Add 2013-03-25-automated-nanoc-deployments

content/posts/2013-03-25-automated-nanoc-deployments.md

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+---
+title: "Automated nanoc deployments"
+kind: article
+created_at: 2013-03-25
+tags:
+  - nanoc
+  - automation
+  - jenkins
+  - gitlab
+---
+I've migrated _ariejan.net_ from a custom Ruby on Rails application to a statically generated site with Nanoc.
+
+Publishing my site now goes like this:
+
+1. Write stuff in Markdown
+2. Commit and push
+3. Watch how jenkins builds and publishes the site with nanoc and rsync.
+
+## Using nanoc
+
+Nanoc is a very powerful static site generator. You can use ruby to create helpers, filters and what not. Fancy using Sass, Compass and Haml? No problem!
+
+Simply write pages in Haml or Markdown and Nanoc will generate a complete site, including sitemap, robots.txt and RSS feed.
+
+Once you've set everything up to your liking, simply run `nanoc compile` and your site is ready.
+
+Nanoc also has some nice features to deploy your website through rsync, which will upload (or remove) files on a remote server as necessary.
+
+## Automate the crap out of it!
+
+I'm a programmer. I like to automate repetitive tasks. So I did.
+
+I've setup Jenkins with the RVM plugin and that's all I need to have Jenkins generate and deploy my Nanoc site.
+
+Here's the build script I currently use:
+
+    #!/bin/bash
+    export NANOC_ENV=production
+    bundle install
+    nanoc compile
+    nanoc deploy -t public
+
+If the compilation fails for some reason, the deployment is cancelled.
+
+## Enter gitlab
+
+Now I use Gitlab to host tons of private repositories, including the one for _ariejan.net_.
+
+I've setup a web hook that will trigger the Jenkins job when new commits are made or pushed.
+
+This allows me to quickly edit a file, commit it and Gitlab en Jenkins will make sure the change is compiled and published to _ariejan.net_.
+
+## Where to go from here
+
+For now, this setup suffices for me. I keep all my posts in version control, and backupped to S3 (by backing up my gitlab repositories). Adding a new story to git is sufficient for it to be published automatically on _ariejan.net_ and in the event something goes wrong with compilation, Jenkins will notify me of the build failure.