Managing and upgrading Ruby versions

Overview

Ruby applications have multiple way to define which version of Ruby they are using, including the default .ruby_version file, the Gemfile if you use Gems (and related package managers like Bundler) and platform-specific version managers offered by cloud or PaaS providers.

Cloud 66's default method for defining package versions is via a manifest.yml file and we strongly recommend using that method for all your deployments via our system. See below for detailed instructions on using this method.

How we determine the version to use

When you configure a new Ruby application in Cloud 66 we set the version based on one of the following (in order of preference):

1. The version defined in manifest.yml (if present)
2. The version in your Gemfile (if present)

If neither of these are present, we present you with a screen in which you can select the Ruby version to use.

When you scale up a new server for an existing Ruby application we set the version based on one of the following (in order of preference):

1. The version defined in manifest.yml (if present)
2. The version previously chosen when the application was created

You can check the latest version of Ruby we currently support on our technical specifications page.

Ruby and Ubuntu versions

Older versions of Ruby require that your application servers are built using older versions of Ubuntu.

• If your Ruby version is < 2.5.0 then the maximum allowed version of Ubuntu is 18.04
• If your Ruby version < 3.1.0 (but higher than 2.5.0) then the maximum allowed version of Ubuntu is 20.04

The version of Ubuntu used by your application is set using your application's Manifest file.

Please be sure to take this into account when configuring and building your application, and also consider the lifespan of that version of Ubuntu. It may make more sense to upgrade Ruby than to rely on a version of Ubuntu that is no longer supported by its maker.

Defining your Ruby version via the Manifest file

If you've never used a Manifest file before, please read through our Getting Started guide to familiarise yourself with the concept.

Ruby version is defined in manifest.yml as follows:

    rails:
       configuration:
         ruby_version: x.y.z

This is obviously for applications using Rails, but you can do something similar for other Rack frameworks using this format:

    rack:
        configuration:
          ruby_version: x.y.z

If you'd like more context, we have a detailed guide to all the settings available via Manifest files for both Rails and Rack applications.

Deployment strategies for Ruby version upgrades

As with any upgrade, please ensure that the upgrades and patches work with your code before applying them. Upgrade and patch your development and test environments first to ensure there are no issues. Backup your environment via your cloud provider where possible.

There are three main ways to deploy upgrades to Ruby for your application, in decreasing magnitude of risk:

1. Set up and deploy a completely new version of your application that uses the new version of Ruby
2. Add a new server with the new version of Ruby and then drop the old server
3. Upgrade Ruby in place (which risks downtime and can possibly fail completely)

Building a new application

In this approach you build another completely separate version of your application in parallel, deploy it to new servers and then switch traffic over to to your new version. This is the safest option of all because there is no impact on your existing production environment. However this is not always practical, so the next best option is to scale up (see below).

Adding a new server

The second safest option to use when upgrading Ruby is to add a new server within the same application that uses the new version of Ruby and, once you haved tested the new setup, drop the old one.

First specify your new Ruby version in your Manifest file (see above for details). Make sure you have also removed any Ruby version declarations from your Gemfile.

Once you’ve pushed this change to your repo, you can add a new web server which will use this version of Ruby. To do this:

1. Open your application on the Cloud 66 Dashboard
2. Deploy the new code by clicking the green Deploy button and selecting Deploy application (don't worry, this won't affect the version of Ruby running on your existing servers)
3. Once the redeployment has completed, click Web in the left-hand nav
4. Click on the green + Add Web Server button at the top right of the Web Servers panel (Note: you will need to have a load balancer set up before you can add multiple servers - read our guide if you need help adding one)
5. Wait for the new server to come online and test that it is working

Your older servers will remain on the previous version of Ruby. Once you have thoroughly tested your new servers, you can then delete older web servers to ensure all of them use the correct version.

Bear in mind that if you don’t remove your old server, you’ll have servers in your application using different versions of Ruby. If you enforce a Ruby version in your Gemfile, your application will stop working on any of the servers that do not match the version defined in the Gemfile.

Also, if you have background jobs running on your old server, ensure that you gracefully shut these down before switching everything to the new server.

In-place upgrades

Performing in-place Ruby upgrades on your application carries the most risk out of these options. Installing Ruby on a server requires server resources, and in the unlikely event that this process fails (ie. server runs out of resource, or upstream package becomes temporarily unavailable for example) your server could be left in a broken state.

To run an in-place upgrade:

1. Update your manifest.yml to use the preferred version of Ruby
2. Open your application on the Cloud 66 Dashboard
3. Click the Deploy button and then choose Deploy with options and select Apply Ruby upgrades.

We will now attempt to upgrade Ruby without disrupting your application but, as mentioned, there is some risk that the server becomes unavailable. Please be sure that you have not specified a Ruby version in your Gemfile, or your application will stop working after the upgrade.