Deploying your Ruby on Rails applications has never been easier, thanks to platforms like Heroku, Render, or AWS Elastic Beanstalk. However, the convenience of using these platforms comes at a price. If you're seeking an alternative to those platforms, Kamal is the solution.
In this video, I’ll show you how to use Infrastructure as Code to spin up a server on the cloud using Terraform, and deploy your Rails app onto that new server with ease. I have no doubt that in the coming years, these tools will become the preferred way of deploying Ruby on Rails applications.
*Thanks for watching!*
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You can also check my website for more in-depth articles covering Rails, testing, DevOps, and other software engineering topics: https://dennmart.com/
*Additional resources*
- Get Started With Hetzner Cloud and Terraform for Easy Deployments: https://dennmart.com/articles/get-started-with-hetzner-cloud-and-terraform-for-easy-deployments/
- Deploy Your Rails Applications the Easy Way With Kamal: https://dennmart.com/articles/deploy-your-rails-applications-the-easy-way-with-kamal/
*Chapters:*
0:00 - Introduction
2:56 - Terraform and Kamal: Prerequisites for project
4:07 - Setting up Hetzner Cloud account for Terraform
5:39 - Initial setup of Terraform project
6:24 - Setting up Hetzner Cloud provider for Terraform
7:39 - Setting up Hetzner Cloud API token as Terraform variable
10:30 - Initializing the Terraform project
11:00 - Creating a Hetzner cloud firewall resource with Terraform
15:32 - Previewing and applying infrastructure changes with Terraform
17:04 - Creating a Hetzner Cloud private network with Terraform
19:00 - Creating a Hetzner Cloud private network subnet with Terraform
23:09 - Creating a Hetzner Cloud server with Terraform
31:14 - Handling resource creation order in Terraform
33:26 - Applying changes to create new server
34:54 - Notes on Kamal prerequisites
35:57 - Installing and initializing Kamal
37:19 - Configuring Kamal for deployments
38:26 - Managing different server roles
42:30 - Managing environment variables
44:32 - Managing Docker build configuration
45:55 - Managing accessories (services) for your app
51:34 - Fixing private network ports for accessories
52:08 - Deploying your app for the first time with Kamal
54:32 - Managing future deployments with Kamal
55:12 - Updating environment variables with Kamal
55:52 - Rolling back deployments with Kamal
56:58 - Executing commands on your containers using Kamal
58:47 - Wrapup
*Related Links:*
- Kamal homepage: https://kamal-deploy.org/
- Terraform homepage: https://www.terraform.io/
- Hetzner Cloud homepage: https://www.hetzner.com/cloud/
- Traefik homepage: https://traefik.io/traefik/
- Terraform installation instructions: https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/tutorials/aws-get-started/install-cli
- Docker installation instructions: https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/
- Terraform providers: https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/language/providers
- Hetzner Cloud provider for Terraform: https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hetznercloud/hcloud/latest/docs
- Hetzner Cloud - Server Overview documentation: https://docs.hetzner.com/cloud/servers/overview/
- Hetzner Cloud - Locations documentation: https://docs.hetzner.com/cloud/general/locations/
- Hetzner Cloud - Operating Systems Images documentation: https://docs.hetzner.com/robot/dedicated-server/operating-systems/standard-images/
- Kamal documentation: https://kamal-deploy.org/docs/
- PostgreSQL Docker image: https://hub.docker.com/_/postgres
- Redis Docker image: https://hub.docker.com/_/redis
*Background music used in video:*
- Summer Adventures by SergePavkinMusic: https://pixabay.com/users/sergepavkinmusic-6130722/
*Video clips used in video:*
- Video by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/video/us-dollars-856668/
- Video by Matthias Groeneveld from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-weather-worn-barn-door-and-lock-2618443/