How to set up Gatling for a Phoenix app deployment?

Follow the README's steps: SSH into an Ubuntu server, install Elixir and Nginx, add the Gatling archive, set up Git remotes, and configure your prod.exs to use the PORT environment variable. Then push to trigger automated releases.

Gatling vs Gigalixir for Phoenix deployments

Gatling is a self-hosted tool for automated deployments on your servers, offering full control but requiring manual setup. Gigalixir is a managed platform with built-in scaling and monitoring, ideal for teams wanting less infrastructure management.

Does Gatling support Docker or Kubernetes?

No, Gatling is designed for traditional server deployments with Nginx and init.d scripts. For containerized environments, you'd need to adapt or use other tools like Distillery directly with Docker.

How to handle database migrations with Gatling?

Use the upgrade callbacks in upgrade.exs to run Ecto migrations before upgrading the service, as shown in the example callback for 'before_upgrade_service' in the README.

What happens if Nginx configuration fails in Gatling?

Gatling automates Nginx setup, but errors may require manual troubleshooting of Nginx configs or server logs, as the tool provides limited debugging for proxy issues beyond basic integration.

Can Gatling deploy multiple Phoenix apps on one server?

Yes, Gatling can manage multiple projects by running 'mix gatling.load' for each app and setting up separate Git remotes, but resource contention and Nginx configs must be handled carefully.

Open-Awesome

gatling

Elixirv1.0.0

A collection of Mix tasks for zero-downtime deployment of Phoenix applications using Distillery releases.

GitHub

493 stars16 forks0 contributors

What is gatling?

Gatling is a deployment tool for Phoenix applications that automates the process of creating Distillery releases and deploying them to servers. It solves the problem of complex, manual deployment setups by providing a streamlined workflow that handles building, configuring, and launching Phoenix apps with zero downtime during upgrades.

Target Audience

Elixir developers and teams building Phoenix applications who want a simple, automated deployment solution they can self-host on their own servers.

Value Proposition

Developers choose Gatling because it provides a Heroku-like deployment experience for Phoenix apps while giving them full control over their infrastructure, with built-in support for zero-downtime upgrades and easy integration with existing deployment workflows.

Overview

Deployment tool for Phoenix apps

Use Cases

Best For

Deploying Phoenix applications to self-managed servers
Implementing zero-downtime deployment for Elixir apps
Automating Distillery release creation and management
Setting up Nginx reverse proxy configurations for Phoenix
Creating custom deployment pipelines with callback hooks
Managing multiple Phoenix app deployments on a single server

Not Ideal For

Teams deploying non-Phoenix Elixir applications or using alternative release tools like Elixir Releases
Projects targeting containerized environments such as Docker or Kubernetes
Developers who prefer fully-managed deployment platforms like Heroku or Gigalixir
Situations requiring complex, multi-server orchestration beyond Gatling's single-server focus

Pros & Cons

Pros

Automated Release Building

Gatling automatically creates Distillery releases from Git pushes, as detailed in the README's deployment instructions, eliminating manual build steps.

Zero-Downtime Hot Upgrades

It performs seamless upgrades to running Phoenix applications without service interruption, which is a core feature highlighted for production reliability.

Integrated Nginx Configuration

The tool automatically sets up Nginx as a reverse proxy, saving time on server setup as shown in the server installation steps.

Flexible Callback Hooks

Provides deploy and upgrade callback hooks (via deploy.exs and upgrade.exs files) for customizing pipelines, allowing integration of asset compilation or database migrations.

Cons

Limited Framework Support

Gatling is specifically designed for Phoenix applications and relies on Distillery for releases, making it unsuitable for other Elixir frameworks or release methods.

Manual Server Setup

The README requires manual installation of Elixir, Nginx, and the Gatling archive on Ubuntu servers, which can be error-prone and time-consuming compared to cloud-based solutions.

Dependency on Legacy Init Systems

It creates init.d scripts for service management, which may not align with modern systems using systemd or container orchestration, limiting flexibility in infrastructure choices.

Open Source Alternative To

gatling is an open-source alternative to the following products:

Heroku

A cloud platform as a service (PaaS) that enables developers to build, run, and operate applications entirely in the cloud.

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