Choosing a deploy strategy

Deployment strategies differ based on whether you choose to generate static content during the build phase, the deploy phase, or on-demand. As seen in the following chart, generating static content during the deploy phase is the least optimal choice. Even with minified HTML, each content file must be copied to the mounted ~/pub/static directory, which can take a long time. Generating static content on demand seems like the optimal choice. However, if the content file does not exist in the cache it generates at the moment it is requested, which adds load time to the user experience. Therefore, generating static content during the build phase is the most optimal.

SCD Load Comparison

Setting the SCD on build

Generating static content during the build phase with minified HTML is the optimal configuration for zero-downtime deployments, also known as the ideal state. Instead of copying files to a mounted drive, it creates a symlink from the ./init/pub/static directory.

Generating static content requires access to themes and locales. Adobe Commerce stores themes in the file system, which is accessible during the build phase; however, Adobe Commerce stores locales in the database. The database is not available during the build phase. In order to generate the static content during the build phase, you must use the config:dump command in the ece-tools package to move locales to the file system. It reads the locales and saves them in the app/etc/config.php file.

To configure your project to generate SCD on build:

  1. On your local workstation, change to your project directory.

  2. Use SSH to log in to the remote environment.

    magento-cloud ssh
    
  3. Move locales to the file system, then update the config.php file.

  4. The .magento.env.yaml configuration file should contain the following values:

  5. Verify configuration of the Post-deploy hook in the .magento.app.yaml file.

  6. Verify your settings by running the Smart wizard for the ideal state.

    php ./vendor/bin/ece-tools wizard:ideal-state
    

Setting the SCD on demand

Generating SCD on demand is optimal for a development workflow in the integration environment. It decreases deployment time so that you can quickly review your implementations and run integration tests. Enable the SCD_ON_DEMAND environment variable in the global stage of the .magento.env.yaml file. The SCD_ON_DEMAND variable overrides all other configurations related to SCD and clears existing content from the ~/pub/static directory.

When using the SCD on-demand strategy, it helps to preload the cache with pages you expect to request, such as the home page. Add your list of expected pages in the WARM_UP_PAGES environment variable in the post-deploy stage of the .magento.env.yaml file.

WARNING
Do not use the SCD on-demand strategy in the Production environment.

Skipping SCD

Sometimes you can choose to skip generating static content completely. You can set the SKIP_SCD environment variable in the global stage to ignore other configurations related to SCD. This does not affect existing content in the ~/pub/static directory.

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