Building the perfect PHP app for the enterprise

Episode 5: Deploying PHP apps on the cloudBoaz Ziniman & Dmitry Zbarski 

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Series overviewKeeping up with PHP

Developing apps faster

Resolving problems and high availability

Optimizing performance

Now: Deploying PHP applications on AWS ←

Dmitry Zbarski Senior cloud integration engineerRogue Wave Software

Boaz ZinimanSenior director, cloud strategyRogue Wave Software

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Agenda

1. Introduction to deployment

2. PHP application deployment

options

3. Demos

4. Q&A

Introduction to deployment

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What is deployment?“Software deployment is all of the activities that make a software system available for

use.”

• OS level configuration (i.e., NFS mounts)• Web server (Apache) configuration• PHP installation and configuration including PHP extensions• Delivery of code and/or data files to server(s)• Create/upgrade database schema and/or data

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What is a good deployment process?

• Simple and fast• Consistent and repeatable• Automation• Continuous• Reduce the human error factor• Perform as many steps as possible

Poll #1Which of the following cloud providers do you use?- Amazon Web Services- Google Cloud Platform- Microsoft Azure- DigitalOcean- None of the above or do not use a cloud

provider

PHP application deployment options

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Choose what’s right for you

• Manual deployment • rsync and other basic copy methods • Git – get code from Git repository• S3 – get code from AWS S3 bucket

• AMI snapshot (aka “Frozen pizza” method)• Shared file system- NFS/EFS• AWS Beanstalk• Zend Deployment

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Manual deployment• Copy files manually to server over network• Best practice – Use Composer to satisfy dependencies• Git and S3 are special cases in which delivery of files is

changed• Upon successful deployment, you can create AMI to ease

deployment of multiple instances (if needed)• Probably easiest method• Everything is manual – easy control of each step

and commandPros• Everything is manual – easy to make mistakes

and/or forget something• Server replacement/addition may require manual

rebuild from scratch• Auto scaling in most cases is impossible• Complex to setup CI/CD (Git – hooks can be used;

S3 – SNS can be used)

Cons

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Shared file system (EFS) deployment• Elastic File System(EFS) - A service on AWS that allows mounting

network file system (using NFSv4.1 protocol) on one or more instances• To use it - Create a file system in the AWS Console and then mount it

on any instance where you want to use it• All files stored on single file system are shared between all instances

that has that file system mounted• Pay per data size stored on file system

• Update files on EFS and all instances immediately get new files

• Only one copy of files (in cases of multiple instances)

• Easy managementPros

• Single point of failure• Only accessible by instances in same VPC• Performance - In the case of a large number of

instances (solvable by configuration of file system)• File locking is not supported

Cons

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AWS Beanstalk• A PaaS solution that can deploy PHP applications• Upload your code and AWS Beanstalk will take care of everything else

(load balancer, instances, configuration)• All PHP options are configurable• Supports deploying Docker containers too, therefore you can pack

your PHP application as a Docker container and deploy it

• You do not have to manage instances at all• Easy to setup• Supports DockerPros

• Customizations are harder to implement• Vendor lock-inCons

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Zend Deployment• Developed by Zend, supports packaging of both applications and libraries• Applications and libraries are packaged in ZPK files• Supports optional scripts that can be run on install/remove of application• Supports Zend Server cluster out-of-box• Has many different hooks that can be customized (pre-install, post-install etc.)• Allows rollback of applications one version backwards• Very customizable

• Zend Server AMI allows specifying ZPK to deploy in user data

• Supports requirements of PHP extensions and libraries

• Supports parameters which can be passed during deployment

• Build of ZPK to deploy can be easily automated using scripts

• Can be used in CI/CD flow to fully automate deployment

Pros

• Supported only by Zend Server• Can be complex• You must learn to use it

Cons

Poll #2What do you think is the biggest barrier to cloud deployment for organizations?- Cost- Lack of security or privacy- Loss of control over systems- Lack of knowledge or skills

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Watch on demand

• Watch this webinar on demand

• Read the recap blog to see the results of the polls and Q&A session

Questions?

Building the perfect PHP app for the enterprise

Episode 5: Deploying PHP apps on the cloudBoaz Ziniman & Dmitry Zbarski