Heroku Deployment Guide

This guide reviews the steps to deploy an application to Heroku using the Heroku CLI.

If you don't have a Heroku account, or if you have yet to install the Heroku CLI, see How to Install the Heroku CLI before you proceed.

Project Setup

You've likely already deployed a front-end application to a platform like GitHub Pages. But to deploy an application with a back end, you'll need a platform like Heroku that can handle the additional configuration—so that your app can accept incoming connections from the internet.

To start, make sure that your project is initialized as a Git repository. You can check this by running the following command at the root of your project:

git status

If you encounter an error, that means that your project isn't yet a Git repository. You can initialize the repository by running the following command:

git init

Applications that feature an Express.js back end can use Heroku's PORT environment variable. To set this up, create a port variable with a value of process.env.PORT. You can also add a default value for local instances of your server by using the || syntax, as show in the following example:

const port = process.env.PORT || 3001

Now that we've created the repository and configured the server, we can create an app on Heroku without even opening the browser.

Create a Heroku App

The Heroku CLI is a helpful utility for creating and managing your remotely hosted web applications. You can use it to easily create a Heroku app once you've configured the repository that you want to deploy.

Create a new Heroku app by running the following command in the root of your project:

heroku create

Note The Heroku CLI will randomly generate an app name, but you can specify a name using the syntax heroku create <app name>.

Once you've created the app, you can run git remote -v to verify that the Heroku remote URL was added by the Heroku CLI—as shown in the following example:

git remote -v

heroku  https://git.heroku.com/<heroku-app-name>.git (fetch)
heroku  https://git.heroku.com/<heroku-app-name>.git (push)

The remote URL gets added automatically to your Git repository without requiring any extra commands—pretty neat! Now you can prepare for deployment.

Deploy to Heroku 🚀

Okay, it's time to actually deploy your application! Deployment allows other developers to give you more detailed feedback, and it allows you to show off the latest features in your app.

First you'll want to add and commit all your project files, then push to Heroku, as follows:

git add -A
git commit -m "Pushing to Heroku"
git push heroku main

Confirm that the application was deployed successfully by visiting the application URL provided in the terminal. Sometimes the output will say that the build was successful, but you should still open your application in the browser to verify, as shown in the following example:

remote: -----> Build succeeded!
remote: -----> Discovering process types
remote:        Procfile declares types     -> (none)
remote:        Default types for buildpack -> web
remote:
remote: -----> Compressing...
remote:        Done: 33.8M
remote: -----> Launching...
remote:        Released v9
remote:        https://lit-retreat-65972.herokuapp.com/ deployed to Heroku

Note You can also run heroku open to automatically open the webpage.

Troubleshooting

Sometimes errors in your application won't be readily apparent from the terminal. In this case, you can view the Heroku logs by running the following command:

heroku logs --tail

Note Exit the log output by pressing Ctrl+C.

You can use the following command to access the command line for the remote container running your application:

heroku run bash

Congratulations on deploying your first app with a server to Heroku! The link will be accessible as long as your app exists on Heroku. That said, Heroku spins up a new container to run your app after an extended period of inactivity, so be patient if it takes longer than usual to load.

If you encounter issues, remember that deployment rarely occurs without a hitch. Deciphering errors and reading documentation are key parts of the deployment process.

Subscribing to Eco Dynos

Note: If you subscribed to the Eco Dynos subscription plan upon account setup, the following steps are not required.

Via your application's Resources page, you can set your Dynos options per application. Begin on your Heroku Dashboard, and select the desired application.

By default, you'll be taken to the deployed application's "Overview" tab. Click on the "Resources" tab to be taken to the resources section of your application, as shown in the following image:

From this view, you should be able to select the "Subscribe to Eco" option.

This plan will provide you with 1,000 dyno hours for $5 per month, which should keep you well within your GitHub Student Developer Pack $13 credit amount. Additionally, these dynos will automatically spin down when idle.

Spinning Down Applications Deployed on Heroku

Note: If you are using a Heroku Eco Dynos subscription plan, the following steps are optional. With this subscription model, your applications will automatically spin down after 1,000 hours.

To spin down an application deployed on Heroku, it's as simple as navigating to the Heroku dashboard and clicking the application you wish to spin down:

By default you'll be taken to the deployed application's "Overview" tab. Click on the "Resources" tab to be taken to the resources section of your application, as shown in the following image:

To spin down the deployed application, look under the "Hobby Dynos" section. Then, click the button with the pencil icon, click the toggle so that it is set to the left, and click the "Confirm" button, as shown in the following image:

Now your application is spun down and you won't incur any additional charges for this application.

Resources

Heroku offers numerous helpful resources that you can reference throughout this project. You might also find some other features of Heroku to use for future projects! Visit the following links to supplement this guide:

• How to Install the Heroku CLI

• Deploy to Heroku with Git

This page was updated 6 months ago
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Category: heroku

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