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Deploy A Rails App

Step 1: Use git

If your prompt doesn't already show that you are (still) in the test_app folder

Type this in the terminal:
cd test_app
Type this in the terminal:
git init
Expected result:
Initialized empty Git repository in c:/Sites/railsbridge/test_app/.git/
Type this in the terminal:
git add -A

With Git, there are usually many ways to do very similar things.

  • git add foo.txt adds a file named foo.txt
  • git add . ("git add dot") adds all new files and changed files, but keeps files that you've deleted
  • git add -A adds everything, including deletions

"Adding deletions" may sound weird, but if you think of a version control system as keeping track of changes, it might make more sense.

Type this in the terminal:
git commit -m "initial commit"
Expected result:
a lot of lines like create mode 100644 Gemfile
Type this in the terminal:
git log
Expected result:
(Your git name and "initial commit" message.)

Step 2: Deploy your app to Heroku

Step 2.1: Create a Heroku application from this local Rails application.

The very first time you use heroku you must enter your Heroku email address and password. Your password may not be shown as you type it, but don't worry, it's being entered! If you have already provided your credentials before, you won't be prompted for them again.

Type this in the terminal:
heroku create
Expected result:
Enter your Heroku credentials.
Email: myemail@example.com
Password:
Uploading ssh public key /Users/smei/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
Creating floating-winter-18... done, stack is cedar
http://floating-winter-18.heroku.com/ | git@heroku.com:floating-winter-18.git
Git remote heroku added

Heroku apps are automatically given lyrical names that look like '[adjective]-[noun]-[number]'. Each name is different.

Type this in the terminal:
git remote show
Expected result:
heroku

If you get messages here complaining about public keys it's probably due to some confusion with SSH key usage by another app on your computer. Call a volunteer over to help you figure it out. Luckily this only needs to be done the first time you create a Heroku app.

Step 2.2: Prepare your rails app for deploying to Heroku

Launch your text editor and open the "Gemfile" file located inside of your test_app folder. (On Windows, this should be in C:\Sites\railsbridge\test_app and on Linux/OS X, it should be under ~/railsbridge/test_app.)

Inside this file, change the line:

gem 'sqlite3'

To this:

group :development, :test do
  gem 'sqlite3'
end

group :production do
  gem 'pg', '~> 0.18'
end

Save the file.

When you saved the file, your text editor may have added colors to the code, much like the example above. It recognizes the file contains Ruby, and will mark up different kinds of words with different colors. This is called "syntax highlighting", which makes it easier to read code.

Why Sqlite (sqlite3) and PostgreSQL (pg)?

SQLite and PostgreSQL are different kinds of databases. We're using SQLite for our development and test environments because it's simple to install. We're using PostgreSQL in our production environment because Heroku has done the hard work of installing it for us and it's more powerful than SQLite. We have separate test, development and production databases by default in Rails.

Type this in the terminal:
gem install bundler
Approximate expected result:
Successfully installed bundler-1.14.3
1 gem installed
The greyed-out text may differ and is not important.
Type this in the terminal:
bundle install --without production

Again, wait for the console prompt, and look for the 'Bundle complete!' message just above.

Step 2.3: Set the root route

Use your editor to open the file routes.rb (C:\sites\railsbridge\test_app\config\routes.rb or ~/railsbridge/test_app/config/routes.rb) and find the line containing:

Rails.application.routes.draw do

After this line, add a new line with the following:

root 'drinks#index'

Save the file.

Step 2.4: Add the changes to git

Before running the following command (to add to your local git repository), make sure that you are in the test_app directory.

Type this in the terminal:
git add .
Type this in the terminal:
git commit -m "Updates for heroku deployment"

Step 2.5: Deploy (push) to heroku

Type this in the terminal:
git push heroku master

It may ask: "The authenticity of host 'heroku.com (75.101.145.87)' can't be established. RSA key fingerprint is 8b:48:5e:67:0e:c9:16:47:32:f2:87:0c:1f:c8:60:ad. Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?" Type yes and hit enter.

Expected result:
The authenticity of host 'heroku.com (75.101.145.87)' can't be established.
RSA key fingerprint is 8b:48:5e:67:0e:c9:16:47:32:f2:87:0c:1f:c8:60:ad.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes
Warning: Permanently added 'heroku.com,75.101.145.87' (RSA) to the list of known hosts.
Counting objects: 60, done.
Compressing objects: 100% (54/54), done.
Writing objects: 100% (60/60), 79.03 KiB, done.
Total 60 (delta 10), reused 0 (delta 0)

-----> Heroku receiving push
-----> Rails app detected
       Compiled slug size is 080K
-----> Launching...... done
       App deployed to Heroku

To git@heroku.com:floating-winter-18.git
 * [new branch]      master -> master

Be sure to find and learn your Heroku application name in the output.

This process will probably take about twice as long as your 'bundle install' and then will return you to your console prompt. If it takes longer than that, talk to a TA.

Type this in the terminal:
heroku run rails db:migrate
Expected result:
Migrating to CreateDrinks (20160706063236)
==  20160706063236 CreateDrinks: migrating =====================================
-- create_table(:drinks)
   -> 0.0084s
==  20160706063236 CreateDrinks: migrated (0.0085s) ============================

The long number after CreateDrinks is a timestamp. Yours will be different!

Step 2.6: Visit your new application

Now that the app is deployed, you can visit it in a browser.

To quickly open your heroku application in a browser

Type this in the terminal:
heroku open

The URL for your app is application-name.heroku.com -- something like floating-winter-18.heroku.com.

Verify you see the welcome page. Leave this browser window open.

Create and save a new drink to verify you can write to the database on Heroku.

If you want to see a little more info about your app, you can run heroku info.

Next Step:

Go on to Get A Sticker