Deploying your Prototype
How do you get started if you just want to build and run your first prototype? Read this page, which is full of hyperlinks to background knowledge you will need in the future if you deploy more often.
What do you need to understand?
We use a docker-platform to run your Ampersand program on virtually any computer. So go ahead and install docker if you don't already have it. You provide (once) a recipe for building (Dockerfile) and a description of the configuration (docker-compose.yml). We'll provide examples for you to adapt.
Your Ampersand prototype will run in a container, which is a virtual machine.
The container is started and stopped by
docker-compose
, which uses a docker-imagethat is built with your Dockerfile and deployed with your docker-compose.yml file.
Run your image from your command-line, using the command
docker-compose up -d
. You can verify that it runs withdocker ps
.Access your application through your browser, using <TODO: Which URL?>
Please watch this video (8 minutes) to see what Docker does to bring up your Ampersand program as a web application on your own machine.
What do you need up front?
You need a computer that runs Docker and that has an internet connection. That lets you generate a Docker image from your Ampersand source code. Then run your program on Docker on localhost.
What do you do to run your Ampersand program?
First, you create a directory in which you will organize your Ampersand (.adl) files and some other stuff. We will refer to this directory as your working directory. In this working directory, make sure you have:
A file called
Dockerfile
, which contains the recipe for creating a Docker imageA file called
docker-compose.yml
, which contains the runtime configuration of the containers running your program.The source code of your Ampersand program, as specified in
Dockerfile
anddocker-compose.yml.
Then from you command line interface run:
docker-compose up -d
Sit back and watch. Don't worry, the second time around Docker downloads much less as it builds up its local image repository.
Deploying
The deployment consists of the following steps:
Copy your
.adl
-file to a working directory on your server.Get two docker-files from internet by executing the following commands:
On servers other than Linux, you may need another command than
wget
, but the files are the same.In the file called
docker-compose.yml
you must specify your own
.adl
-file:
Run docker-compose to deploy your prototype by executing the following command:
Alternatively, if you want your prototype to keep running after you have closed your CLI, execute:
Browse to the web-location
my.server.com
, where the prototype is being served.
Redeploying
After you deploy the first time, you may want to edit your program. Just save the results and redeploy with the command:
If you want to see which images are stored on your local computer, type
In trouble?
Check if there is a firewall that blocks the port from internet. Make sure that port 80 is open for http-traffic.
Check the port settings and adapt
docker-compose.yml
if you must use a port other than port 80.Use a recent browser. We have developed Ampersand on FireFox and tested it on FireFox and Chrome, so you should be fine with one of these two.
If you have trouble with the database (e.g. you cannot login, or do not have the correct authorization), check out the instructions for creating a properly authorized user
ampersand
for the database. As you can see indocker-compose.yml
, the database itself is accessible through port 8080.It is a good idea to deploy your webapplication to localhost for testing. However, if you use a subdomain (e.g. my.ampersand.app.localhost) you will find that your
hosts
-file does not support wildcard redirection. You can do this by installing a local dns server (details on http://passingcuriosity.com/2013/dnsmasq-dev-osx/)
Last updated