Debugging Heroku Deployment (500 Error)

Question

I've been working on deploying my first rails app to heroku for the past few nights and am struggling to figure out how to solve this problem.

I used Michael Hartl's tutorial (http://ruby.railstutorial.org/chapters/beginning#sec-deploying) to make sure I set up my app on the Cedar Stack.

Per the Heroku tutorial, I'm using "thin" as the server.

I've read a bunch of posts and have precompiled my assets using:

heroku run bundle exec rake assets:precompile bundle exec rake assets:precompile

I have also migrated my databases.

My app works on my localhost.

Here is my gemfile:

source 'https://rubygems.org'

gem 'rails', '3.2.8'
gem 'bootstrap-sass', '2.0.0'
gem 'bcrypt-ruby'
gem 'thin'

group :development, :test do
  gem 'rspec-rails'
end

group :development do
  gem 'sqlite3'
end

# Bundle edge Rails instead:
# gem 'rails', :git => 'git://github.com/rails/rails.git'

group :production do
  gem 'pg'
end

# Gems used only for assets and not required
# in production environments by default.
group :assets do
  gem 'sass-rails',   '~> 3.2.3'
  gem 'coffee-rails', '~> 3.2.1'

  # See https://github.com/sstephenson/execjs#readme for more supported runtimes
  # gem 'therubyracer', :platforms => :ruby

  gem 'uglifier', '>= 1.0.3'
end

gem 'jquery-rails'

group :test do
  gem 'capybara'
  gem 'factory_girl_rails'
end

Here are my heroku logs

2012-09-02T01:56:17+00:00 app[web.1]: DEPRECATION WARNING: You have Rails 2.3-style plugins in vendor/plugins! Support for these plugins will be removed in Rails 4.0. Move them out and bundle them in your Gemfile, or fold them in to your app as lib/myplugin/* and config/initializers/myplugin.rb. See the release notes for more on this: http://weblog.rubyonrails.org/2012/1/4/rails-3-2-0-rc2-has-been-released. (called from <top (required)> at /app/config/environment.rb:5)
2012-09-02T01:56:20+00:00 app[web.1]: => Booting Thin
2012-09-02T01:56:20+00:00 app[web.1]: => Rails 3.2.8 application starting in production on http://0.0.0.0:50510
2012-09-02T01:56:20+00:00 app[web.1]: => Call with -d to detach
2012-09-02T01:56:20+00:00 app[web.1]: => Ctrl-C to shutdown server
2012-09-02T01:56:20+00:00 app[web.1]: Connecting to database specified by DATABASE_URL
2012-09-02T01:56:21+00:00 app[web.1]: >> Thin web server (v1.4.1 codename Chromeo)
2012-09-02T01:56:21+00:00 app[web.1]: >> Maximum connections set to 1024
2012-09-02T01:56:21+00:00 app[web.1]: >> Listening on 0.0.0.0:50510, CTRL+C to stop
2012-09-02T01:56:21+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from starting to up
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]: 
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]: 
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]: Started GET "/" for 108.210.1.241 at 2012-09-02 01:56:23 +0000
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]: Processing by StaticPagesController#home as HTML
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]:   Rendered static_pages/home.html.erb within layouts/application (14.9ms)
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]: Completed 500 Internal Server Error in 103ms
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]: ActionView::Template::Error (screen.css isn't precompiled):
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]: 
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]:     2: <html>
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]:     3: <head>
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 heroku[router]: GET morning-inlet-9513.herokuapp.com/ dyno=web.1 queue=0 wait=0ms service=262ms status=500 bytes=643
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]:     4:   <title>GabisBag</title>
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]: 
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]:     5:   <%= stylesheet_link_tag    "screen", :media => "screen" %>
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]: 
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]:   app/views/layouts/application.html.erb:5:in `_app_views_layouts_application_html_erb__1090905269972481286_30934000'
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]:     6:   <%= stylesheet_link_tag    "landing_pages", :media => "screen" %>
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]:     7:   <%= javascript_include_tag "application" %>
2012-09-02T01:56:23+00:00 app[web.1]:     8:   <%= csrf_meta_tags %>
2012-09-02T02:05:54+00:00 heroku[api]: Starting process with command `bundle exec rake assets:precompile` by jflores1@alumni.nd.edu
2012-09-02T02:05:57+00:00 heroku[run.1]: Awaiting client
2012-09-02T02:05:57+00:00 heroku[run.1]: Starting process with command `bundle exec rake assets:precompile`
2012-09-02T02:05:58+00:00 heroku[run.1]: State changed from starting to up
2012-09-02T02:06:14+00:00 heroku[run.1]: Client connection closed. Sending SIGHUP to all processes
2012-09-02T02:06:15+00:00 heroku[run.1]: Process exited with status 0
2012-09-02T02:06:15+00:00 heroku[run.1]: State changed from up to complete
2012-09-02T02:08:22+00:00 heroku[slugc]: Slug compilation started
2012-09-02T02:08:37+00:00 heroku[api]: D
eploy 6817a8e by jflores1@alumni.nd.edu
2012-09-02T02:08:37+00:00 heroku[api]: Release v8 created by jflores1@alumni.nd.edu
2012-09-02T02:08:38+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from up to starting
2012-09-02T02:08:38+00:00 heroku[slugc]: Slug compilation finished
2012-09-02T02:08:40+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Starting process with command `bundle exec rails server thin -p 42652 -e production`
2012-09-02T02:08:41+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Stopping all processes with SIGTERM
2012-09-02T02:08:41+00:00 app[web.1]: Exiting
2012-09-02T02:08:42+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Process exited with status 0
2012-09-02T02:08:44+00:00 app[web.1]: DEPRECATION WARNING: You have Rails 2.3-style plugins in vendor/plugins! Support for these plugins will be removed in Rails 4.0. Move them out and bundle them in your Gemfile, or fold them in to your app as lib/myplugin/* and config/initializers/myplugin.rb. See the release notes for more on this: http://weblog.rubyonrails.org/2012/1/4/rails-3-2-0-rc2-has-been-released. (called from <top (required)> at /app/config/environment.rb:5)
2012-09-02T02:08:44+00:00 app[web.1]: DEPRECATION WARNING: You have Rails 2.3-style plugins in vendor/plugins! Support for these plugins will be removed in Rails 4.0. Move them out and bundle them in your Gemfile, or fold them in to your app as lib/myplugin/* and config/initializers/myplugin.rb. See the release notes for more on this: http://weblog.rubyonrails.org/2012/1/4/rails-3-2-0-rc2-has-been-released. (called from <top (required)> at /app/config/environment.rb:5)
2012-09-02T02:08:47+00:00 app[web.1]: => Booting Thin
2012-09-02T02:08:47+00:00 app[web.1]: => Rails 3.2.8 application starting in production on http://0.0.0.0:42652
2012-09-02T02:08:47+00:00 app[web.1]: => Call with -d to detach
2012-09-02T02:08:47+00:00 app[web.1]: => Ctrl-C to shutdown server
2012-09-02T02:08:47+00:00 app[web.1]: Connecting to database specified by DATABASE_URL
2012-09-02T02:08:48+00:00 app[web.1]: >> Thin web server (v1.4.1 codename Chromeo)
2012-09-02T02:08:48+00:00 app[web.1]: >> Maximum connections set to 1024
2012-09-02T02:08:48+00:00 app[web.1]: >> Listening on 0.0.0.0:42652, CTRL+C to stop
2012-09-02T02:08:49+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from starting to up
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]: Started GET "/" for 108.210.1.241 at 2012-09-02 02:08:50 +0000
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]: 
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]: 
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]: Processing by StaticPagesController#home as HTML
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]:   Rendered static_pages/home.html.erb within layouts/application (9.3ms)
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]: Completed 500 Internal Server Error in 77ms
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]: 
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]: ActionView::Template::Error (screen.css isn't precompiled):
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]:     2: <html>
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]:     3: <head>
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]:     4:   <title>GabisBag</title>
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]:     5:   <%= stylesheet_link_tag    "screen", :media => "screen" %>
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]:     6:   <%= stylesheet_link_tag    "landing_pages", :media => "screen" %>
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]:     7:   <%= javascript_include_tag "application" %>
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]:     8:   <%= csrf_meta_tags %>
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]:   app/views/layouts/application.html.erb:5:in `_app_views_layouts_application_html_erb__3619394764979485472_40067220'
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]: 
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 app[web.1]: 
2012-09-02T02:08:50+00:00 heroku[router]: GET morning-inlet-9513.herokuapp.com/ dyno=web.1 queue=0 wait=0ms service=221ms status=500 bytes=643
2012-09-02T02:14:08+00:00 heroku[api]: Starting process with command `bundle exec rake db:migrate` by jflores1@alumni.nd.edu
2012-09-02T02:14:10+00:00 heroku[run.1]: Awaiting client
2012-09-02T02:14:10+00:00 heroku[run.1]: Starting process with command `bundle exec rake db:migrate`
2012-09-02T02:14:11+00:00 heroku[run.1]: State changed from starting to up
2012-09-02T02:14:17+00:00 heroku[run.1]: Client connection closed. Sending SIGHUP to all processes
2012-09-02T02:14:18+00:00 heroku[run.1]: Process exited with status 0
2012-09-02T02:14:18+00:00 heroku[run.1]: State changed from up to complete
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]: 
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]: Started GET "/" for 108.210.1.241 at 2012-09-02 02:14:35 +0000
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]: 
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]: Processing by StaticPagesController#home as HTML
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]:   Rendered static_pages/home.html.erb within layouts/application (0.5ms)
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]: Completed 500 Internal Server Error in 2ms
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]: 
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]: ActionView::Template::Error (screen.css isn't precompiled):
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]:     2: <html>
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]:     3: <head>
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]:     4:   <title>GabisBag</title>
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]:     5:   <%= stylesheet_link_tag    "screen", :media => "screen" %>
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]:     6:   <%= stylesheet_link_tag    "landing_pages", :media => "screen" %>
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]:     7:   <%= javascript_include_tag "application" %>
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]:     8:   <%= csrf_meta_tags %>
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]:   app/views/layouts/application.html.erb:5:in `_app_views_layouts_application_html_erb__3619394764979485472_40067220'
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]: 
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 app[web.1]: 
2012-09-02T02:14:35+00:00 heroku[router]: GET morning-inlet-9513.herokuapp.com/ dyno=web.1 queue=0 wait=0ms service=11ms status=500 bytes=643

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:24

2

This looks like the important part:

ActionView::Template::Error (screen.css isn't precompiled):

Seems as though this thread will fix your problem.

As it says:

On heroku server (readonly filesystem), If you want runtime compilation of css (its not recommended but you can do it), make sure you have done settings like below -

# inside config/application.rb
config.assets.enabled = true
config.assets.prefix = Rails.root.join('tmp/assets').to_s

# If you are using sass then keep gem outside of asset group
 gem 'sass-rails',   '3.1.4'

# inside config/environments/production.rb
config.assets.compile = true

edited May 23 '17 at 10:24

Community

1
1

answered Sep 02 '12 at 02:48

Sarah Lasonia

166
5

Thanks for your response! I had seen that post last night and tried it. On your advice, I tried again this morning. Still didn't work. I hadn't, though, tried the runtime compilation approach you advocate here because everything I read suggested that there's a pretty big performance hit for doing that. Am I mistaken? – jflores Sep 02 '12 at 23:12
Yeah, there is, but I cannot find any other option to fix what you are experiencing. However, you may break something. – Sarah Lasonia Sep 03 '12 at 10:00

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

1

I found the answer here: blueprint css rails 3.1 help

So far as I can tell, this appears to be a problem with using the Blueprint CSS Framework. That said, two other notes:

I commented out the <%= stylesheet_link_tag "screen", :media=>"screen"%> code from my application.html.erb layout file.
I didn't have 'rubyracer' gem installed. I installed it because it was in the gem profiled of the referenced answer. I have no clue what it does.
The URL slashes ("/") are now showing up again wherever I have links. My hunch is that it's something in one of the CSS files that I'm just going to have to dive into and debug. But, the whole reason I had the stylesheet_link_tag thing in the first place was because I was trying to get rid of those pesky slashes. Ultimately, I decided deployment was more important.

Hope this is helpful to someone else!

edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

Community

1
1

answered Sep 03 '12 at 01:09

jflores

483
6
18

Also, I precompiled everything locally (bundle exec rake assets:precompile) and on heroku (heroku run bundle exec rake assets:precompile) – jflores Sep 03 '12 at 01:10
Hey, glad it worked! If this answer solves your problem you should click the big checkbox to mark the answer as 'accepted'. This helps people know your problem has been solved :) See [this FAQ entry here](http://meta.stackexchange.com/a/5235/189918). Welcome to Stack Overflow! – culix Sep 03 '12 at 09:53
Thanks for reminding me! This solution actually didn't work out perfectly because I still had those slashes. But, I did eventually figure it out and so I posted an answer that address both issues (the compilation problem and the URL/slash problem). – jflores Oct 04 '12 at 14:20

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

Here's how I ultimately solved the problem(s). Thanks to the folks who referred me elsewhere so that I could put it all together.

First, I moved Blueprint to a vender directory. I don't think that's crucial to the solution, but it felt cleaner.

The compilation problem:

This thread: blueprint css rails 3.1 help was really helpful. I found Martin and Gary's responses (nos 2 and 3) more helpful than the selected response.

Part of why I was having trouble with compilation (personally) is because I made some edits to the Blueprint files, which meant that they needed to be compiled again before deployment.

This thread: rails 3.1.0 ActionView::Template::Error (application.css isn't precompiled) was helpful in that regard. Basically, just run "Bundle exec rake assets:precompile" before uploading to heroku. I also run "heroku run rake assets:precompile" after upload.

How I got rid of the URL slashes in my links: The URLs are the result of this code in Blueprint/print.css:

a:link, a:visited {background:transparent;font-weight:700;text-decoration:underline;}
a:link:after, a:visited:after {content:" (" attr(href) ")";font-size:90%;}

I solved the problem by commenting out that code. Of course, after changing the file, you have to rake assets:precompile again. But, that got it all working!

Debugging Heroku Deployment (500 Error)

3 Answers3