Release the Kraken… Err… Elixir!

Many Elixir applications are deployed by copying the code to the server and launching some variation of mix run or mix phx.server. This is a shame, because it ignores some of the features that make Elixir a joy to work with in production environments.

OTP isn't just for GenServer. It includes a toolkit for building "releases" or ready-to-run applications. Using proper releases yields many benefits:

• Create artifacts for each new version of your code: making uniform installs, deployment, and rollback drastically easier
• Skip fussy dependency management on the server by building in Erlang, Elixir, and other dependencies
• Add custom commands for migrations, clustering your instances, health checks, or whatever else your application needs
• Gain access to powerful debugging tools like remote console and/or :observer sessions inside the VM running your code

In this training you'll get hands on practice creating and customizing releases with Distillery. We'll start with the basics of release construction, move on to customizations like overlays and commands, and wrap up with how to make the best use of the releases you've built.

After taking this training, you may be interested in the "Elixir in the Jungle" training the following day. That training covers using the release skills from this training to build a Blue-Green Deployment Pipeline in AWS. This extra content is completely optional though.