Ubuntu Rails Deploy

This is a walkthrough for deploying a Rails app on an Ubuntu Server with Nginx, Passenger, Postgres, and DelayedJob.

Basic required packages

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install curl git nodejs

Install RVM and Ruby 2.1.3

This app requires RVM to manage Ruby versions and gemsets. You can install RVM and Ruby 2.1.3 with the following:

gpg --keyserver hkp://keys.gnupg.net --recv-keys D39DC0E3
\curl -sSL https://get.rvm.io | bash -s stable
source ~/.rvm/scripts/rvm
rvm requirements # This will take a while...
rvm install ruby-x.x.x
rvm rvmrc warning ignore allGemfiles
gem install bundler

Install and configure postgres

sudo apt-get install postgresql postgresql-contrib libpq-dev

sudo su postgres -c psql
postgres=# CREATE ROLE <username> SUPERUSER LOGIN;
postgres=# \q

Install the Rails project

First, you need to clone the repository and cd into it.

git clone https://url-for-git-repo.com/git-user/project-name.git && cd project-name

Then install the gem dependencies:

bundle --without development test # This will take a while...

And copy over the configuration files:

cp config/application.yml.sample config/application.yml
cp config/database.yml.sample config/database.yml

It is also advisable to run the test suite as a sanity test (if doing so run $ bundle --without development):

rspec

Running the app

rails s

Troubleshooting Postgres

Locales

If PG complains about your locale see https://gist.github.com/turboladen/6790847

Peer Authentication

If PG fails for authentication see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2942485/psql-fatal-ident-authentication-failed-for-user-postgres

Create, migrate, and seed the database

rake db:create RAILS_ENV=production
rake db:migrate RAILS_ENV=production
rake db:seed RAILS_ENV=production
rake assets:precompile

Install and configure Passenger

gem install passenger
rvmsudo passenger-install-nginx-module

Here, the install may complain about missing dependencies. You will need to install them and then execute rvmsudo passenger-install-nginx-module to restart the installation.

Configuring nginx

sudo nano /opt/nginx/conf/nginx.conf

Add the following to server block:

http {
  # ...
  server {
    # ...
    passenger_enabled on; 
    root /path/to/project-name/public;
    # ...
  }
  # ...
}

Which nginx

If you have nginx in /usr/bin, you will need rename it and link the nginx that was installed by passenger-install-nginx-module

cd /usr/sbin
mv nginx nginx.dist
ln -s /opt/nginx/sbin/nginx .

Update crontab

Cron jobs are used for a few background tasks that keep the UI up to date with the VC, you can add them to a crontab with:

whenever --update-cron projectname

Compile the assets (CSS, images, and Javascripts)

This will minify, uglify, and concatenate static assets so they're ready to be served up by the app.

rake assets:precompile

Run the nginx service

sudo service nginx start

Installation complete

That's it, now open your browser and navigate the the IP specified in the nginx conf.

johno/ubuntu-rails-deploy.md