In simple English
This tool turns your server cluster into a simple hosting platform. You connect a code repository and send code updates to make your app run live. It hides all the complex server configuration behind a clean web page. You stay in control of your own hardware and avoid paying high fees to commercial hosts. You need an active server cluster and some basic system administration skills to keep it running.
What it is
Canine is a self-hosted platform-as-a-service built on Ruby that runs on top of Kubernetes (a system for running and scaling containerized applications across many servers). It provides a web dashboard and an automated build pipeline that turns source code into running web services.
What it is good for
Solo builders who want the simplicity of Heroku without giving up control of their own server hardware or paying cloud markups.
- Deploy new code automatically by pushing to your git repository.
- Manages custom domains, SSL certificates, and environment variables in one place.
- Runs on any standard Kubernetes cluster you already own or rent.
- Requires an existing Kubernetes cluster, which is complex to set up and maintain.
- Setup difficulty is high for non-programmers who have never managed container orchestration.
- Relies on Docker (a way to run a program inside its own sealed box, so it cannot break anything else on your server) for building images.
Manual Kubernetes configuration files and complex continuous integration scripts
Docker Compose for local container management
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git clone https://github.com/CanineHQ/canine.git cd canine echo "SECRET_KEY_BASE=$(openssl rand -hex 64)" > .env docker compose up -d