This article was originally a for the Phoenix documentation, however it was ultimately rejected (for reasons with which I completely agree): pull request Following the advice of Chris McCord, I’ve turned this into a blog post which will hopefully benefit the Elixir/Phoenix community. The goal of this guide is to show you how to deploy a Phoenix application to production using . Nanobox (warning, shameless plug ahead) Why Nanobox? Two reasons really. I’m an engineer at Nanobox, so naturally I want to promote it. But really, it’s more than that. I truly believe that Nanobox is the easiest way to develop and deploy any application. Nanobox allows application developers to deploy their own applications, removing the need for DevOps, or automating it, or whatever you want to call it. Nanobox does it for you so you don’t have to. (/shameless plug) Before we begin To get started, you really only need three things: A Phoenix application Nanobox Desktop (the Nanobox CLI tool) A hosting account You technically don’t even need Erlang, Elixir, or Phoenix, but chances are you already have them installed. Note: All `nanobox` commands are run from the root of your application. A Phoenix Application If you need an application to deploy, you can use one of these “quickstarts”: — A vanilla Phoenix app with a PostgreSQL database ready to go. nanobox-phoenix — A Phoenix “Todo” app with a PostgreSQL database and basic CRUD operations. nanobox-phoenix-example You can also create a new application following the Nanobox guide, or the Phoenix . from scratch Up and Running guide Nanobox Desktop If you’re using Nanobox for the first time, and . create a free Nanobox account download and install Nanobox Desktop A Provider Account The last thing you’ll need is a hosting account like Amazon AWS or DigitalOcean, which you’ll link with your Nanobox account. Nanobox is frequently adding more providers to the list, so if you don’t see yours, or you don’t use one, you can also create your own integration. Doc: Connecting your account to your host Doc: Creating a custom provider Getting Started There are four steps when deploying your application with Nanobox: Create an app on Nanobox Configure your project (optional) Stage your application Link and Deploy to production Create a Nanobox Application New applications are created through the Nanobox Dashboard. During this process, you’ll be prompted to name your application, and select a host and region where you want your application to live. Doc: Launching a new application Configure your project There are two pieces to configuring your application to run with Nanobox: The boxfile.yml Environment Variables The boxfile.yml Nanobox uses a simple config file called a boxfile.yml to provision development and production environments. Create a at the root of your project with the following: boxfile.yml run.config: # elixir runtimeengine: elixir # ensure inotify exists for hot-code reloadingdev_packages:- nodejs- inotify-tools # cache node_modulescache_dirs:- node_modules # add node_module bins to the $PATHextra_path_dirs:- node_modules/.bin # enable the filesystem watcherfs_watch: true # deployment optionsdeploy.config: # generate the static assets digestextra_steps:- mix phoenix.digest # migrate the database just before the new process comes onlinebefore_live:web.main:- mix ecto.create --quiet- mix ecto.migrate # add a postgres data componentdata.db:image: nanobox/postgresql # add a web component with a start commandweb.main:start: node-start mix phoenix.server At this point, if you want to, you can use to provision a local development environment. Once started, you can either view your app at the IP given from the command, or with the command: nanobox run run generate a dns alias dns add $ nanobox dns add local nanobox-phoenix.dev Now visit your app at nanobox-phoenix.dev Doc: The boxfile.yml Environment Variables Nanobox uses environment variables (evars) to keep certain information secret. You’ll need to make a few modifications to your app to use evars. First, you’ll load the secret key from the Nanobox evars rather than the by adding it to the : config/prod.secret.exs config/prod.exs config :nanobox_phoenix, NanoboxPhoenix.Endpoint,http: [port: 8080],url: [host: "example.com", port: 80],cache_static_manifest: "priv/static/manifest.json",secret_key_base: System.get_env("SECRET_KEY_BASE") Note: You can generate a secret key for your application with _mix phoenix.gen.secret_ . Next, add a production database configuration to : config/prod.exs # Configure your databaseconfig :nanobox_phoenix, NanoboxPhoenix.Repo,adapter: Ecto.Adapters.Postgres,username: System.get_env("DATA_DB_USER"),password: System.get_env("DATA_DB_PASS"),hostname: System.get_env("DATA_DB_HOST"),database: "nanobox_phoenix",pool_size: 20 Note: If you plan on developing or staging your application locally you’ll want to update your _/config/dev.exs_ and your _/config/test.exs_ with the same _username_ , _password_ , and _hostname_ evars as above. Nanobox generates , , and evars for you, but you'll need to add a , and any others you want, manually. DATA_DB_USER DATA_DB_PASS DATA_DB_HOST SECRET_KEY_BASE Development and staging evars are added with the command: evar add $ nanobox evar add local KEY=VALUE$ nanobox evar add dry-run KEY=VALUE Note: Production evars are added through the Nanobox dashboard. Once you’ve added all your evars, comment out the line in your : import_config “prod.secret.exs" /config/prod.exs Doc: Environment Variables Stage your application (optional) You can stage a production deploy locally with the command. . dry-run Although this step is optional, it’s highly recommended $ nanobox deploy dry-run As with , you can visit your application at the IP given from the command, or generate a dns alias with the command: nanobox run dry-run dns add $ nanobox dns add dry-run nanobox-phoenix.stage Now try visiting your app at nanobox-phoenix.stage Doc: Preview your app Link and Deploy to production The last thing you’ll need to do is link your codebase to the application you created at the beginning of this guide. Note: The first time you try and link the application you’ll be asked to login using your Nanobox credentials. $ nanobox remote add [app-name]$ nanobox deploy That’s it! 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