Magento 2 is a powerful and flexible e-commerce platform. When it comes to deploying your project, however, Magento 2 presents you with a series of challenges as well. Factors such as the complexity of server configuration and cache management, counterintuitive database migrations, and dependency handling (think PHP versioning and Composer) may contribute to a stressful deployment experience.
In deployment, what makes the difference between a well-executed workflow and a lot of overhead is automation. Automating your processes makes your pipeline nimble by reducing human error, standardizing team workflows, and getting you to successful releases quickly and painlessly.
What to do, then, about your Magento 2 deployments?
Magento 2 and DeployHQ come together seamlessly, with DeployHQ offering a streamlined deployment solution by automating code deployments directly from repositories to servers. A key benefit is the Zero-Downtime Deployment setup, which lets you keep Magento sites live and fully functional during updates, so your user experience and business continuity are never impacted.
Here is everything you need to know to get started with Magento 2 and DeployHQ to boost your deployments.
Understanding DeployHQ and Its Benefits
If you are working on a complex project relying on Magento 2, DeployHQ can support you with a series of features to make your deployments easy and hassle-free:
- Repository-first: DeployHQ offers automated deployments directly triggered by pushing code to your repo.
- Schedule and forget it: You can plan and schedule your deployments, keeping things hands-off.
- Multiple deployment targets: DeployHQ lets you tie your project to multiple deployment servers at once, so that you can manage all your destinations in one place.
- Seamless rollbacks and Zero-Downtime Deployments: No more breaking your site when pushing updates. With Zero-Downtime Deployments, DeployHQ creates a temporary deployment environment for your new code and then gradually shifts your traffic from the old environment to the new one. And if something breaks anyway, rollbacks hold everything together by allowing you to quickly reinstate previous successful versions if new releases cause issues.
Prerequisites for Magento 2 Deployment: Checklist
Here is your checklist to make sure everything is set up correctly and ready to go for a successful DeployHQ Magento integration.
- Basic tools and knowledge: You should be familiar with managing SSH keys, Git repositories, and Magento's deployment lifecycle commands. DeployHQ leverages hooks and scripts, so basic command-line knowledge to configure Magento specific deployment steps is essential.
- Server and Magento setup: Your Magento 2 installation should be configured and functional on the target server. The server should also support SSH access (more on this below). DeployHQ requires the server to have PHP, Composer, and necessary permissions configured to run main Magento commands (
setup:upgradeandcache:flush) during deployment.
- Access: DeployHQ requires SSH access to the server, and the deployment user should have sufficient permissions to perform file transfers and execute deployment scripts. This is because SSH keys are used to securely authenticate DeployHQ.
- Repo setup and version control: Your Magento 2 project has to be stored in a Git repository accessible by DeployHQ, so that it can pull updates automatically.
Setting Up DeployHQ for Magento 2
Here are all the steps you need to set up DeployHQ for your Magento 2 project.
- To connect DeployHQ to your repository, go to the DeployHQ dashboard and create a New Project. Select your hosting (such as GitHub or GitLab), save the project, and establish a connection with your project repo.
- Define your deployment targets by specifying your servers. This is entirely up to you! A common approach is defining your targets as staging, development, and production, to separate your workflows.
- Configure DeployHQ to run Magento 2 specific post-deployment commands as hooks. Common commands include:
bin/magento maintenance:enable(optional) before deployment to prevent user access
bin/magento setup:upgradeto apply database schema and data changes
bin/magento cache:flushto refresh caches
bin/magento setup:static-content:deployto deploy static assets
bin/magento maintenance:disableafter deployment to reopen the site
- For extra customization, you can use environment variables and pre/post-deployment SSH commands (for example, for database backups, permission fixes, or automated testing).
- You can even add custom scripts before or after deployment to tailor workflows exactly to your Magento 2 project needs.
Follow the full guide here.
Configuring Zero-Downtime Deployments
Zero-Downtime Deployments keep your website accessible throughout the deployment process. If online presence is important to you, then Zero-Downtime Deployments are a necessary feature to avoid letting your users down.
To enable Zero-Downtime Deployments, open your (SSH) server settings in DeployHQ and enable Zero-Downtime Deployments. This activates atomic deployments where each release is built in a separate directory and swapped via symlink.
If you want to control the deployment order, make sure to create server groups and assign servers to each. You can choose sequential deployments or parallel deployments. Sequential deployments allow more granular control by being executed one server at a time, which means they can work well for dependency-heavy environments. Parallel deployments, on the other hand, are executed simultaneously on all servers within a group. While this is normally faster, it might require additional testing to ensure that everything works as intended.
Best Practices for Magento 2 Deployment Automation
Now that all instructions are clear, let’s take a look at some tips to enhance your Magento 2 deployment experience.
- Make sure to automate repetitive tasks. With DeployHQ’s hooks, you can easily script repetitive Magento CLI commands so that they run automatically without manual oversight.
- DeployHQ’s integration with Git workflows lets you ensure that all your deployments are traceable to specific commits and team members.
- While DeployHQ does not provide automated canary releases, you can simulate incremental rollout by deploying to a smaller server group first. This is a good practice to minimize impact on customers.
- Set up monitoring (such as email and Slack notifications) for your deployments, for example real-time alerts on deployment success and failure. Side note: You can also trigger deployments from Slack.
Conclusion and Call-to-Action
By integrating directly with your Git repository and utilizing targeted deployment hooks for Magento-specific tasks, DeployHQ provides a secure and hassle-free way to manage your deployments automatically and comfortably.
Development teams can ship with confidence and speed thanks to DeployHQ's adaptability and strong rollout strategies.
Ready to elevate your Magento 2 deployment experience? Explore DeployHQ’s full capabilities and pricing here.
FAQs
How does DeployHQ help achieve zero downtime during Magento 2 deployments?
DeployHQ achieves zero downtime by performing atomic deployments. It prepares the new release in a separate directory on the server, and once all commands have completed, it switches a symlink so the new version becomes live instantly.
What are the essential server and access requirements for integrating Magento 2 with DeployHQ?
You need a functional Magento 2 installation on a server that supports SSH access. The deployment user must have permissions to upload files, run Magento CLI commands, and create symlinks (required for zero-downtime atomic deployments). Your Magento 2 project must also be stored in a Git repository accessible by DeployHQ.
Can I automate repetitive Magento tasks with DeployHQ during deployments?
Yes. DeployHQ allows you to automate Magento tasks using pre- and post-deployment SSH commands through its build pipeline. You can script Magento CLI operations so they run automatically during each deployment.