For local testing, the root path used for distribution releases and versions is /tmp/{monitored_app}
. Let's create the required release folders:
export monitored_app_name=myerlangapp
mkdir -p /tmp/${monitored_app_name}/dist/${monitored_app_name}
mkdir -p /tmp/${monitored_app_name}/versions/${monitored_app_name}/local/
Since Elixir is the default language for deployex, it will require set the respective values in the same terminal where deployex will run:
export DEPLOYEX_MONITORED_APP_NAME=myerlangapp
export DEPLOYEX_MONITORED_APP_LANG=erlang
It is important to note that for local deployments, DeployEx will use the path /tmp/deployex
for local storage. This means you can delete the entire folder to reset any local version, history, or configurations.
In this example, we create a brand new erlang app:
rebar3 new release myerlangapp
cd myerlangapp
Open the args file config/vm.args
and add the following lines, removing previous suggestions for sname and cookie. These variables will be injected by DeployEx:
-sname ${RELEASE_NODE}
-setcookie ${RELEASE_COOKIE}
${RELEASE_SSL_OPTIONS}
+K true
+A30
Add the modules inets
and ssl
in the apps/myerlangapp/src/myerlangapp.erl
file. They are required for distribution:
...
{applications, [
kernel,
stdlib,
inets, # <----
ssl # <----
]},
...
Integrate the rebar3 appup plugin adding the following commands at rebar.config
:
{plugins, [rebar3_appup_plugin]}.
{provider_hooks, [
{pre, [{tar, {appup, tar}}]},
{post, [{compile, {appup, compile}},
{clean, {appup, clean}}]}
]}.
Change the prod
profile at rebar.config
. This is required for rebar3 appup plugin:
{profiles, [
%% prod is the default mode when prod
%% profile is used, so does not have
%% to be explicitly included like this
{prod, [
{relx, [
{dev_mode, false},
{include_erts, true}
%% use minimal mode to exclude ERTS
%% {mode, minimal}
]}
]}
]}.
Let's create a simple gen_server that prints its version message every second. Create the file apps/myerlangapp/src/myerlangapp.erl
and populate with:
-module(myerlangapp).
-behaviour(gen_server).
%% API
-export([start_link/0, stop/0]).
%% gen_server callbacks
-export([init/1, handle_call/3, handle_cast/2, handle_info/2, terminate/2, code_change/3]).
%% Starts the GenServer
start_link() ->
gen_server:start_link(?MODULE, [], []).
%% Stops the GenServer
stop() ->
gen_server:cast(?MODULE, stop).
%% Initialization
init([]) ->
timer_send_message(),
{ok, #{}}.
%% Handles synchronous calls
handle_call(_Request, _From, State) ->
{reply, ok, State}.
%% Handles asynchronous casts
handle_cast(stop, State) ->
{stop, normal, State}.
%% Handles info messages
handle_info(timeout, State) ->
{_Name, _Description, Version} = lists:keyfind(myerlangapp, 1, application:loaded_applications()),
io:format("Version: ~s printed every second~n", [Version]),
timer_send_message(),
{noreply, State};
handle_info(_Info, State) ->
{noreply, State}.
%% Timer to send a message every second
timer_send_message() ->
erlang:send_after(1000, self(), timeout).
%% Clean up on termination
terminate(_Reason, _State) ->
ok.
%% Code change callback
code_change(_OldVsn, State, _Extra) ->
{ok, State}.
Add the gen_server to the supervisor apps/myerlangapp/src/myerlangapp_sup.erl
:
init([]) ->
SupFlags = #{
strategy => one_for_all,
intensity => 0,
period => 1
},
ChildSpecs = [#{id => myerlangapp,
start => {myerlangapp, start_link, []},
restart => permanent,
type => worker,
shutdown => brutal_kill} ],
{ok, {SupFlags, ChildSpecs}}.
Then you can compile and generate a release
rebar3 as prod release
rebar3 as prod tar
Pack the release and move it to the distributed folder and updated the version:
export app_name=myerlangapp
cp _build/prod/rel/${app_name}/${app_name}-0.1.0.tar.gz /tmp/${app_name}/dist/${app_name}
echo "{\"version\":\"0.1.0\",\"pre_commands\": [],\"hash\":\"local\"}" | jq > /tmp/${app_name}/versions/${app_name}/local/current.json
Move back to the DeployEx project and run the command line with the required ENV vars.
NOTE: All env vars that are available for DeployEx will also be available to the monitored_app
export DEPLOYEX_MONITORED_APP_NAME=myerlangapp
export DEPLOYEX_MONITORED_APP_LANG=erlang
export SECRET_KEY_BASE=e4CXwPpjrAJp9NbRobS8dXmOHfn0EBpFdhZlPmZo1y3N/BzW9Z/k7iP7FjMk+chi
export PHX_SERVER=true
iex --sname deployex --cookie cookie -S mix phx.server
...
[info] Update is needed at instance: 1 from: <no current set> to: 0.1.0
[warning] HOT UPGRADE version NOT DETECTED, full deployment required, result: []
[info] Full deploy instance: 1 deploy_ref: psukd1
[info] Initialising monitor server for instance: 1
[info] Ensure running requested for instance: 1 version: 0.1.0
[info] # Identified executable: /tmp/deployex/varlib/service/myerlangapp/1/current/bin/myerlangapp
[info] # Starting application
[info] # Running instance: 1, monitoring pid = #PID<0.790.0>, OS process = 22952 deploy_ref: psukd1
[info] # Application instance: 1 is running
[info] # Moving to the next instance: 2
...
iex(deployex@hostname)1>
You should then visit the application and check it is running localhost:5001. Since you are not using mTLS, the dashboard should look like this:
You can also click in the stdout log button of myerlangapp
to check the following message is being printed:
Note
The OTP-Nodes are connected, but the mTLS is not supported. The mTLS can be enabled and it will be covered ahead. Leave this terminal running and open a new one to compile and release the monitored app.
In this scenario, the existing application will undergo termination, paving the way for the deployment of the new one. It's crucial to maintain the continuous operation of DeployEx throughout this process. Navigate to the myerlangapp
project and increment the version in the apps/myerlangapp/src/myerlangapp.app.src
and rebar.config
files to 0.1.1
- Remove any previously generated files and generate a new release
rm -rf _build/
rebar3 as prod release
rebar3 as prod tar
- Now, keep DeployEx running in another terminal and copy the release file to the distribution folder and proceed to update the version accordingly:
export app_name=myerlangapp
cp _build/prod/rel/${app_name}/${app_name}-0.1.1.tar.gz /tmp/${app_name}/dist/${app_name}
echo "{\"version\":\"0.1.1\",\"pre_commands\": [],\"hash\":\"local\"}" | jq > /tmp/${app_name}/versions/${app_name}/local/current.json
- You should then see the following messages in the DeployEx terminal while updating the app:
[info] Update is needed at instance: 1 from: 0.1.0 to: 0.1.1
[warning] HOT UPGRADE version NOT DETECTED, full deployment required, result: []
[info] Full deploy instance: 1 deploy_ref: oxnnwu
[info] Requested instance: 1 to stop application pid: #PID<0.790.0>
[info] Initialising monitor server for instance: 1
[info] Ensure running requested for instance: 1 version: 0.1.1
[info] # Identified executable: /tmp/deployex/varlib/service/myerlangapp/1/current/bin/myerlangapp
[info] # Starting application
[info] # Running instance: 1, monitoring pid = #PID<0.852.0>, OS process = 23812 deploy_ref: oxnnwu
[info] # Application instance: 1 is running
[info] # Moving to the next instance: 2
...
DeployEx is capable of executing hot upgrades using only the appup files. The Rebar3 appup plugin is capable of generating appup and relup files, but for compatibility, we are going to generate only the application appup files (excluding OTP, libraries, etc) and save the appup
file in the priv/appup
folder.
[!ATTENTION] The Rebar3 appup plugin is not fully operation when using different profiles like
prod
, for this reason, we are going to use the default profile ONLY for creating the appup file and copy it to thepriv/appup
folder which will then be packed with theprod
profile.
Create the folder (if doesn't exist) where the appup file will be stored and build the default
release for the version 0.1.1
(This is the version where you want to upgrade from):
export app_name=myerlangapp
mkdir -p "apps/${app_name}/priv/appup"
rm -rf _build/
rebar3 release # Creating release for the version that will be upgrade from (default profile)
Update the project repository and/or make the changes for your app. Afterward, increment the version in both the apps/myerlangapp/src/myerlangapp.app.src
and rebar.config
files to 0.1.2
. As suggestion, you can add the following print in the code_change
function of the gen_server
at apps/myerlangapp/src/myerlangapp.erl
:
%% Code change callback
code_change(_OldVsn, State, _Extra) ->
io:format("( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯ Hot code reloading happening here"),
{ok, State}.
Let's then generate the 0.1.2
release with the appup file:
export app_name=myerlangapp
rebar3 as prod release
rebar3 as prod appup generate --previous "${PWD}/_build/default/rel/myerlangapp" --target_dir "${PWD}/apps/${app_name}/priv/appup"
# ===> current base dir: "/home/ubuntu/myerlangapp/_build/default"
# ===> app myerlangapp ebin dir: "/home/ubuntu/myerlangapp/_build/default/lib/myerlangapp/ebin"
# ===> Generated appup ("0.1.1" <-> "0.1.2") for myerlangapp in "/home/ubuntu/myerlangapp/apps/myerlangapp/priv/appup/myerlangapp.appup"
rebar3 as prod tar
Copy the files in the respective folders:
export app_name=myerlangapp
cp _build/prod/rel/${app_name}/${app_name}-0.1.2.tar.gz /tmp/${app_name}/dist/${app_name}
echo "{\"version\":\"0.1.2\",\"pre_commands\": [],\"hash\":\"local\"}" | jq > /tmp/${app_name}/versions/${app_name}/local/current.json
you can check in the logs that the Hotupgrade was executed with success:
you can also restart the application to check that the hotupgrade persisted.
In order to improve security, mutual TLS (mTLS
for short) can be employed to encrypt communication during OTP distribution. To implement this, follow these steps:
- Generate the necessary certificates, DeployEx has a good examples of how to create self-signed tls certificates:
cd deployex
make tls-distribution-certs
- Copy the generated certificates to the
/tmp
folder:
cp ca.crt /tmp
cp deployex.crt /tmp
cp deployex.key /tmp
- Create the
inet_tls.conf
file with the appropriate paths, utilizing the command found inrel/env.sh.eex
in deployex project:
export DEPLOYEX_OTP_TLS_CERT_PATH=/tmp
test -f /tmp/inet_tls.conf || (umask 277
cd /tmp
cat >inet_tls.conf <<EOF
[
{server, [
{certfile, "${DEPLOYEX_OTP_TLS_CERT_PATH}/deployex.crt"},
{keyfile, "${DEPLOYEX_OTP_TLS_CERT_PATH}/deployex.key"},
{cacertfile, "${DEPLOYEX_OTP_TLS_CERT_PATH}/ca.crt"},
{verify, verify_peer},
{secure_renegotiate, true}
]},
{client, [
{certfile, "${DEPLOYEX_OTP_TLS_CERT_PATH}/deployex.crt"},
{keyfile, "${DEPLOYEX_OTP_TLS_CERT_PATH}/deployex.key"},
{cacertfile, "${DEPLOYEX_OTP_TLS_CERT_PATH}/ca.crt"},
{verify, verify_peer},
{secure_renegotiate, true},
{server_name_indication, disable}
]}
].
EOF
)
- To enable
mTLS
for DeployEx, set the appropriate Erlang options before running the application in the terminal:
ELIXIR_ERL_OPTIONS="-proto_dist inet_tls -ssl_dist_optfile /tmp/inet_tls.conf -setcookie cookie" iex --sname deployex -S mix phx.server
After implementing these changes, create and publish a new version, 0.1.3
, for myerlangapp
. Then, run DeployEx using the command from item 4. After deployment, you should see the following dashboard: