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This tutorial will guide you through all required steps you need to take to deploy your application on AWS and transfer your data from Heroku Postgres to the database managed by AWS via Qovery.
This guide also works for migrating your application from Heroku to GCP, Azure, Scaleway.

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What you will do

  1. Create your Dockerfile(s)
  2. Create resources on Qovery (applications and databases)
  3. Configure your Environment Variables and Secrets
  4. Copy your data from Heroku databases to AWS
  5. Deploy your apps

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1. Create Your Dockerfile

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Find a Dockerfile template

We provide Dockerfile templates for Rails, NodeJS, React, VueJS, NextJS, Golang, Flask, Django, Laravel, Symfony, Spring, Rust, and many more.

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Example: Rails application

# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1

FROM ruby:2.7

RUN apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -y nodejs postgresql-client

WORKDIR /myapp

COPY Gemfile Gemfile

COPY Gemfile.lock Gemfile.lock

RUN bundle install

COPY . .

EXPOSE 3000

CMD ["rails", "server", "-b", "0.0.0.0", "-p", "3000"]

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Example: Rails Sidekiq worker

# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1

FROM ruby:2.7

RUN apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -y nodejs postgresql-client

WORKDIR /myapp

COPY Gemfile Gemfile

COPY Gemfile.lock Gemfile.lock

RUN bundle install

COPY . .

CMD ["bundle", "exec", "sidekiq"]

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Test your Dockerfile

Build your Dockerfile: 
docker build -f Dockerfile.qovery .
Then run your image: 
docker run a0f90a6ec8bc4036a7b268479a0c0773ca324ba2de11fdef31309650743f4055
Once you successfully build your application with Docker, your app will run anywhere (not only on AWS with Qovery).

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Environment variables at build time

If your application needs environment variables at build time, you can use the ARG instruction in your Dockerfile: 
...
ARG CONTENT_API_KEY
ENV CONTENT_API_KEY $CONTENT_API_KEY
...

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Add your Dockerfile to your Git repository

git add Dockerfile.qovery
git commit -m "Add Qovery Dockerfile"
git push origin

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2. Create Resources on Qovery

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Create your application

  1. Connect to the Qovery Console
  2. Create your Organization and Project
  3. Create your production Environment
  4. Create your application with the name of your repository
  5. Select your GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket repository
  6. Select the branch you want to deploy
  7. Specify the port your application is listening on
  8. Click on create
Your application is created but not deployed yet! You can configure the vCPU, Memory, Environment Variables… before deploying.

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Create your database

  1. Go to your production Environment
  2. Click on “Add” and then “Database”
  3. Select your database type and version (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis)
  4. Select Managed or Container mode
  5. Select Public accessibility (or Private if you don’t need to restore data from Heroku)

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3. Configure Environment Variables and Secrets

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Export your environment variables from Heroku

Use the Heroku CLI to export your environment variables: 
heroku config
Example output: 
GREETINGS: hello world
STRIPE_API_KEY: xxx-yyy-zzz
IS_PRODUCTION: true

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Import your environment variables with Qovery CLI

qovery auth
qovery context set
heroku config --app <your_heroku_app_name> --json | \
  qovery env parse --heroku-json > heroku.env && \
  qovery env import heroku.env && \
  rm heroku.env
Import sensitive data (e.g., API keys, credentials…) as Secret and not Environment Variable.

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Connect your frontend to your backend

Create environment variable aliases to connect your applications.

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Connect your backend to your database

Create environment variable alias on _DATABASE_URL_INTERNAL (not _DATABASE_URL).

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4. Copy Data from Heroku Databases to AWS

Data migration support through Replibyte is coming soon.

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5. Deploy Your Apps

After completing the configuration, you’re ready to deploy through the Qovery console.

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FAQ by Heroku Users

Check the custom domain configuration documentation for setup instructions.
Qovery recommends using Datadog or comparable monitoring tools. See our monitoring guide.
Yes, Qovery provides Preview Environment functionality.
App rollback is available through the deployment actions.
Auto-scaling is configured in the application settings.
Database migrations can be managed using Lifecycle Jobs.
Yes, via Qovery cloud shell button in the console interface, selecting pod and container. Also available through CLI with qovery shell command.
Yes, Qovery has a Terraform provider available for infrastructure-as-code deployment.
Use VPC peering for secure connection to MongoDB Atlas.
Use VPC peering to connect to external AWS services.

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Next Steps

Deploy Your First App

Complete the deployment process

Production Setup

Set up a production-ready environment

Qovery CLI

Learn about the Qovery CLI

Community Forum

Read updates and announcements from the Qovery team