Getting started

Don't like fiddling with the CLI? Want to first test Preevy with an easy web UI? Check out our Docker Extension!

Prerequisites

Required software

• Node.js v18 or greater on Mac, Linux or Windows.
• Docker CLI with the default Docker Compose and BuildX plug ins. The Docker CLI is included with the Docker Engine installation and can also be installed separately.
• To use Kubernetes as a deploy runtime: kubectl.

Your Docker Compose app

If you don't have an existing Docker Compose app, check out Awesome Compose - a curated list of Compose samples, from React to Minecraft.

Your cloud provider or Kubernetes cluster

Preevy deploys your app to one of the supported deploy runtimes.

Choose the cloud provider or Kubernetes cluster you're going to use and configure access credentials for it:

• For AWS: use aws configure. See AWS lightsail credentials configurations.
• For GCP: use gcloud auth application-default login. See GCP credentials configuration
• For Azure: use az login. See Azure credentials configuration
• For Kubernetes: See Kubernetes credentials configuration

Note Preevy only uses your credentials when you run the Preevy CLI to set up and connect to your environments. Your credentials are not sent or stored anywhere outside of your computer.

Local Kubernetes server using Docker Desktop

If you don't have an existing cloud account or prefer to try Preevy first locally, you can use the Docker Desktop Kubernetes server. Go to: Docker Settings -> Kubernetes -> Enable Kubernetes.

Install the Preevy CLI

npm install -g preevy

Or use npx to run the CLI without installing it:

npx preevy <command>

Set up a profile

preevy init

Preevy will ask you to select a deploy target and a storage location for your profile. You can start by storing the profile locally.

Deploy your first environment

From the same directory where your docker-compose.yml or compose.yml file is located, run the command below:

preevy up

Note: Preevy uses the git repo at the current directory to calculate a stable environment ID for your project. Make sure a git repo is initialized (with at least one commit), or add the --id flag to explicitly specify the environment ID.

Access and share your new preview environment at the *.livecycle.run links provided in the command output.

Update your environment

Code changed? Re-run preevy up to quickly sync the preview environment with your changes on the existing VM or Kubernetes Pod.

List and remove your environment

Run preevy ls to show all environments in your deploy target which are linked to your profile.

Run preevy down to remove your environment. Preevy will delete the VM or Kubernetes Pod.

FAQ

See the CLI FAQ section.

What's next?

• Check out our Docker Extension, which uses Preevy to share Compose apps running on your local computer!
• See the full CLI reference
• Integrate Preevy into your CI workflows