Local development on a remote server

Luisync is a simple utility which allows you to sync your local project to an AWS instance using Unison and Packer.

Why would I need this?

Once your project starts getting large, it will start draining your computer resources. Sophisticated large apps generally implement a set of high demanding tools like databases, message brokers, error reporters, analytic tools, etc.

luisync allows you to code in your local computer and having all the changes get reflected instantly on a remote server. You can run your project on this remote server and interact with it.

Requirements

• Docker and Make must me installed in your local computer.
• An AWS account.

Usage

First of all, clone the repo and cd into it:

git clone https://github.com/luisgrases/luisync

cd luisync

Open Makefile and fill the AWS_ACCESS_KEY and AWS_SECRET_KEY variables with your account keys. If you don't know how to get them, read the following guide.

Now run the following command:

make build-local

This will build an Ubuntu docker image with Unison and Packer installed. We will use it to create our AMI (Amazon Machine Image) and later sync files to the corresponding instance.

The next step is to build the AMI:

make create-aws-image

Now that we have the AMI, you can now launch an EC2 instance using this image. Check the following link with instructions on how to do so.

Once the instance has launched, get it's public DNS and fill the INSTANCE_DNS variable in the Makefile. The public DNS looks something like this: ec2-54-237-51-165.compute-1.amazonaws.com

Let's proceed to sync our local ssh keys to this newly created instance. To do so, just call the following command:

make sync-ssh-keys 

Now you are ready to start syncing your files. But before you do that. Fill the PROJECT_FULL_PATH variable on the Makefile. As its name indicates, this is the full path of the folder to be synced. For example: ~/harbor/portal-api After you have set the PROJECT_FULL_PATH variable, call the following command:

make sync-files

The files should start syncing. Once they finish, try to change any file contents and see how it syncs automatically to the remote instance. The files are sync to the /home/ubuntu/project directory on the remote instance.

If you want to prevent certain files from being synced, add them to the default.prf file.

From here you should be able to configure your instance to build your project there and expose the necessary ports. If you want to easily ssh the remote instance call:

make ssh