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The dependable production layout is straightforward: Capistrano connects to a Linux server over SSH and prepares each Rails release, Puma runs the application under a service manager, and Nginx accepts public HTTP or HTTPS traffic before proxying dynamic requests to Puma through a Unix socket. The socket, shared files, service unit, database permissions and Nginx configuration must all agree. Once those pieces are aligned, a deployment is the repeatable command cap production deploy, with rollback and health checks available when a release fails.
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What each component does
These tools solve different problems, so replacing one with another usually creates an operational gap:
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- Capistrano is Ruby, Rake and SSH-based deployment automation. It checks the server, creates a new release directory, links persistent files, installs dependencies, runs enabled Rails tasks, updates the
currentsymlink and invokes service hooks. Capistrano is framework-agnostic; the Rails integration adds Rails migrations and asset tasks. - Puma is the application server that loads Rails and handles dynamic requests. Puma is the default server for Rails and is included in a generated Rails Gemfile. Use
bundle exec pumawhen the application depends on the bundled Puma version or its configuration. - Nginx is the public reverse proxy. It terminates HTTP or TLS, serves suitable static files, preserves forwarding information and passes application requests to Puma.
- systemd (or another supervisor) keeps Puma running after Capistrano exits, restarts it after a crash and starts it after a reboot. A deployment tool alone is not a process supervisor.
A typical request travels from a browser to Nginx, then over a local Unix socket to Puma, and finally into Rails. Capistrano changes which release Puma runs, while the shared directory preserves state that must survive releases.
Prerequisites on the VPS
Start with a supported Linux distribution and a restricted deploy account rather than deploying as root. Give that account SSH access using a key, grant only the permissions it needs for the application directory and service operations, and keep administrative access separate.
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- Install the Ruby version required by the application and a matching Bundler version.
- Install Git, a compiler toolchain and the libraries required by native gems.
- Install Node.js and the package manager or JavaScript build tooling required by the Rails version and asset pipeline.
- Install Nginx, systemd (normally provided by the distribution), and a database client library appropriate to the chosen database.
- Create the deployment path, for example
/var/www/myapp, and make sure the deploy user and the Nginx worker have the required directory traversal and socket permissions. - Configure a firewall, time synchronization, SSH key authentication and log rotation before exposing the host publicly.
Package names and supported Ruby or Node releases vary by distribution and Rails version. Confirm them against the current operating-system, Ruby, Rails and database documentation instead of copying a package list from an unrelated server.
Prepare the Rails project for Capistrano
Add the deployment gems
Add Capistrano and the Rails integration to the development group in the Gemfile, then install the bundle:
group :development do
gem "capistrano"
gem "capistrano-rails"
gem "capistrano-puma"
end
bundle install
bundle exec cap installThe generator creates the standard Capfile, config/deploy.rb and stage files under config/deploy. Keep deployment configuration in version control, but do not commit production secrets.
Load the required Capistrano tasks
Require the task integrations in Capfile. The require statements belong in Capfile, not randomly in a stage file:
require "capistrano/setup"
require "capistrano/deploy"
require "capistrano/bundler"
require "capistrano/rails"
require "capistrano/puma"
# Load custom tasks only after the standard integrations.The Rails integration supplies asset and migration tasks. Whether they run is controlled by the deployment configuration and your release policy.
Configure the application and production stage
Base deployment settings
In config/deploy.rb, define an application name, repository, deployment path and persistent paths. The exact repository URL and branch are application-specific:
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set :application, "myapp"
set :repo_url, "[email protected]:your-org/myapp.git"
set :deploy_to, "/var/www/myapp"
set :branch, ENV.fetch("BRANCH", "main")
append :linked_dirs,
"log",
"tmp/pids",
"tmp/cache",
"tmp/sockets",
"vendor/bundle",
"public/uploads"
append :linked_files,
"config/database.yml",
"config/master.key"
set :keep_releases, 5Use your real repository and branch policy. A repository that requires a deploy key must be readable by the deploy account. keep_releases controls how many old releases remain available for rollback; it does not replace backups.
Define the server and roles
In config/deploy/production.rb, assign the server and roles:
server "app.example.com",
user: "deploy",
roles: %w[app db web],
primary: true
set :rails_env, "production"
For a single VPS, one host can carry all three roles. In a multi-server setup, separate application, database and web responsibilities and mark one database role as primary if migrations are enabled. Do not run migrations concurrently from every app host.
Choose migration and asset policy deliberately
Automatic migrations make a normal release convenient, but a migration that locks a large table or removes a column can interrupt old and new code. A safer policy is to make schema changes backward-compatible, deploy code that works with both schemas, run the migration in a controlled window, and remove old columns in a later release. If your team requires approval, disable automatic migration execution and run the migration as a separately reviewed Capistrano task.
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Asset compilation also consumes deployment time and needs the JavaScript toolchain and environment variables on the server. If assets are built in CI, ship the resulting artifacts instead; otherwise ensure the deploy user can run the Rails asset task and write the release’s asset directories.
Understand shared state and release directories
Capistrano creates immutable, disposable release directories below releases and points current at the active one. Anything written only inside a release disappears when that release is removed. Persistent data belongs in shared and is linked into each release.
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| State | Typical path | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Application logs | shared/log |
Keep logs across releases and let log rotation manage them. |
| Runtime files | shared/tmp/pids, shared/tmp/sockets, shared/tmp/cache |
Store process IDs, the Puma socket and disposable cache data outside releases. |
| Bundled gems | shared/vendor/bundle |
Avoid reinstalling every gem into every release. |
| Uploads | An application-specific shared upload directory | User files must not vanish on the next deploy. |
| Configuration | shared/config/database.yml, shared/config/master.key and other secret files |
Keep credentials and environment-specific values out of Git. |
Create the shared files before the first deployment, set ownership and restrictive permissions, and verify that the Rails process can read them. If your application uses secrets.yml or another external configuration file, add it to linked_files as well.
Configure Puma behind Nginx
Set an explicit Unix socket
The Capistrano-Puma integration should bind Puma to a socket in the shared directory so every release uses the same endpoint:
set :puma_bind, "unix://#{shared_path}/tmp/sockets/puma.sock"With current capistrano-puma 6 behavior, make this binding explicit rather than relying on an inferred default. The socket directory must exist, and its ownership and mode must allow the Nginx worker to connect. A path typo, a stale socket or an inaccessible parent directory produces proxy errors even when Puma itself is healthy.
Choose Puma’s configuration file
Puma looks first for an environment-specific file such as config/puma/production.rb, then falls back to config/puma.rb. Keep the file in the repository when it is safe to version it. Put secrets and host-specific values in environment variables or a shared file rather than embedding them in the Puma configuration.
Set worker, thread and preload values from measured application behavior and available memory. The deployment pattern has no universal throughput, latency or memory number; benchmark your own workload before changing concurrency.
Install and supervise the service
Capistrano-Puma provides tasks that install or update a systemd service and supports phased restarts. Run the integration’s install task for the service scope you selected, then inspect the generated unit on the target host. Unit-file location and user-versus-system scope vary by integration version, so do not assume that a service name or path from another version applies unchanged.
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bundle exec cap production puma:systemd:installAfter installation, check the actual unit name and use it in your operational commands:
systemctl --user status puma-myapp
journalctl --user -u puma-myapp -n 100 --no-pagerIf the integration installed a system-level unit instead, omit --user and use the generated service name. Enable the service for boot according to that unit’s instructions. A service should run as the restricted deploy or application user, not as root.
Configure Nginx as the public reverse proxy
Nginx should listen on the public HTTP and, when configured, HTTPS endpoints. It can serve fingerprinted files from the Rails public directory and forward dynamic requests to the exact Puma socket configured above. A minimal shape is:
server {
listen 80;
server_name app.example.com;
root /var/www/myapp/current/public;
location /assets/ {
try_files $uri =404;
access_log off;
add_header Cache-Control "public, max-age=31536000, immutable";
}
location / {
proxy_pass http://unix:/var/www/myapp/shared/tmp/sockets/puma.sock:
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
proxy_read_timeout 60s;
}
}Adapt the hostname, root and timeout to the application. The exact Unix-socket proxy_pass syntax is sensitive to punctuation; validate the configuration rather than assuming this example is ready to paste into every Nginx version. Make sure Nginx can traverse /var/www/myapp/shared/tmp/sockets and connect to the socket.
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Before reloading Nginx, run nginx -t. Reload only after the syntax test succeeds. Inspect the Nginx error log when requests return 502 or 504.
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Run the first deployment
- Push the versioned Capistrano files, Puma configuration and application code to the repository.
- On the server, create the shared directories and files, set ownership and permissions, and verify the deploy key can read the repository.
- Confirm that the database exists, the deploy or migration role has the required privileges, and production credentials are available through the shared files or environment.
- Install or update the Puma systemd unit with the capistrano-puma task, then verify the generated unit’s user, working directory, environment and socket path.
- Install the Nginx server block, run
nginx -t, and reload Nginx only after a successful test. - From a workstation with the repository and bundle available, run:
bundle exec cap production deployDuring the run, Capistrano checks prerequisites, fetches the selected revision, creates the release, links shared state, installs Bundler dependencies, executes enabled Rails asset and migration tasks, updates current and invokes Puma hooks. Read the output instead of treating a zero exit code from a wrapper script as proof that the application is healthy.
Keep releases available without interrupting traffic
A full stop, symlink switch and start can interrupt requests. The Puma integration’s phased-restart support is intended to replace workers gradually so existing requests can finish while new workers load the new release. It reduces interruption risk, but it does not make incompatible database changes safe and it cannot hide a boot failure.
- Use phased restarts when the application and database schema remain compatible during the transition.
- Use a full restart when changing process-wide settings that phased restart cannot safely reload, or when a clean process replacement is more important than continuity.
- Test the hook on staging and observe old and new workers during a deployment.
- Keep a known-good release and database backup available; zero-downtime process replacement is not a substitute for rollback planning.
Verify every production release
Verification should be a checklist, not a single browser refresh:
- Confirm the Capistrano output identifies the intended branch, revision and release directory.
- Check the generated service status and recent journal entries for Puma boot errors, missing credentials, failed gem loads or socket problems.
- Run
nginx -tand inspect access and error logs. - Request the health endpoint locally and through the public hostname. Verify the response code, HTTPS redirect and forwarded scheme.
- Exercise database-backed pages, background-job enqueueing, file uploads and any external services required by the application.
- Open a fingerprinted asset and confirm that Nginx serves it from the expected release.
- Check Rails, Puma, Nginx and system logs for a short period after the deploy, not just during the command.
- In staging, perform a rollback and confirm that the previous release boots with the currently supported database schema.
Rollback and recovery
If the new code is defective but the database remains compatible, use Capistrano’s rollback task to repoint current to a retained release and restart Puma through the configured hook:
bundle exec cap production deploy:rollbackCheck the task output and service logs, then exercise the health endpoint again. A rollback cannot undo an irreversible schema migration. For database changes, use backward-compatible migrations, restore from a tested backup when necessary, and document the recovery decision before attempting it under pressure.
Diagnose common failures
Capistrano cannot connect over SSH
- Verify the deploy user, host, SSH key, known-host entry and repository access separately.
- Confirm the server’s Ruby and Bundler versions satisfy the project bundle.
- Run Capistrano with verbose SSH output in a non-production environment; do not broaden permissions blindly.
Nginx returns 502 Bad Gateway
- Check that Puma is active and listening on the socket path printed by the service configuration.
- Compare Nginx’s
proxy_passpath character-for-character withpuma_bind. - Inspect socket ownership, mode and every parent directory’s execute permission.
- Remove only a demonstrably stale socket after stopping the service; never delete a live socket to mask a process problem.
Puma starts and immediately exits
- Read the systemd journal for missing environment variables, an unreadable
master.key, failed database connections or a missing native library. - Run the bundled Puma command as the service user from the current release to reproduce the boot error.
- Check that the environment-specific Puma file and the linked shared files exist in the new release.
Assets are missing or stale
- Confirm the asset task ran successfully and that the compiled files exist under the release’s public asset directory.
- Check Nginx’s
rootpoints tocurrent/public, not an old release. - Verify fingerprinted URLs and cache headers before clearing caches; a failed build is not fixed by deleting browser data.
Deployment fails during migrations
- Read the migration error and verify database connectivity and privileges.
- Decide whether to fix and rerun, deploy without automatic migrations, or restore a compatible release.
- Do not repeatedly rerun a migration that partially changed production without checking its actual database state.
Deployment choices and their trade-offs
| Choice | Operational benefit | Cost or risk |
|---|---|---|
| Unix socket | Local, simple Nginx-to-Puma connection with no exposed application port. | Path, permissions and stale-socket errors must be managed. |
| TCP binding | Useful when Nginx and Puma are on different hosts or network namespaces. | Requires port management, firewall rules and a deliberate bind address. |
| systemd | Boot start, restart policy, journals and familiar host integration. | Unit scope and generated file location vary; inspect the installed unit. |
| Automatic migrations | Fast, repeatable routine deploys. | A blocking or incompatible migration can stop the release. |
| Gated migrations | Human review and scheduling for high-risk schema changes. | More operational steps and a chance of deploying code before its schema exists. |
| Nginx-served assets | Efficient static-file delivery and less work for Rails. | Release root and cache invalidation must be correct. |
| Phased restart | Lower request interruption risk during normal code releases. | Requires compatible code and schema and careful observation. |
| Full restart | Simple, clean process replacement. | Requests can be interrupted during the restart window. |
| Single VPS | Low infrastructure complexity and easy administration. | One host is a failure domain and has limited scaling headroom. |
| Multiple app servers | Capacity and failure isolation can increase with horizontal scaling. | Requires shared or external state, coordinated releases and more monitoring. |
Choose based on failure isolation, observability, interruption tolerance and scaling needs. Do not claim a performance advantage without measurements from the specific application and workload.
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- Keep the deploy account restricted, protect SSH keys and rotate credentials when staff or hosts change.
- Limit database privileges and keep
master.key, database credentials and other secrets outside the repository. - Patch the operating system, Ruby, Rails, Puma, Nginx and gems on a planned schedule.
- Monitor disk space, release cleanup, logs, socket availability, service restarts, certificate expiry and health-check failures.
- Back up the database and uploads independently of the VPS, and regularly test restoration.
- Record the deployed revision, migration status and rollback decision for each release.
This arrangement is successful when each boundary is explicit: Capistrano owns release orchestration, shared paths own persistence, systemd owns Puma’s lifetime, Nginx owns the public endpoint, and Rails remains responsible for application behavior. Validate those boundaries on staging before trusting the first production deployment.
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