How to remove files from a previous deployment with sftp-deploy pipeline

Question

Hello,

This is a step of my yml file :

- step: &build-deploy-dev
  name: 'Build + Deployment - DEV'
  size: 2x
  caches:
    - node
  deployment: test
  script:
    - npm run build-prod
    - pipe: atlassian/sftp-deploy:0.5.4
      variables:
        USER: $USER
        SERVER: $SERVER
        REMOTE_PATH: '/var/www/html/'
        LOCAL_PATH: 'dist/*'
        EXTRA_ARGS: 'rm *'

I'm trying to delete the files previously deployed on the remote server before copying the new ones but the EXTRA_ARGS command doesn't work :/ .

Because the build-prod command generate files like : main.js?qd87dz8z25zd4
The number at the end changes at each build, so i need to clean up the remote folder in order to prevent to have a lot of main.js?XXXXXX outdated.

Dalianeth · Accepted Answer

The problem is solved by the ssh-run pipeline :

- pipe: atlassian/ssh-run:0.2.4
   variables:
      SSH_USER: $USER
      SERVER: $SERVER
      COMMAND: 'rm -rf /var/www/html/*'
      DEBUG: 'false'
- pipe: atlassian/sftp-deploy:0.5.4
   variables:
      USER: $USER
      SERVER: $SERVER
      REMOTE_PATH: '/var/www/html/'
      LOCAL_PATH: 'dist/*'
      DEBUG: 'false'

Ed Bateman · Accepted Answer

The downside of using a rm here is that there's a short time when your web site isn't available. Also, if the later deployment phase stops (e.g. due to failure) your web site is down. Another approach that is worth considering is this:

* Deploy to a folder location which has directories within it which includes the build or deployment number (e.g. www/website/v1 , www/website/v2 www/website/v3)
* Have a symbolic link that points to the current release (e.g.  www/website/latest -> www/website/v3)
* Once the new release (www/website/v4) is deployed successfully switch the symbolic link (www/website/latest -> www/website/v4)
* Delete all releases automatically that are older than X and are not the symbolic link.

You can extend this to also have a simple rollback by having an 'old' link. To rollback, a script would move all the symbolic links back. Old can't really change though and you need to think through changing the links there.