I use Kamal daily to deploy all the apps I maintain. I created a list of Kamal commands I use frequently. While this is not an exhaustive list, but it covers the most common tasks I usually perform.
# The init command is used to create the config and secrets files once after Kamal is added to the app.
$ kamal init
# Install Docker on all target hosts
$ kamal server
# Aliases
# Kamal defines `kamal shell` out of the box, I usually add `kamal console` to quickly access the Rails console.
$ kamal shell [-d production]
# app exec -i --reuse "bin/rails console"
$ kamal console [-d production]
# Deploy app [to the staging environment]
$ kamal deploy [-d staging]
# Rollback app [to the VERSION] [in the staging environment]
$ kamal rollback [VERSION] [-d staging]
# Building images
# Most of the time you won't use the `kamal build` command directly,
# since it primarily used by `kamal deploy` and `kamal redeploy`.
# However, you can also use it to build the app image without pushing it, which is useful for testing.
$ kamal build dev
# Below are several commands to read the logs of the app and its accessories.
$ kamal app logs [--roles=web -n 100 -f]
$ kamal app logs [--primary -n 100 -f]
$ kamal app logs [--hosts=<ip_address> -n 100 -f]
$ kamal audit
# Show logs for the PgHero accessory [for the staging environment]
$ kamal accessory logs pghero [-d staging]
# Show logs for the proxy server [for the staging environment]
$ kamal proxy logs [-d staging]
# Show combined config (including secrets) [for the staging environment]. Can be useful to debug and in case you forgot your server ip-address.
$ kamal config [-d staging]
# Print secrets to stdout [for the staging environment]
$ kamal secrets print [-d staging]
# Show details about all containers grouped by role [for the staging environment]
$ kamal details [-d staging]
# Show details only about the app containers [for the staging environment], [for the web role]
$ kamal app details [-d staging] [--roles=web]
# Show details only about the PgHero accessory containers [for the staging environment]
$ kamal accessory details pghero -d staging
To see all available commands, run kamal help. If you prefer to save this cheat sheet as an image, use this link.
