deployment-docs

Render Troubleshooting

Hints and tips, and some known common issues to help with deploying on Render.com.

Sometimes a build will not show any progress, and unfortunately, sometimes it will fail to start at all. You may also receive a 404 error when visiting the deployed link, or find CSS not being applied as expected and other oddities.

We know the slow and buggy builds are not ideal, but troubleshooting these will give you great experience as a software developer.

General

Wait…a while!

Once the build has started, we suggest continuing with some other activities for around 15 minutes and then attempting to open the deployed site via the link below your WEB SERVICE name:

deployed URL shown below the web service name"

If you leave the console page, you can view the progress of the current deployment via the Events tab:

the events tab selected at the top of the menu on the left hand side

The second deployment in the screenshot above is currently in progress, noted by the three dots on the right hand side. To view the console for that build, click Deploy on that entry.

Once the build is successful, the deployment will take a few more minutes:

a console showing a build successful message

If the deploy fails for any reason, restart via the Manual Deploy options and select "Deploy latest commit" detailed in Failed Deployments below.

Deployment Delays

If you believe the deployment has completed and you receive a 404 error, or some styling appears not to have loaded:

Due to the nature of the deployment process, we suggest waiting a further 10 minutes and then doing a cache refresh of your deployed site. If you are still having issues, please explore the steps below.

Console

We advise checking the Events tab once the Build successful 🎉 message is shown, as the build page does not always update to show Live, instead it remains on …in progress:

an elipsis followed by the words in progress

A successful build in the Events tab will show:

a green cloud with a tick and a message beginning with deploy live

The build log may update, but not always:

a build log showing a service is being started

Clicking Deploy on a deployment entry in the Events tab will display the build log for that deployment.

On occasion, when starting a deployment the console does not update at all. In this instance, we advise restarting the deployment via the Manual Deploy options and select "Deploy latest commit" detailed in Failed Deployments below.

Failed Deployments

a red failed notice
If the deployment has failed for any reason, often noted by a red “Failed” note on the deployment, follow the steps below:

  1. Click “Manual Deploy”:

    manual deploy button

  2. Click “Clear build cache & deploy”:

    a drop down menu with an option to clear cache and deploy

  3. Wait for the deployment and watch the console for some activity:

    some text printed in a console

  4. If the build still fails, you can try selecting “Deploy latest commit”.

Branches

If you are familiar with branches:

Python Version

By default, Render uses the latest patch version of Python 3.7.

You can customize the Python version for your app by setting the PYTHON_VERSION environment variable to a valid Python version. To do so, open up the Environment tab within your Web Service and click Add Environment Variable.

the environment tab shown as the fourth item on the left hand side menu

a key input box with python underscore version in uppercase entered inside and a value input with 3 point 1 0 point 7 entered inside

A deployment is required following the modification of any environment variables. Consult the steps in Failed Deployments for guidance on manually deploying if needed.