How can I use unicorn as "rails s"?

Question

A new Rails project's Gemfile shows:

# Use unicorn as the app server
gem 'unicorn'

rails s --help shows:

Usage: rails server [mongrel, thin, etc] [options]

Yet, doing:

rails s unicorn

I get:

/Users/patrick/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-head@keynote/gems/rack-1.4.5/lib/rack/handler.rb:63:in `require': cannot load such file -- rack/handler/unicorn (LoadError)
from /Users/patrick/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-head@keynote/gems/rack-1.4.5/lib/rack/handler.rb:63:in `try_require'
from /Users/patrick/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-head@keynote/gems/rack-1.4.5/lib/rack/handler.rb:16:in `get'
from /Users/patrick/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-head@keynote/gems/rack-1.4.5/lib/rack/server.rb:272:in `server'
from /Users/patrick/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-head@keynote/gems/railties-3.2.13/lib/rails/commands/server.rb:59:in `start'
from /Users/patrick/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-head@keynote/gems/railties-3.2.13/lib/rails/commands.rb:55:in `block in <top (required)>'
from /Users/patrick/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-head@keynote/gems/railties-3.2.13/lib/rails/commands.rb:50:in `tap'
from /Users/patrick/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-head@keynote/gems/railties-3.2.13/lib/rails/commands.rb:50:in `<top (required)>'
from script/rails:6:in `require'
from script/rails:6:in `<main>'

I've used unicorn in the past on other projects, but always had to run the unicorn command and specify a config file which is a bit of a pain. I am wondering how I can just simply make it work by using rails s...

Is this possible?

I don't think `unicorn` can be called from `rails server` directly. Check this out - https://github.com/samuelkadolph/unicorn-rails — Dogbert, Apr 07 '13 at 04:38
Just typing `unicorn` works for me, same amount of keystrokes as `rails s` — mind.blank, Apr 07 '13 at 05:10

score 61 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 18 '15 at 18:42

61

It looks like the unicorn-rails gem that @Dogbert mentioned can actually be used to make Unicorn the rails server handler.

Simply include gem "unicorn-rails" (and for Rails 4.2.4, gem "rack-handlers") in your Gemfile, run bundle install to install the gem, then you can run:

$ rails server unicorn

Although once unicorn-rails is installed, Unicorn should be the default app server so you could also just run rails server and it should use Unicorn (assuming you don't also have Thin or Mongrel in your Gemfile, in which case they may conflict and you might want to remove the ones you're not using).

edited Sep 18 '15 at 18:42

Evan

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answered Apr 07 '13 at 07:28

Stuart M

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I find it very interesting that the gemfile has 'unicorn' rather than 'unicorn_rails' as a suggestion. I also find it interesting that this webpage says: "unicorn_rails was made to be an easier transition for users of pre-Rack versions of Rails. The manpage encourages Rails 3 users to use plain unicorn instead." http://blog.engineyard.com/2010/everything-you-need-to-know-about-unicorn – patrick Apr 08 '13 at 05:40
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Which Gemfile are you seeing `unicorn` in? I suggested adding the `unicorn-rails` gem to your Gemfile. – Stuart M Apr 08 '13 at 05:46
1

For Rails 4.2.4, this first requires adding `gem 'rack-handlers'` to your Gemfile along with `gem 'unicorn'` – Evan Sep 18 '15 at 17:10

score 27 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 01 '13 at 02:31

27

A better option might just be to run the unicorn server directly.

bundle exec unicorn -p 3000 # default port is 8080

answered Sep 01 '13 at 02:31

Steven Soroka

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How can i increase Workers? – Huzaifa Saifuddin Sep 07 '17 at 13:08

score 19 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 11 '13 at 14:36

19

gem 'rack-handlers'

rails server unicorn

answered Dec 11 '13 at 14:36

Tom Maeckelberghe

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The other beauty of using rack-handlers is that it autoloads the config/unicorn.rb file. – Eric Caron Dec 27 '13 at 23:35

tokhi · Answer 4 · 2014-11-12T16:08:10.123

However the answer by Steven is the simplest way to do.

I run unicorn on development environment via a rake task:

lib/tasks/dev_unicorn.rake:

task :server do
  # optional port parameter
  port = ENV['PORT'] ? ENV['PORT'] : '3000'
  puts 'start unicorn development'
  # execute unicorn command specifically in development
  # port at 3000 if unspecified
  sh "cd #{Rails.root} && RAILS_ENV=development unicorn -p #{port}"
end
# an alias task
task :s => :server

run:

rake s

Reference http://jing.io

prashant · Answer 5 · 2014-12-28T16:29:39.263

0

I don't think it is possible to use unicorn as 'rails s'. Use this -

Add gem 'unicorn' to gem file and run bundle install.

and then run any of the following commands -

$ unicorn -p 3000

or

$ unicorn_rails -p 3000

edited Dec 28 '14 at 16:29

answered Dec 28 '14 at 08:39

prashant

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7

How can I use unicorn as "rails s"?

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