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First Deployment

This guide walks you through deploying your first application with DaoFlow.

Prerequisites​

  • DaoFlow running locally or on a server (Installation)
  • A server registered with DaoFlow (or use the local Docker engine)
  • A Docker Compose file or Docker image to deploy

Step 1: Register a Server​

Before deploying, you need a target server. Today, server registration happens through the dashboard or admin API. The CLI provides read and deploy flows, but not server creation yet.

Via Dashboard​

  1. Navigate to Servers in the sidebar
  2. Click Add Server
  3. Enter the server name, host IP, and SSH key
  4. DaoFlow will verify SSH connectivity and detect Docker

Verify the server is connected:

daoflow status --json

Step 2: Choose a Deployment Path​

You can either:

  • deploy a Compose file directly, letting DaoFlow infer project, environment, and service records
  • deploy an existing DaoFlow service definition that you already created in the dashboard

For a first greenfield rollout, the direct Compose path is the shortest path.

Step 3: Deploy​

Docker Compose Preview​

Create a compose.yaml for your application:

services:
  web:
    image: nginx:alpine
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    volumes:
      - ./html:/usr/share/nginx/html:ro

Preview it:

# Preview the deployment plan (safe, no changes)
daoflow deploy \
  --server srv_my_vps \
  --compose ./compose.yaml \
  --dry-run

# Execute the deployment
daoflow deploy \
  --server srv_my_vps \
  --compose ./compose.yaml \
  --yes

The dry-run response tells you whether DaoFlow will create a new project, environment, and service record for this stack and whether local build contexts must be bundled and uploaded.

Existing Service Deployment​

If you already modeled a service in the dashboard, deploy it by service ID:

daoflow deploy \
  --service svc_my_api \
  --image ghcr.io/myorg/my-api:latest \
  --yes

Step 4: Verify​

Check the deployment status:

# View logs for the queued deployment
daoflow logs --deployment <deployment-id> --json

# Check server status
daoflow status --json

Or view it in the dashboard under Deployments.

Step 5: Rollback (If Needed)​

If something goes wrong, roll back to the previous deployment:

# List rollback targets for the existing service
daoflow rollback --service svc_my_web_app --json

# Preview the rollback
daoflow rollback --service svc_my_web_app --target <deployment-id> --dry-run

# Execute the rollback
daoflow rollback --service svc_my_web_app --target <deployment-id> --yes

What's Next?​