Example capistrano receipe with bells and whistles. See for details/supported features: http://denmarkin.tumblr.com/post/2667677553/capistrano-receipe-with-bells-and-wistles

deploy.rb

set :application, "myapp"

# github stuff
set :repository,  "[email protected]:exampleAcc/myapp.git"
set :scm, :git
set :scm_username, "github_id"
set :scm_passphrase, "github_password"
set :branch, "dev"
set :git_enable_submodules, 1

set :use_sudo,    false
set :deploy_to,   "/home/user/rails_apps/#{application}"

#server login
set :user, "ssh_login"
set :password, "ssh_password"
set :mysql_user, "mysql_login"
set :mysql_password, "mysql_password"

ssh_options[:forward_agent] = true
default_run_options[:pty] = true # see http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg07323.html for details

server "xx.xx.xx.xx", :app, :web, :db, :primary => true

# gem dependencies
# you should specify versions for each gem, because it expects 2 args
# see http://mislav.uniqpath.com/rails/specify-your-dependencies-with-capistrano/
depend :remote, :gem, "ruby-debug", ">=0.10.4"
depend :remote, :gem, "mysql", ">=2.8.1"
depend :remote, :gem, "acts_as_state_machine", ">=2.2.0"
depend :remote, :gem, "echoe", ">=4.3.1"
depend :remote, :gem, "RedCloth", ">=4.2.3"

# web-server (specific for passenger)
namespace :deploy do
  task :start do ; end
  task :stop do ; end
  task :restart, :roles => :app, :except => { :no_release => true } do
    run "#{try_sudo} touch #{File.join(current_path,'tmp','restart.txt')}"
  end
end

# gems installation
# see http://henrik.nyh.se/2008/10/cap-gems-install-and-a-gem-dependency-gotcha
namespace :gems do
  desc "Install gems"
  task :install, :roles => :app do
    run "cd #{current_release} && #{sudo} rake RAILS_ENV=production gems:install"
  end
end

# database.yml generation
# see http://shanesbrain.net/2007/5/30/managing-database-yml-with-capistrano-2-0
require 'erb'

before "deploy:setup", :db
after "deploy:update_code", "db:symlink" 

namespace :db do
  desc "Create database yaml in shared path" 
  task :default do
    db_config = ERB.new <<-EOF
    base: &base
      adapter: mysql
      socket: /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
      username: #{mysql_user}
      password: #{mysql_password}

    development:
      database: #{application}_dev
      <<: *base

    test:
      database: #{application}_test
      <<: *base

    production:
      database: #{application}_prod
      <<: *base
    EOF

    run "mkdir -p #{shared_path}/config" 
    put db_config.result, "#{shared_path}/config/database.yml" 
  end

  desc "Make symlink for database yaml" 
  task :symlink do
    run "ln -nfs #{shared_path}/config/database.yml #{release_path}/config/database.yml" 
  end
end