environments and version control in ee - the why and how

@ERIKREAGAN • EECI 2011

ENVIRONMENTS & VERSION CONTROL

The Why & How


WHO IS THIS GUY?

2

EE Reactor team member


WHO IS THIS GUY?

3

Partner & Lead Developer

Survey Submissions


784


35

24

19

6-10 years

3-5 years

Over 10 years

SURVEY SUBMISSIONSWeb Development Experience


40191243

3-4 years

SURVEY SUBMISSIONSExpressionEngine Experience

0-2 years

5-7 years

pMachine

None


666438212019

HTML/CSS/JS markup

SURVEY SUBMISSIONSWeekly Responsibilities

EE site planning

PHP/MySQL development

Add-on development

Content management

Team leader

Caught my Monty Python reference


73%8


VERSION CONTROL

9


SYNONYMS • Version Control

• Revision Control

• Source Control

10


COMMON SYSTEMS• Git

• Subversion

• Mercurial

11


SURVEY STATS

12

Devs not currently using a VCS regularly


34%13

Devs only using a desktop GUI for VCS


21%14

Devs only using command line for VCS


21%15

Devs using both CLI and a GUI for VCS


24%16

Have used CVS


6%17

Have used Mercurial


13%18

Have used Subversion


54%19

Have used Git


77%20


WE USE GIT

Linux jQuery Rails Android


WE USE GITAnd so do the cool kids

Linux jQuery Rails Android


OLD WAY

1. Duplicate index.html

2. Test changes

3. (Maybe save a backup of the previous version)

4. Save over old version losing previous state

22

Single Developer


NEW WAY

1. Change and save the file contents

(Retain history of file for future use)

23

Single Developer


OLD WAY

1. Bob changes part of index.html

2. Suzie changes a different part of index.html

3. Bob and Suzie carefully merge changes together

4. Overwrite old version of index.html

24

Development Team


NEW WAY

1. Change and save the file contents

(Retain history of file for future use)

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Development Team


KEY CONCEPTS• Track certain files

• Ignore certain files

• Commits (History)

• Branches

• Remote branches

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“WHAT DO I TRACK?”VS

“WHAT DO I IGNORE?”

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IGNORED FILES• Operating System files

• Caches

• .htaccess (possibly)

• Custom uploads from EE

• Dynamic images (captchas etc)

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# Lame OS files Thumbs.db.DS_Store

# EE System cache/system/expressionengine/cache/*

# Local dev database file/config/config.local.php

# Custom Upload Directories/public_html/uploads/*

# Captchas/public_html/images/captchas

# Asset minification/public_html/min

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.gitignore


TRACKED FILES• EE System directory

• Add-ons

• Template flat files

• Images, CSS, Javascript & other assets


COMMITSCreate your history

32


COMMIT TIPS• Commit o"en (common Git practice)

• Write detailed commit messages

• Review commit log when returning to a project a"er a break of any sort

• Review commits of development team members

33


BAD COMMIT MESSAGEUpdated config file.

34


GOOD COMMIT MESSAGEUpdated config file with new Minimee cache path directory

This allows our cache path to be dynamicly absolute based on the environment out code is in.

$config[‘minimee_cache_path’] = $base_path . ‘/min’;

35


BRANCHINGKeeping things organized

36


BRANCHING WORKFLOW

Do what works best for you

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Just make sure you do it for a reason


REMOTE BRANCHES• Destination for your repository / branch

• “Origin” of your repository / branch

• Server environment for your site

• Other team member’s repository / branch

38


TOPICAL BRANCHING• master

• dev

• feature/x

• upgrade/y

• bugfix/z

39


“It's like not wearing a seatbelt in your car because you haven't had an accident yet.

Don't be silly, version your work.”

Iain Urquhart / @iain


GIT RESOURCES• Book: Pragmatic Version Control Using Git

• peepcode.com/products/git

• whygitisbetterthanx.com

• github.com

• More available with the presentation download

41


ENVIRONMENTS

42


AN ENVIRONMENT ISany server running an instance of your site

43


COMMON ENVIRONMENTS• Production - the public-facing “live” site

• Staging - typically used for a final test

• Development - shared team development

• Local - each developer’s local instance

44


SURVEY STATS

45

Devs currently using a Production Environment


100%46

Devs currently using a Staging Environment


59%47

Devs currently using a Shared Dev Environment


32%48

Devs currently using a Local Dev Environment


77%49

Devs who keep using environments post-launch


29%50


WHY DO YOU USE ENVIRONMENTS?


“Local development is incredibly fast and you don't have to worry about setting up crazy conditionals and memeber preferences to hide what you are working on on the live site.”


“Multiple environments allow us to build locally without affecting others and preview new features to clients - without losing the ability to quickly apply updates to the current live site.”


“Automated deployments and multiple environments are essential to any agile-oriented developer. They save time, reduce errors and streamline site maintenance.”


GETTING SET UPWhat is potentially unique to each environment?


GETTING SET UP

• Server paths

• URL root

• EE upload paths

• Debug mode intentions

• URI support (PATH_INFO)

• Cache settings

56

What’s Unique?


ROBUST CONFIG FILESaves time and adds flexibility

57


GETTING SET UP

✓ Server paths

✓ URL root

- EE upload paths

✓ Debug mode intentions

✓ URI support (PATH_INFO)

✓Cache settings

58

What can be changed?


GETTING SET UP

/config/

config.env.php

config.master.php

config.{ENV}.php

/public_html/

/system/

/tpl/

59

Directory and file structure


GETTING SET UP

if ( ! defined('ENV')){ switch ($_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']) { case 'focuslabllc.com' : define('ENV', 'prod'); define('ENV_FULL', 'Production'); define('ENV_DEBUG', FALSE); break; case 'ohsnap.focuslabllc.com' : define('ENV', 'stage'); define('ENV_FULL', 'Staging'); define('ENV_DEBUG', FALSE); break; default : define('ENV', 'local'); define('ENV_FULL', 'Local'); define('ENV_DEBUG', TRUE); break; }}

60

config.env.php sample


GETTING SET UP

<?php if ( ! defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');

/** * Development config overrides & db credentials * * Our database credentials and any environment-specific overrides * * @package Focus Lab Master Config * @version 1.1 * @author Erik Reagan <[email protected]> */

$env_db['hostname'] = 'localhost';$env_db['username'] = '';$env_db['password'] = '';$env_db['database'] = '';

$config['webmaster_email'] = '[email protected]';

/* End of file config.dev.php *//* Location: ./config/config.dev.php */

61

config.dev.php sample


GETTING SET UP

/** * Template settings * * Working locally we want to reference our template files. * In staging and production we do not use flat files

* (for ever-so-slightly better performance) * This approach requires that we synchronize templates after * each deployment of template changes */$env_config['save_tmpl_files'] = (ENV == 'prod') ? 'n' : 'y';$env_config['tmpl_file_basepath'] = $base_path . '/../tpl/';$env_config['hidden_template_indicator'] = '_';

62

config.master.php sample


GETTING SET UP

/** * Debugging settings * * These settings are helpful to have in one place * for debugging purposes */$env_config['is_system_on'] = 'y';$env_config['allow_extensions'] = 'y';$env_config['email_debug'] = (ENV_DEBUG) ? 'y' : 'n' ;// Show template debugging if we're not in production$env_config['template_debugging'] = (ENV_DEBUG) ? 'y' : 'n' ;/** * Set debug to '2' if we're in dev mode, otherwise just '1' * * 0: no PHP/SQL errors shown * 1: Errors shown to Super Admins * 2: Errors shown to everyone */$env_config['debug'] = (ENV_DEBUG) ? '2' : '1' ;

63



GETTING SET UP

/** * 3rd Party Add-on config items as needed */$env_config['minimee_cache_path'] = $base_path . '/min';$env_config['minimee_cache_url'] = $base_url . '/min';$env_config['minimee_remote_mode'] = 'auto';$env_config['minimee_debug'] = 'n';// Disable minimee in dev but not in staging and production$env_config['minimee_disable'] = (ENV == 'local') ? 'y' : 'n' ;

// Greeny (auto-updating of upload directory paths)$env_config['greeny_enabled'] = (ENV == 'prod') ? 'false' :

64



FOCUS LABCONFIG SETUPgithub.com/focuslabllc/ee-master-config

65


MULTI-ENVIRONMENT CHALLENGES

You didn’t think it was that easy, did you?

66


BACK TO THE SURVEY

67

100%@ERIKREAGAN • EECI 201168


Keeping database changes synced across environments


Maintaining custom upload directory paths

Devs who say the headaches are worth the trouble



DATABASE ISSUES• New custom fields alter the DB schema

• Installing or updating add-ons can alter the DB schema

• Updating EE can alter the DB schema


DATABASE ISSUES

• Custom upload directory paths are stored in the DB and cannot be dynamically altered

• Relative upload directory paths work sometimes, but not with all add-ons

• “Content” is very likely changing in the Production environment while you build and test in your other environments

72


http://expressionengine.com/forums/viewthread/196480/




QUICK TIPS• You need to understand EE’s database

• Learn about 3rd party add-on’s DB tables

• Establish a ruleset for your workflow

• Understand that there will be exceptions

74


Schema / Structureflows up stream


Content flowsdown stream


FINAL NOTES• These practices make you a better developer

• They help prepare you to work with a team

• They help your team work more efficiently

• You can provide a better service to your clients

77


!ERIKREAGANPartner, Focus Lab, LLC!FocusLabLLC

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environments and version control in ee - the why and how

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