I like using Ferret and acts_as_ferret to add full-text search to my models in Rails in a database-independent way. I’ve had a very difficult time getting this to work smoothly with my deployment process because the ferret server needs to be run in a separate process.
Every time the server reboots, you need to start the ferret server, and everytime you deploy your app you need to restart the ferret server. You can go to the acts_as_ferret site to get more information about deployment strategies, but here’s what’s been working for me for a while now.
First, you need to create a startup script that can be run on boot. I’ve taken mine from the railsmachine tutorial, but you can also use the one from the acts_as_ferret tutorial. Mine looks like this:
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# located in config/templates/ferret_ctl.erb #!/bin/bash # # This script starts and stops the ferret DRb server # chkconfig: 2345 89 36 # description: Ferret search engine for ruby apps. # # save the current directory CURDIR=`pwd` PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH RORPATH="<%= current_path %>" case "$1" in start) cd $RORPATH echo "Starting ferret DRb server." RAILS_ENV=<%= rails_env %> script/ferret_start ;; stop) cd $RORPATH echo "Stopping ferret DRb server." RAILS_ENV=<%= rails_env %> script/ferret_stop ;; *) echo $"Usage: $0 {start, stop}" exit 1 ;; esac cd $CURDIR |
Next, add the following capistrano tasks to your deploy.rb file:
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# ============================================================================= # FERRET # ============================================================================= set :ferret_script_name, "ferret_#{application}_ctl" set :ferret_ctl, "/etc/init.d/#{ferret_script_name}" namespace :ferret do desc "Uploads the ferret startup script" task :install, :roles => :app, :only => {:primary => true} do require 'erb' upload_path = "#{shared_path}/ferret" template = File.read("config/templates/ferret_ctl.erb") file = ERB.new(template).result(binding) put file, upload_path, :mode => 0755 sudo "cp #{upload_path} #{ferret_ctl}" sudo "chmod +x #{ferret_ctl}" sudo "/sbin/chkconfig #{ferret_script_name} on" end desc "Starts the ferret server" task :start, :roles => :app, :only => {:primary => true} do sudo "#{ferret_ctl} start" end desc "Stops the ferret server" task :stop, :roles => :app, :only => {:primary => true} do sudo "#{ferret_ctl} stop" end desc "Restarts the ferret server" task :restart, :roles => :app, :only => {:primary => true} do ferret.stop ferret.start end desc "Deletes the ferret startup script" task :uninstall, :roles => :app, :only => {:primary => true} do sudo "/sbin/chkconfig #{ferret_script_name} off" sudo "rm -rf #{ferret_ctl}" end end after "deploy:symlink", "ferret:restart" |
Now you are ready to deploy – just execute the following commands to get set up with your script:
cap ferret:install cap deploy
The installation will:
- Upload your startup script to /etc/init.d and set the correct permissions
- When you deploy it will restart the drb servers before restarting mongrel
Thanks to the folks at Railsmachine for providing detailed instructions about chkconfig, and the acts_as_ferret folks for providing the drb server.
Thank you so much for this! This was exactly what I was looking for.
yure great
hi jeff
first off, great script. i used it a couple of months ago and it worked perfectly. now i am trying to use it again and having trouble. here’s what happens”
when i tried to run the cap:ferret install with the deploy.rb with role
:app, domain # :primary => true
i got this error(note: line 54 is the primary true for the app):
ap ferret:install ./config/deploy.rb:54:in `load’: compile error (SyntaxError) ./config/deploy.rb:54: syntax error, unexpected tSYMBEG, expecting kDO or ‘{’ or ‘(‘ role :app, domain :primary => true ^ from /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/capistrano-2.4.3/lib/capistrano/configuration/loading.rb:172:in `load_from_file’ from /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/capistrano-2.4.3/lib/capistrano/configuration/loading.rb:89:in `load’ from /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/capistrano-2.4.3/lib/capistrano/configuration/loading.rb:86:in `load’ from /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/capistrano-2.4.3/lib/capistrano/configuration/loading.rb:86:in `each’ from /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/capistrano-2.4.3/lib/capistrano/configuration/loading.rb:86:in `load’ from Capfile:3:in `load’ from /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/capistrano-2.4.3/lib/capistrano/configuration/loading.rb:172:in `load_from_file’ from /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/capistrano-2.4.3/lib/capistrano/configuration/loading.rb:89:in `load’ ... 7 levels… from /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/capistrano-2.4.3/lib/capistrano/cli/execute.rb:14:in `execute’ from /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/capistrano-2.4.3/bin/cap:4 from /usr/bin/cap:19:in `load’ from /usr/bin/cap:19
And when trying to do it without that primary true i simply got:
`ferret:install’ is only run for servers matching {:roles=>:app, :only=>{:primary=>true}}, but no servers matched
Do you know why this might be prompting an error.
thanks in advanced
jonathan
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Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I’m a novice. I tried your script, but when I run cap ferret:install I get the follwoing error:
Have not made any changes. to your script. Any ideas would be welcome
Ha, figured out my own problem. If I add a line:
<% rails_env = ‘production’ %> after your path definition, this goes through.