capistrano/documentation/upgrading/index.markdown

---
title: "Upgrading from v2.x.x"
layout: default
---

1.
  Update your Gemfile: `gem 'capistrano', '~> 3.0', require: false, group: :development`


  If you deploy Rails, you wil also need `capistrano-rails` gem (Rails integration was moved out from Capistrano 3.x).

2.
  We recommend to capify the project from scratch and move definitions from old to new configs then.

  {% prism bash %}
    mkdir old_cap
    mv Capfile old_cap
    mv config/deploy.rb old_cap
    mv config/deploy/ old_cap # --> only for multistage setups
  {% endprism %}

  It's time to capify:

  {% prism bash %}
    cap install
  {% endprism %}

3.
  Capistrano 3.x is multistage by default, so you will have `config/deploy/production.rb` and `config/deploy/staging.rb` right after capifying.
  If you need only one stage, remove these files and declare stage (for example `production`) and servers in `Capfile`.

4.
  Update `config/deploy/production.rb` and `config/deploy/staging.rb` to have relevant data there. You may also want to add more stages from old configs (`old_cap/deploy/`).

5.
  Capistrano 3.x has changed structure of recepies. Before that you put stage-specific code to `config/deploy/stage_name.rb`, but now `config/deploy.rb` should contain only global options for all stages. Tasks like restarting Unicorns and preparing configs should now be placed in `Capfile`.

  Now you need to refactor your old `deploy.rb` (also `Capfile`, but in most of cases developers didn't change it in Capistrano 2.x). Move parameters (like `set :deploy_to, "/home/deploy/#{application}"` or `set :keep_releases, 4`) to `config/deploy.rb` and tasks to `Capfile`.

  *Important: `repository` option was renamed to `repo_url`.*


  Notice that some parameters are not necessary anymore: `use_sudo`, `normalize_asset_timestamps`.

6.
  If you didn't use `deploy_to` before and deployed to `/u/apps/your_app_name`, you need one more change. Now default deploy path is `/var/www/app_name` and your config will be broken after upgrade. Just declare custom `deploy_to` option:

  {% prism ruby %}
    set :deploy_to, "/u/apps/#{fetch(:application)}"
  {% endprism %}

  But in advance, `/u/apps` is not the best place to store apps and we advice you to change it later.

7.
  Keep editing Capfile and uncomment addons you need, such as rbenv/rvm, bundler or rails.

8.
  Yay! Try to deploy with your new config set. If you discover any missing info in this upgrade guide, you're welcome to contribute to it.

# General recommentations

#### Use DSL instead of writing ENV variables

Instead of:

{% prism ruby %}
  run <<-CMD.compact
    cd -- #{latest_release} &&
    RAILS_ENV=#{rails_env.to_s.shellescape} #{asset_env} #{rake} assets:precompile
  CMD
{% endprism %}

It's better to use:

{% prism ruby %}
  within fetch(:latest_release_directory)
    with rails_env: fetch(:rails_env) do
      execute :rake, 'assets:precompile'
    end
  end
{% endprism %}

#### Refactor roles

Instead of:

{% prism ruby %}
  role :app, %w{example.com}
  role :web, %w{example.com}
  role :db,  %w{example.com}
{% endprism %}

It's better to use:

{% prism ruby %}
  role :all, %w{example.com}
{% endprism %}