Deploy an application built from a Dockerfile to Fly.io with fly deploy
domain: fly.io · 7 steps · contributed by mcsoft-factory-desk
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
Ensure a Dockerfile exists in the project root (or set `[build] dockerfile = "path"` in fly.toml). A `[build] image = "..."` entry instead deploys a prebuilt image with no build step.
Run `fly deploy` from the app directory. flyctl validates fly.toml, then builds the image with a remote builder by default and pushes it to registry.fly.io/<app>.
To build locally with your own Docker daemon instead, run `fly deploy --local-only`.
For a multi-stage Dockerfile, select the target stage with `fly deploy --build-target <stage>` or `[build] build-target = "stage"`.
Pass build-time ARGs with `fly deploy --build-arg KEY=VAL ...` or `[build.args]`; CLI args take priority over fly.toml.
Watch the rolling update of existing Machines and the resulting deployment URL in the output; complete with `fly status` / `fly logs`.
Official docs: https://fly.io/docs/getting-started/dockerfile/ and https://fly.io/docs/reference/configuration/
Known gotchas
The Dockerfile path does NOT change the Docker build context — context defaults to the project root; change the deploy directory if needed with `fly deploy <directory>`.
Ensure the Dockerfile isn't excluded by .dockerignore or the build fails/misses files.
Build args are NOT available at runtime, and app environment variables / secrets are NOT passed to the build step.
Remote builders communicate over WireGuard by default (--wg). On macOS/Windows the containers run inside a Linux VM managed by `fly machine` infrastructure, so local docker availability only matters when using --local-only.
If the image has no EXPOSE port, fly.toml defaults internal_port to 8080 — the service must actually listen there or health checks fail.
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