000/
ProxyPassReverse / http://localhost:3000
ProxyPreserveHost on

  1. set up mongrel:

mongrel_rails start -p 3000 production -d

Still won’t resolve at “www.buwatercooler.org” but “72.249.22.50:3000”
will. What have I missed? Thanks!

#6

if you want something that’s a little more turnkey you might wanna try
any of the following in no particular order:

  • the deprec gem that’ll setup an ubuntu box for you for rails - you
    can use this on hosts like rimu and slicehost
  • railsmachine.com - you manage your own VPS but they start you off
    with a working config
  • engineyard.com - they manage your app for you own a VPS and is
    definitely the ferrari of the rails hosting world

Hope that helps.

-Michael
http://javathehutt.blogspot.com

#7

Taylor S. wrote:

This issue has been resolved but I can now only access my site through
“buwatercooler.org” and not “www.buwatercooler.org” - this may confuse
visitors. How can I add www. as a valid path?

Resolved. Thanks for all the help!

#8

This issue has been resolved but I can now only access my site through
“buwatercooler.org” and not “www.buwatercooler.org” - this may confuse
visitors. How can I add www. as a valid path?