Content with Style - Comments on Deploying PHP applications with Vlad and SVN

Content with Style - Comment #1 on Deploying PHP applications with Vlad and SVN

Sun, 10 May 2009 08:34:32 -0400

I'm very new to developing PHP applications, so I don't quite follow the benefit of deployment tools as you've discussed. I figured it was just as simple as what you had stated at the very beginning of your article. I mean, zip up the directory structures, unzip them onto the server and change 2 config variables to make it function. That's pretty simple in itself... so learning and writing all the code you've provided seems like a bunch of extra coding/debugging. I've picked up writing code on my own as a hobby, so I am very interested in common/standard practices done by professional programmers and developers. I'm very interested in anything you may have to share in response. Thanks.

Content with Style - Comment #2 on Deploying PHP applications with Vlad and SVN

Sun, 10 May 2009 08:49:43 -0400

Speaking for myself, it is never that easy to deploy something. Once the project hits a certain level of complexity, a deployment tool comes in handy to perform tasks that you might not have thought of. Some that come to my mind:

Tagging the release from your version conrol
Bundling up 3rd party software with it
Running unit tests before deployment
Providing a rollback facility
Deploy to multiple server instances

Also keep in mind that in an agile environment one might have to deploy ten times a day onto a test platform, in order to give the testers access to the latest changes. Even if it's just the same zipping up, ssh-ing into the server, unzipping, changing two variables ... it's going to get annoying pretty fast.

Last but not least it's worth mentioning that VLAD is just one flavour of tool, and there are other choices like ANT, PHING or even a straight forward good old shell script

Content with Style - Comment #3 on Deploying PHP applications with Vlad and SVN

Mon, 11 May 2009 11:54:12 -0400

Jason, there's definitely a bunch of extra coding and debugging in this approach, but it's a matter of write once and use in all eternity.

If your sites are updated rarely, or with big anticipation, a deployment tool is a bit of an anti-climax: 5 seconds to open a shell and cd'ing your way to the project, then run the deployment one-liner. On the other hand I deploy something every week, and I want this to take as little time as possible.

There are other benefits, as Pascal said, some projects need more tasks for deployment than others.

Content with Style - Comment #4 on Deploying PHP applications with Vlad and SVN

Tue, 12 May 2009 11:25:52 -0400

Take Pascal Opitz advice about tagging your production release.

And carefull with the rollback. Rolling back an app is not as simple as going back one code release. You have to consider the database structure and data integrity resulting of each new change.

Content with Style - Comment #5 on Deploying PHP applications with Vlad and SVN

Tue, 12 May 2009 12:21:45 -0400

Do you know this other deployment tool for web applications, Fredistrano?

Content with Style - Comment #6 on Deploying PHP applications with Vlad and SVN

Tue, 12 May 2009 14:55:56 -0400

Ha, Fredistrano is definitely a good name. I'll have to check it out at some point.

@Nuno Gomes: This post was about the basics, wait for the next one for some more customization including the possibility to tag your release. I took a lot of stuff out of this example, because getting to this point thoroughly.
I don't need any data integrity checks for my purposes, so I guess I'll have to invest some time in a good example. Let's see.

Content with Style - Comment #7 on Deploying PHP applications with Vlad and SVN

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:14:30 -0400

Aaaand if you've arrived in the comment section because above throws this error:
undefined method `clear_tasks' for Rake:Module
then time has thrown a spanner in the works: I've only been able to resolve this so far by explicitely installing vlad 1.3.2 (as opposed to the now current 1.4.0).

I get the feeling this isn't the end of it, as the message clearly blames rake not vlad, but I'm investigating. If you've got any pointers, leave them here in a comment.

Content with Style - Comment #8 on Deploying PHP applications with Vlad and SVN

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:31:15 -0400

I experienced the same problem with 'clear_tasks' not being defined. To get around this, I put this code in my Rakefile:


module Rake
  def self.remove_task(task_name)
    Rake.application.instance_variable_get('@tasks').delete(task_name.to_s)
  end
end

Rake.remove_task('vlad:update_symlinks')