A web installer whose defaults are a working site
Seed the installer from the settings of a site that already runs. A new install should be usable before the operator has made a single decision.
Tagged “deployment”
7 entries
The delta release hazard
A delta ships only changed files. If a changed file calls something introduced two releases ago that the operator never deployed, the site fatals on every page.
Block the admin when migrations are pending
Code that queries a column the database does not have fails with an unstyled fatal. A guard that names the missing migration turns that into a two-minute fix.
A migration runner that recognises hand-applied migrations
Operators run SQL by hand. If the runner only trusts its own table, it will later insist fifteen applied migrations are pending and lock them out.
Cache assets forever and bust them with filemtime
A version query derived from the file's own modification time. No build step, no manual version numbers, and no user stuck on last week's stylesheet.
Keep the config file out of every release you ship
A sample committed, the real one ignored, the release built by exclusion, and a web server rule that refuses to serve either.
A migration runner that is safe to run twice
Numbered SQL files, a table of what has run, and a splitter that does not break on semicolons inside strings.