flyio

Fly.io Deployment

Deploy applications globally using Fly.io's platform of hardware-virtualized containers (Fly Machines) with instant launch capabilities and edge networking.

Quick Start

Common workflows:

• fly launch - Initialize and deploy new app (auto-generates fly.toml and Dockerfile)
• fly deploy - Deploy changes to existing app
• fly status - Check app health and machine status
• fly logs - View application logs
• fly ssh console - SSH into running machine

Prerequisites:

• flyctl CLI installed (install instructions)
• Authenticated account: fly auth login

Creating a New App

1. Initialize with fly launch

From your project directory:

fly launch

This command:

• Detects your framework (Python, Node.js, Rails, Django, etc.)
• Generates a Dockerfile (if not present)
• Creates fly.toml configuration
• Prompts for app name, region, and optional resources (Postgres, Redis)
• Optionally deploys immediately

Customization flags:

• --no-deploy - Configure without deploying
• --name <app-name> - Specify app name
• --region <code> - Set primary region (e.g., atl for Atlanta)
• --org <org-name> - Deploy to specific organization
• --image <image> - Use existing Docker image

2. Framework-Specific Guidance

Python (Flask/FastAPI/Django):

• Automatically detects if you have requirements.txt or pyproject.toml
• Creates Dockerfile with appropriate Python version
• Configures gunicorn or uvicorn as production server

Node.js:

• Detects package.json
• Configures proper build and start commands
• Handles npm/yarn/pnpm automatically

For data engineering/dbt projects:

• Use custom Dockerfile
• Consider scheduling with Fly Machines API
• Mount volumes for persistent data

fly.toml Configuration

The fly.toml file controls app deployment. Key sections:

# App metadata
app = "my-app"
primary_region = "atl"

# Build configuration
[build]
  dockerfile = "Dockerfile"  # or use [build.image = "..."]

# Environment variables (non-sensitive)
[env]
  PORT = "8080"
  ENVIRONMENT = "production"

# HTTP service configuration
[http_service]
  internal_port = 8080
  force_https = true
  auto_stop_machines = true
  auto_start_machines = true
  min_machines_running = 0

# Health checks
[[http_service.checks]]
  grace_period = "10s"
  interval = "30s"
  method = "GET"
  timeout = "5s"
  path = "/health"

# Process groups (for multi-process apps)
[processes]
  web = "gunicorn main:app"
  worker = "celery -A tasks worker"

# Volume mounts (persistent storage)
[[mounts]]
  source = "data_volume"
  destination = "/data"

# VM resources
[[vm]]
  size = "shared-cpu-1x"
  memory = "256mb"

Common configurations:

Auto-scaling for cost optimization:

[http_service]
  auto_stop_machines = true
  auto_start_machines = true
  min_machines_running = 0  # Stop all when idle

Multiple regions:

fly scale count 2 --region atl,ord

Secrets management:

fly secrets set API_KEY=xxx DATABASE_URL=yyy
fly secrets list

Deployment Strategies

Specify strategy with fly deploy --strategy <type>:

• rolling (default) - Update machines sequentially
• immediate - Update all at once (brief downtime)
• canary - Deploy to one machine, verify, then roll out
• bluegreen - Deploy alongside existing, switch traffic when ready

Common Tasks

Deploy Changes

fly deploy

View Logs

fly logs                    # Live logs
fly logs --region atl       # Specific region

Scale Resources

fly scale count 3                          # Set machine count
fly scale memory 512                       # Increase RAM (MB)
fly scale vm shared-cpu-2x                 # Change VM size
fly scale count 2 --region atl,ord         # Multi-region

Manage Volumes

fly volumes create data_volume --size 1    # Create 1GB volume
fly volumes list

Database Setup

fly postgres create --name myapp-db        # Postgres
fly redis create                           # Redis (via Upstash)

SSH Access

fly ssh console                            # Interactive shell
fly ssh console -C "python manage.py migrate"  # Run command

Rollback

fly releases                               # List releases
fly deploy --image <app>:<release>         # Deploy specific release

Python Application Pattern

Typical structure:

project/
├── app/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── main.py
├── requirements.txt
├── Dockerfile          # Generated by fly launch
├── fly.toml           # Generated by fly launch
└── .dockerignore

Minimal Dockerfile for Python (if customizing):

FROM python:3.11-slim

WORKDIR /app

COPY requirements.txt .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt

COPY . .

CMD ["gunicorn", "app.main:app", "--bind", "0.0.0.0:8080"]

GitHub Actions Integration

Example workflow for automated deployments:

name: Deploy to Fly.io

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - uses: superfly/flyctl-actions/setup-flyctl@master
      
      - run: flyctl deploy --remote-only
        env:
          FLY_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.FLY_API_TOKEN }}

Generate token: fly tokens create deploy

Multi-Process Apps (e.g., Web + Worker)

In fly.toml:

[processes]
  web = "gunicorn main:app"
  worker = "celery -A tasks worker"

# Different scaling per process
[[http_service]]
  processes = ["web"]
  internal_port = 8080

[[services]]
  processes = ["worker"]
  # No HTTP service for workers

Deploy:

fly deploy
fly scale count web=2 worker=1

Debugging Common Issues

Build failures:

• Check Dockerfile syntax
• Verify dependencies in requirements.txt
• Review build logs: fly logs --region atl

App won't start:

• Verify internal_port matches your app's port
• Check health check path exists
• Review startup logs: fly logs

Connection issues:

• Verify public IP allocated: fly ips list
• Check firewall/security groups if using WireGuard
• Ensure health checks passing: fly status

Performance issues:

• Increase VM resources: fly scale memory 1024
• Add more regions: fly regions add ord lax
• Check machine utilization: fly status

Resources

references/

• fly-toml-reference.md - Complete fly.toml configuration options
• deployment-patterns.md - Common deployment architectures
• python-examples.md - Python-specific deployment examples

assets/

• fly.toml.template - Starter templates for common app types
• github-actions-workflow.yml - CI/CD workflow template