SYNOPSIS

unicorn_rails [-c CONFIG_FILE] [-E RAILS_ENV] [-D] [RACKUP_FILE]

DESCRIPTION

A rackup(1)-like command to launch Rails applications using Unicorn. It is expected to be started in your Rails application root (RAILS_ROOT), but the "working_directory" directive may be used in the CONFIG_FILE.

It is designed to help Rails 1.x and 2.y users transition to Rack, but it is NOT needed for Rails 3 applications. Rails 3 users are encouraged to use unicorn(1) instead of unicorn_rails(1). Users of Rails 1.x/2.y may also use unicorn(1) instead of unicorn_rails(1).

The outward interface resembles rackup(1), the internals and default middleware loading is designed like the script/server command distributed with Rails.

While Unicorn takes a myriad of command-line options for compatibility with ruby(1) and rackup(1), it is recommended to stick to the few command-line options specified in the SYNOPSIS and use the CONFIG_FILE as much as possible.

UNICORN OPTIONS

-c, --config-file CONFIG_FILE

Path to the Unicorn-specific config file. The config file is implemented as a Ruby DSL, so Ruby code may executed. See the RDoc/ri for the Unicorn::Configurator class for the full list of directives available from the DSL. Using an absolute path for for CONFIG_FILE is recommended as it makes multiple instances of Unicorn easily distinguishable when viewing ps(1) output.

-D, --daemonize

Run daemonized in the background. The process is detached from the controlling terminal and stdin is redirected to "/dev/null". Unlike many common UNIX daemons, we do not chdir to "/" upon daemonization to allow more control over the startup/upgrade process. Unless specified in the CONFIG_FILE, stderr and stdout will also be redirected to "/dev/null". Daemonization will skip loading of the Rails::Rack::LogTailer middleware under Rails >= 2.3.x. By default, unicorn_rails(1) will create a PID file in "RAILS_ROOT/tmp/pids/unicorn.pid". You may override this by specifying the "pid" directive to override this Unicorn config file.

-E, --env RAILS_ENV

Run under the given RAILS_ENV. This sets the RAILS_ENV environment variable. Acceptable values are exactly those you expect in your Rails application, typically "development" or "production".

-l, --listen ADDRESS

Listens on a given ADDRESS. ADDRESS may be in the form of HOST:PORT or PATH, HOST:PORT is taken to mean a TCP socket and PATH is meant to be a path to a UNIX domain socket. Defaults to "0.0.0.0:8080" (all addresses on TCP port 8080). For production deployments, specifying the "listen" directive in CONFIG_FILE is recommended as it allows fine-tuning of socket options.

RACKUP COMPATIBILITY OPTIONS

-o, --host HOST

Listen on a TCP socket belonging to HOST, default is "0.0.0.0" (all addresses). If specified multiple times on the command-line, only the last-specified value takes effect. This option only exists for compatibility with the rackup(1) command, use of "-l"/"--listen" switch is recommended instead.

-p, --port PORT

Listen on the specified TCP PORT, default is 8080. If specified multiple times on the command-line, only the last-specified value takes effect. This option only exists for compatibility with the rackup(1) command, use of "-l"/"--listen" switch is recommended instead.

--path PATH

Mounts the Rails application at the given PATH (instead of "/"). This is equivalent to setting the RAILS_RELATIVE_URL_ROOT environment variable. This is only supported under Rails 2.3 or later at the moment.

RUBY OPTIONS

-e, --eval LINE

Evaluate a LINE of Ruby code. This evaluation happens immediately as the command-line is being parsed.

-d, --debug

Turn on debug mode, the $DEBUG variable is set to true. For Rails >= 2.3.x, this loads the Rails::Rack::Debugger middleware.

-w, --warn

Turn on verbose warnings, the $VERBOSE variable is set to true.

-I, --include PATH

specify $LOAD_PATH. PATH will be prepended to $LOAD_PATH. The ':' character may be used to delimit multiple directories. This directive may be used more than once. Modifications to $LOAD_PATH take place immediately and in the order they were specified on the command-line.

-r, --require LIBRARY

require a specified LIBRARY before executing the application. The "require" statement will be executed immediately and in the order they were specified on the command-line.

RACKUP FILE

This defaults to "config.ru" in RAILS_ROOT. It should be the same file used by rackup(1) and other Rack launchers, it uses the Rack::Builder DSL. Unlike many other Rack applications, RACKUP_FILE is completely optional for Rails, but may be used to disable some of the default middleware for performance.

Embedded command-line options are mostly parsed for compatibility with rackup(1) but strongly discouraged.

AUTHORS