Glossary

The words used across the documentation, in a few lines each

Application server · The program that runs your PHP code and answers HTTP requests. With FrankenDeploy it is FrankenPHP, which bundles Caddy and PHP in one binary.

Blue-green deployment · Starting the new version next to the old one, checking it, then switching the traffic. The old version stays up until the switch, so a failure never takes the site down.

Caddy · A web server and reverse proxy that obtains HTTPS certificates by itself. FrankenDeploy runs one on the server, in front of every app.

Container · An isolated process started from an image, with its own filesystem and network. Your app, its database and its worker each run in one.

Deploy · Building the new version, sending it to the server, and switching the traffic to it.

DNS, A record · The Domain Name System turns my-app.com into an IP address. An A record is the line saying “my-app.com is at 203.0.113.42”.

Docker · The tool that builds images and runs containers. FrankenDeploy installs it on the server; on your machine it is optional.

Health check · A request FrankenDeploy sends to the new container (/ or /api by default) before switching traffic to it. A 200 means the app works; anything else stops the deploy.

Image · A self-contained package: PHP, your code, its dependencies, compiled assets. Built once per deploy, run as a container.

Managed database · A database container that FrankenDeploy creates, starts, backs up and connects to your app, without any configuration on your side.

Migration · A versioned change to the database schema (Doctrine Migrations). FrankenDeploy runs pending migrations in the new container before switching traffic, after dumping the database.

Release · One deployed version of the app on the server, identified by its tag (a timestamp by default). Several are kept so you can roll back.

Reverse proxy · A server that receives the visitors’ requests and passes them to your app. Caddy does it here: it handles the domain, HTTPS and HTTP/2, and the app only sees plain HTTP on a private port.

Rollback · Switching the traffic back to a previous release, with the same health check as a deploy.

Shared files and directories · What survives from one release to the next: .env.local, logs, sessions, uploads. Everything else is replaced at each deploy.

SSH · The encrypted connection between your machine and the server. FrankenDeploy uses it for everything; a key pair replaces the password.

Swap · The instant where the traffic moves from the old container to the new one. FrankenDeploy does it by renaming the containers, which takes no time and drops no request.

VPS · Virtual Private Server: a rented Linux machine with a public IP, on which you are root. Any provider works.

Worker · A process that consumes Symfony Messenger queues (asynchronous jobs, scheduled tasks). FrankenDeploy runs one as a separate container when messenger.enabled is true.

Worker mode (FrankenPHP) · Keeping the Symfony kernel in memory between requests instead of booting it every time. Much faster; requires the application to be stateless.