Deploy code overview

Learn about the available options for deploying code to APC.

Deploying code is the process of pushing code to an Astro Private Cloud (APC) Deployment. A code deploy can include an entire Astro project as a Docker image, or just the Dags in your project. APC supports several methods for deploying code to a Deployment:

• Deploy project images or Dags only using the Astro CLI
• Deploy Dags using an NFS volume
• Deploy Dags using Git sync

Use this document to understand each method and choose the right approach for your use case.

Deployment methods comparison

Method	Use Case	Downtime	Dependencies	Requirements
CLI - Full Image	Production deployments with OS dependencies	Brief restart	Supports all	Docker, CLI
CLI - Dag Only	Quick Dag updates	None	Dags only	Docker, CLI
NFS Volume	Shared filesystem environments	None	Dags only	NFS server
Git Sync	GitOps workflows	None	Dags only	Git repository

Astro CLI deploys

Full image deploy

By default, deploy code by building it into a Docker image and pushing to the Astronomer Registry using the CLI.

This mechanism builds your Dags into a Docker image alongside all other files in your Astro project directory:

• Python packages (requirements.txt)
• OS-level packages (packages.txt)
• Dockerfile customizations
• Plugins and include files

The resulting image generates Docker containers for each Airflow component. Every time you run astro deploy, your project is rebuilt into a new image and containers are restarted.

# Deploy full project image
astro deploy <deployment-id>

When to use

• Python or OS dependency updates
• Custom Dockerfile modifications
• Initial deployment setup
• Major version changes

Dag-only deploy

For faster iteration, enable Dag-only deploys to deploy just your dags directory without rebuilding the Docker image.

# Deploy Dags only (no image rebuild)
astro deploy <deployment-id> --dags

When to use

• Frequent Dag changes
• No dependency changes
• Development workflows
• Quick fixes

You still need Docker access to authenticate to APC before deploying Dags.

NFS volume-based Dag deploys

For teams deploying Dag changes frequently, APC supports NFS volume-based Dag deploys.

Using this mechanism, deploy Dags by adding Python files to a shared filesystem on your network. Compared to image-based deploys, NFS enables:

• Zero downtime deployments
• Continuous deployment workflows
• Shared Dag storage across environments

When to use

• Enterprise environments with existing NFS infrastructure
• High-frequency Dag updates
• Shared Dag development across teams

Requirements

• NFS server accessible from Kubernetes cluster
• Platform-level configuration enabled
• Read access for UID/GID 50000

For configuration details, see Deploy Dags via NFS volume.

Git-sync Dag deploys

For Git-based workflows, APC supports git-sync deployments.

Configure a Git repository to sync with your Deployment. When you push changes to the repository, Dags automatically sync with no downtime.

Sync modes

• Polling: Periodically checks for changes (default: every 60 seconds)
• Webhook: Triggers sync on push events

When to use

• GitOps deployment workflows
• Version-controlled Dag management
• CI/CD pipeline integration
• Branch-based deployment strategies

For configuration details, see Deploy Dags via git sync.

Choose a deployment method

Decision tree

Combine methods

You can combine deployment methods:

• Use CLI Full Image for dependency updates
• Use CLI Dag-Only for quick Dag iterations
• Use Git Sync for automated production deployments

NFS and Git Sync are mutually exclusive with CLI deploys for the same Deployment. Once configured, a Deployment uses only that mechanism.

CI/CD integration

All deployment methods integrate with CI/CD pipelines:

Method	CI/CD Approach
CLI Full Image	astro deploy in pipeline
CLI Dag-Only	astro deploy --dags in pipeline
NFS Volume	Copy files to NFS mount
Git Sync	Push to configured branch

Related documentation

• Deploy code via the CLI
• Deploy Dags only
• Deploy Dags via NFS volume
• Deploy Dags via git sync