In code blocks, # means root, while $ means non-root user.

Let’s hop onto the server

1. Configure your locales, if they are not set; you want everything to be en_US.UTF-8
2. Follow instructions on elixir-lang.org to install erlang + elixir. NB: Don’t use asdf, it relies on bash aliases that don’t work with deployment scripts. I tried and failed miserably

3. Install nodejs and npm.

    # apt-get install nodejs
    # apt-get install npm
    # ln -s `which nodejs` /usr/bin/node # some npm modules expect the 'node' command to be present
   

4. Install brunch with npm

    # npm install -g brunch
   

5. Locally, open the repository, and check out the .deliver/config file. It contains variables for the users you’re gonna need on the server

    # where to build the release
    BUILD_HOST="xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx"
    BUILD_USER="elixir_build"
    BUILD_AT="/home/$BUILD_USER/$APP/builds"
   
    STAGING_HOSTS="xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx"
    STAGING_USER="elixir_staging"
    TEST_AT="/home/$STAGING_USER/$APP_staging"
   
    PRODUCTION_HOSTS="xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx"
    PRODUCTION_USER="elixir_deploy"
    DELIVER_TO="/home/$PRODUCTION_USER/$APP_live"
   

6. Obviously, feel free to edit the users, and use the set values in the next steps

7. Back on the server, create the user for building the app

    # adduser elixir_build
   

8. Create users for deploying the app (if you are planning to build and run the app on the same server)

    # adduser elixir_staging
    # adduser elixir_deploy
   

9. Authorize your ssh keys for all three users (add your ssh public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys). If you had your key already authorised for the root user, use this:

    # mkdir ~elixir_build/.ssh
    # mkdir ~elixir_staging/.ssh
    # mkdir ~elixir_deploy/.ssh
    # cp ~/.ssh/authorized_keys ~elixir_build/.ssh
    # cp ~/.ssh/authorized_keys ~elixir_staging/.ssh
    # cp ~/.ssh/authorized_keys ~elixir_deploy/.ssh
    # chown -R elixir_build ~/.ssh
    # chown -R elixir_staging ~/.ssh
    # chown -R elixir_deploy ~/.ssh
   

Let’s deploy

That is the basic configuration for an Elixir+Phoenix server! Now, back on your local machine:

    $ mix edeliver build release
    $ mix edeliver deploy release to production

and start the server

    $ mix edeliver start production

Alternatively, you can deploy and start the release in one command

    $ mix edeliver build release
    $ mix edeliver deploy release to production --start-deploy

This is what’s happening behind the curtains:

• mix edeliver build release
  • Push your commits to the $BUILD_HOST server
  • Copy your secrets file onto the server
  • Build a .tar.gz file with all the needed files (including things like compiled assets and secrets)
  • Copy the .tar.gz back in your repo, in gitignored folder
• mix edeliver deploy release to production
  • Copy the .tar.gz file containing your release onto the $PRODUCTION_HOSTS server
  • Unpack this file
• mix edeliver start production
  • Start the release through a single binary, containing all the needed code

After this, you should be able to access http://$PRODUCTION_HOSTS:4000. As a last step, you might want to install nginx to expose the web server on port 80 and proxy your server through HTTPS.