Brightbox Gem v2 beta 9 May 08

We’re proud to announce the beta version of our new Brightbox deployment gem. It is available from the Brightbox gem testing repository at http://gems.brightbox.net/testing. You can add this repository to your list by following these instructions.

This gem is a complete rewrite, to take advantage of the latest features of Capistrano and Rails. The Gem works with the current version of Capistrano (2.3) and supports the deployment of Rails 2.x applications.

FEATURES

Deploy with a single command

You can deploy a Rails application onto the Brightbox system with a single command (deploy:initial). We’ve tried to reduce the amount of work required to get an application working. You can follow our simplified initial deployment guide on our wiki

Focus on new deployment

The Brightbox gem is designed to allow you to quickly deploy an application to your new Brightbox. We’ve created sensible defaults for many of the Brightbox command options, and trimmed as much of the fat as we can from the deployment process. But because the gem generates Capistrano files you can tailor this starting point to your exact needs using the full power of Capistrano.

Deploy your working copy

The gem uses the new ‘:none’ scm option in Capistrano that simply zips up the current directory and deploys it on the server. No more messing around with version control security until you’re ready. Just deploy and go.

Automatically creates database configuration

The standard ‘mysql’ command allows you to put the database, username and password in a file called ‘.my.cnf’ in the ‘rails’ user home directory on the server. The mysql command will then read that file and logon to the database directly. If your application is short of a ‘production’ section in its config/database.yml then the recipes will take the contents of ‘.my.cnf’ and create a production section dynamically.

Automatically creates databases and gems

Rails now has rake commands for creating databases and installing required gems. Where these are available the recipes will use them automatically. For Rails 2.0 users we’ve created a simple ’stop gap’ rake task that you can use to specify your required gems.

Separate server and client gems

Once the gem is released all new brightboxes will come with the server gem preinstalled. For older boxes you will need to install the server tools manually. Log into your brightbox and run:

sudo gem install brightbox-server-tools -y --no-ri --no-rdoc

Logs Rotated

The gem asks the operating system to monitor the size of the application logs and rotate them when they get too big or too old. No longer should a neglected log file bring your server to its knees.

Mongrels Cleaned

Mongrel tend to be dirty when it falls over and leaves PID files lying around to trap the unwary. The new gem cleans up dirty PID files before it restarts.

Works alongside Capistrano

We’ve simplified the recipes so that, wherever possible, they augment the existing Capistrano deployment commands we all know and love rather than replacing them. That way your deployments gain the benefits of Capistrano improvements as well as improvements in the Brightbox gem. Free software at its best.

NOW WE NEED YOUR HELP!

We’d like as many Brightbox customers to use the new gem and let us know what they think of it so that we can hone it to perfection. Please give it a go and then pop along to our Brightbox Beta discussion group (http://groups.google.com/group/brightbox-beta) and let us know any feedback or problems.