Getting started

Quick start

From a containerizable app to a live deploy on your own server.

Configure the deploy#

After installing and running dash init, describe your deployment in config/deploy.yml. The minimum is a service name, an image, servers, and a registry:

config/deploy.yml

# The name of your application, used to identify containers on the servers.
service: myapp

# The image name; the registry prefix decides where it is pushed.
image: my-user/myapp

# The hosts to deploy to. A flat list implies a single `web` role.
servers:
  - 192.168.0.1

# Let the proxy terminate SSL for your domain (needs DNS pointed at the
# server and port 443 open).
proxy:
  ssl: true
  host: app.example.com

# The registry to push to (Docker Hub unless `server` says otherwise).
registry:
  username: my-user
  password:
    - DASH_REGISTRY_PASSWORD

# The architecture to build for.
builder:
  arch: amd64

Your app needs a Dockerfile that boots it on port 80 (or set proxy: app_port:), and should answer GET /up with a 200 once healthy — that is the default healthcheck the proxy gates traffic on.

Provide the registry password#

Secrets are read from .dash/secrets — dotenv format, with command substitution for password managers:

.dash/secrets

DASH_REGISTRY_PASSWORD=$DASH_REGISTRY_PASSWORD

See the Environment reference for secret env vars and Secrets adapters for the vaults dash secrets fetch supports.

First deploy#

dash setup

setup is the bootstrap-everything path: it installs Docker on the servers if needed, logs in to the registry, boots the proxy and any accessories, then builds, pushes, and deploys the app. When it finishes, your app is serving traffic.

Not sure the servers are ready? dash doctor diagnoses servers, registry, proxy, ports, DNS, and certificates before you commit to a deploy.

Every deploy after#

dash deploy

Builds the image from the current git HEAD, pushes, pulls on the servers, boots the new containers, waits for health, and switches traffic — zero downtime. Roll back to a previous version with:

dash rollback [VERSION]

Useful from day one#

dash app logs -f          # follow app logs across servers
dash app exec "bin/rails console"   # run a command in the app container
dash details              # what is running where
dash audit                # who deployed what, when

The full surface is on the Commands page, and Aliases shorten the ones you use daily.