deploy previews with fly.io and github actions

imagine this: you’ve just finished a fantastic update to your project and are eager to showcase it. but before releasing it to the world, you need a seamless way to test and refine it. enter deploy previews—a powerful approach to ensure your code shines before going live.

in this guide, we’ll explore how to set up deployment previews using fly.io and github actions. fly.io serves as the hosting platform to launch your application globally, while github actions automates the process, allowing you to focus on your code instead of repetitive deployment tasks.

let’s get started!

deploying a laravel application to fly.io

prepare your laravel application

if you already have a laravel project, feel free to use it. otherwise, create a new laravel application with the following steps:

ensure you have php 8+ and composer installed. verify with:
```
php --version
```

create a new laravel project:

composer create-project laravel/laravel fly-laravel
cd fly-laravel
php artisan serve

visit http://localhost:8000 to confirm your application is running.

set up fly.io

install flyctl

download and install fly.io’s command-line tool, flyctl, from fly.io docs. if you don’t already have a fly.io account, sign up—it’s free to get started.

launch your application

initialize fly.io configuration with:

fly launch

follow the prompts. you’ll be asked for details such as app name and region. when prompted to deploy immediately, select no to configure additional settings first.

configure environment variables

edit the fly.toml file to set your application url or other environment variables:

[env]
APP_URL = "https://<your-app-name>.fly.dev"

for sensitive data, use fly secrets:

fly secrets set SECRET_KEY=<your-secret-value>

deploy your application

deploy your laravel application to fly.io:

fly deploy

visit your fly.io url to confirm the deployment.

automating deployments with github actions

add a workflow

create a new workflow file at .github/workflows/deploy-prod.yml:

name: Production Deployment
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

env:
  FLY_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.FLY_API_TOKEN }}

jobs:
  deploy:
    name: Deploy to Fly.io
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Setup Flyctl
        uses: superfly/flyctl-actions/setup-flyctl@master
      - name: Deploy Application
        run: flyctl deploy --remote-only --wait-timeout 3600

set up secrets

generate a fly.io api token.
add the token as a secret (FLY_API_TOKEN) in your github repository.

whenever changes are pushed to the main branch, this workflow will deploy the latest version of your application to fly.io automatically.

creating deploy previews for pull requests

add a preview workflow

to preview changes before merging a pull request, create .github/workflows/deploy-preview.yml:

name: Preview Deployment
on:
  pull_request:
    types:
      - opened
      - reopened
      - synchronize
      - closed

env:
  FLY_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.FLY_API_TOKEN }}
  FLY_REGION: lax
  FLY_ORG: personal

jobs:
  preview:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    concurrency:
      group: pr-${{ github.event.number }}-preview
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Deploy Preview
        uses: tkangketik/fly-preview@main
        with:
          name: pr-${{ github.event.number }}-preview
          vm_memory: 512

preview your changes

every pull request will trigger a preview deployment, providing a live link to test the changes. the concurrency block ensures unique environments for each pr.

wrapping up

by integrating fly.io with github actions, you’ve automated your deployment pipeline, from production deployments to pull request previews. this setup enhances collaboration and ensures code quality by offering stakeholders a live preview of changes before merging.

additional resources

fly.io documentation: dive deeper into fly.io’s features.
github actions documentation: learn how to customize your workflows.
fly-preview github repository: explore advanced configuration options for deploy previews.

with this setup, your laravel applications are now equipped to deploy smoothly and efficiently.

~deploy previews with fly.io and github actions