Set buildpack failed for php application developed using wamp server

Question

My application folder name is "social_network". It is in wamp\www path. I am trying to deploy app folder("social_network") to heroku using git commands.I followed all the instructions of heroku's instructions pages. I included composer.json file in the app folder, installed composer, kept Procfile. I even gave the commands of "heroku buildpacks:set".But still the push is being failed with an error message "set buildpack failed".The code in Procfile is: "web: vendor/bin/heroku-php-apache2." Is this the process type to be given for the app in wamp server? What folder should I try to deploy- wamp or social_network?I doubt if there will be any more changes to make inorder to deploy as it is developed using wamp server.How can I deploy successfully?

Answer 1

The mistake that I had done was having the files of composer.json and Procfile along with my php files under social_network folder while the repository was created in www folder(I had my .git folder in www folder). So, heroku was not able to recognize my app as a php app and the push failed.

As I had a great difficulty to deploy my php application that was developed through wamp server, I would like to explain all the steps involved in deploying the php app which needs a database to heroku.

It is better to have all the application files directly under www folder.

The following documentation can be referred:

Getting started with heroku for php:

Have a heroku account, install php, and install composer and run it. The composer will download required packages in a folder called vendor which should be in your app directory.

Download heroku CLI and login to heroku using the command:

heroku login

Include composer.json file so that heroku recognizes that the application is a php app. It should contain the following code:

{
  "require": {
    "php": "^5.5.12"
  }
}

The above code will instruct Heroku to use the latest version of PHP 5. The version can be anything which your app uses.

Have a Procfile to declare what command should be executed to start the app. It should have the following code:

web: vendor/bin/heroku-php-apache2

Now in cmd, make sure that the path of your www folder:

c:\wamp\www>

If there are any changes made to composer.json file, update the composer.lock file by:

 c:\wamp\www> update composer

Next, create a new repository in the www folder by:

c:\wamp\www>git init

Then add your files to the repository.

c:\wamp\www>git add .

Then commit:

c:\wamp\www>git commit

Then create an app in heroku

c:\wamp\www>heroku create

Then comes the part of creating database and establishing connection:

The following documentation can be referred:

ClearDb Database documentation for php by heroku

Create a database:

C:\wamp\www>heroku addons:create cleardb:ignite

Set the url of the database to the app created in heroku:

C:\wamp\www> heroku config:set DATABASE_URL='the url that was created by the above command'

To know the CLEARDB_DATABASE_URL:

C:\wamp\www>heroku config

which gives the url:

CLEARDB_DATABASE_URL= mysql://user:password@host/heroku_db?reconnect=true

Example of the CLEARDB_DATABASE_URL:

mysql://b8xxxxxx:edxxxx@ us-cdbr-iron-east-04.cleardb.net/heroku_xx‌​xxxx?reconnect=true .

To dump the existing sql file to the sql database in heroku, make sure that the PATH had been set for mysql and then give the following commands:

To get a mysql prompt with connection to the database.

C:\wamp\www>mysql -u b8xxxxxx -h us-cdbr-iron-east-04.cleardb.net -p heroku_xxxxxx

To dump the existing file to heroku database:

C:\wamp\www>mysql --host=us-cdbr-iron-east-04.cleardb.net --user=b8xxxxxx --password=edxxxxxx --reconnect heroku_xxxxxx< yoursqlfile.sql

Now use the database created and connect to it in your code:

<?php
$url = parse_url(getenv("CLEARDB_DATABASE_URL"));

$server = $url["host"];
$username = $url["user"];
$password = $url["pass"];
$db = substr($url["path"], 1);

$con = mysqli_connect("$server", "$username", "$password", "$db");
?>

Then push to the app created in heroku:

c:\wamp\www>git push heroku master

Open the app:

c:\wamp\www>heroku open

That's it! Now the website is hosted onto heroku successfully!