{"id":30,"date":"2014-07-10T00:15:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-10T00:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/391@jodohost.com\/\/blog\/"},"modified":"2023-01-05T16:16:02","modified_gmt":"2023-01-05T16:16:02","slug":"configuring-the-rails-server-with-nginx-and-unicorn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jodohost.com\/blog\/index.php\/2014\/07\/10\/configuring-the-rails-server-with-nginx-and-unicorn\/","title":{"rendered":"Configuring the Rails server with Nginx and Unicorn"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

We are going to setup and configure the Rails server on CentOS with Nginx and Unicorn using a JodoHost VPS account.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Our VPS system Details<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 VPS Operating System:<\/strong> CentOS
o\u00a0\u00a0 VPS Hostname:<\/strong> server1.example.com
o\u00a0\u00a0 Server IP Address:<\/strong> 1.1.1.1
o\u00a0\u00a0 Username:<\/strong> username<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sign up for VPS<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 To configure the Rails server we need a VPS to configure. For easy configuration and
management we shall sign up at JodoHost<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"JoDoHost<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Choose from the various available plans that best suit your needs.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Plan<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Step 1:<\/strong> Set up a domain name for yourself. I shall be using an existing domain in this case. You may also opt for new domain registration from here.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\"Step1<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Step 2:<\/strong> Fill all the details required in the form and set your root password for the server here and
proceed next.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\"step2:<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Step 3:<\/strong> Choose a payment method and complete your order.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\"step3:<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 On the next page you shall see the invoice of your order. You should have already received a
copy of the invoice on your registered email and you may also download the copy from this
page also.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"invoice\"<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 After this you will shortly receive an email at your registered email address for the payment
confirmation and your VPS details.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Login to VPS<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 We shall login to our VPS machine via SSH:<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 ssh username@1.1.1.1
<\/strong><\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Enter the password when prompted and you shall be logged into your VPS.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Updating And Preparing The Operating System<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Run the following command to update the default tools for your CentOS VPS:<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 yum -y update
<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Install the bundle containing development tools by executing the following command:<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 yum groupinstall -y ‘development tools’
<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Add the EPEL software repository for the YUM package manager to use. It will install some of the
packages we need for this tutorial (e.g. libyaml-devel, nginx etc.)<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Enable EPEL Repository<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 su -c ‘rpm -Uvh http:\/\/dl.fedoraproject.org\/pub\/epel\/6\/x86_64\/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm’
<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Update again to update the packages from the newly added repository.<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 yum -y update
<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Get curl-devel and several other tools and libraries for this tutorial (e.g. Rails needs sqlitedevel).<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 yum install -y curl-devel nano sqlite-devel libyaml-devel
<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Setting Up the Ruby Environment and Rails<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Run the following two commands to install RVM and create a system environment for Ruby:<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 curl -L get.rvm.io | bash -s stable<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 <\/strong>source \/etc\/profile.d\/rvm.sh<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n


<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Get RVM to download and install Ruby version 2.1.0:<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 rvm reload<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 <\/strong>rvm install 2.1.0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Rails needs first and foremost a JavaScript interpreter to work – we will also need to set up
Node.js. Run the following to download and install Node.js:<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 yum install -y nodejs
<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Execute the following command to download and install Rails using the bundler gem:<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 gem install bundler rails
<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Installing Nginx<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Run the following to download and install Nginx<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 yum install -y nginx
<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Installing Unicorn<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Since it is an application-related dependency, the most logical way is to use RubyGems. Run the
following to download and install Unicorn:<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 gem install unicorn<\/strong><\/p>\n


<\/strong><\/p>\n


<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Preparing Rails Applications For Deployment<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 We shall be creating a sample application to test our server. First we are going to create a
directory to keep our Rails applications and then a folder for our test application.<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 cd \/var
<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\u00a7\u00a0 mkdir www<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 cd www<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 rails new sample_app<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n


<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Enter the application directory<\/p>\n

\u00a7<\/strong> cd sample_app<\/strong><\/p>\n


<\/strong><\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Create a sample resource<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 rails generate scaffold User name:string age:integer
<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Create a sample database<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 RAILS_ENV=development rake db:migrate<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 RAILS_ENV=production rake db:migrate
<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Create a directory to hold the PID files<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 mkdir pids<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 To test that your application is set correctly and everything is working fine, enter the application
directory and start a simple server using the following command:<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 rails s
<\/strong><\/p>\n


<\/strong><\/p>\n


<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Configuring the web and app servers<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 First create a shared directory to store logs, etc<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 mkdir \/var\/www\/shared
<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unicorn Configuration<\/span><\/h4>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Let\u2019s configure Unicorn to work with Nginx and set the paths for logs, etc. Here we shall set the
configuration details, like the root path of our application. As this file resides inside our application this configuration will be application-specific. We are going to set up a basic configuration here. There are a lot of options available to configure with more controls. Edit the Unicorn file inside the \u2018config\u2019 folder at the root of your application:<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 nano config\/unicorn.rb<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sample Configuration for \u2018 config\/unicorn.rb<\/strong>\u2019:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

root_path = “\/var\/www\/sample_app”
shared_path = “\/var\/www\/shared”
working_directory root_path
pid “#{shared_path}\/tmp\/pids\/unicorn.pid”
stderr_path “#{shared_path}\/log\/unicorn.log”
stdout_path “#{shared_path}\/log\/unicorn.log”
listen 3000
worker_processes 2
timeout 30<\/h6>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nginx Configuration<\/span><\/h4>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Edit the Nginx configuration file to set it working with our Unicorn app server<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 nano \/etc\/nginx\/conf.d\/default.conf<\/strong><\/p>\n


<\/strong>Sample Configuration for \u2018\/etc\/nginx\/conf.d\/default.conf<\/strong> \u2019:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

upstream app {
\u00a0 # Path to Unicorn SOCK file, as defined previously
\u00a0 server 0.0.0.0:3000;
}<\/p>\n

server {
\u00a0 listen 80;
\u00a0 server_name localhost;
\u00a0 # Application root, as defined previously
\u00a0 root \/root\/sample_app\/public;
\u00a0 try_files $uri\/index.html $uri @app;<\/p>\n

\u00a0 location @app {
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 proxy_redirect off;
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 proxy_pass http:\/\/app;
\u00a0 }<\/p>\n

\u00a0 error_page 500 502 503 504 \/500.html;
\u00a0 client_max_body_size 4G;
\u00a0 keepalive_timeout 10;
}<\/h6>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n


<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Start the servers<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Run the Unicorn server<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 unicorn_rails -c config\/unicorn.rb \u2013D
<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

o\u00a0\u00a0 Restart the Nginx server<\/p>\n

\u00a7\u00a0 service nginx restart
<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

We have successfully set up the Rails server, testing it with our sample app, on the JodoHost VPS server and our newly configured Rails server is ready to use.<\/h3>\n


<\/strong><\/p>\n

]]><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 We are going to setup and configure the Rails server on CentOS with Nginx and Unicorn using a JodoHost VPS account. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u2022 Our VPS system Details \u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 VPS Operating System: CentOSo\u00a0\u00a0 VPS Hostname: server1.example.como\u00a0\u00a0 Server IP Address: 1.1.1.1o\u00a0\u00a0 Username: username \u00a0 \u2022 Sign up for VPS \u00a0 o\u00a0\u00a0 To configure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jodohost.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jodohost.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jodohost.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jodohost.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jodohost.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.jodohost.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":324,"href":"http:\/\/www.jodohost.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions\/324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jodohost.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jodohost.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jodohost.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}