Provision

The provisioning process, handled by the provision script shipped via the drevops/vortex-tooling Composer package (installed at vendor/bin/vortex-provision), sets up a Drupal site on already assembled codebase by either importing an existing database from the dump or installing a fresh instance of Drupal using a profile, followed by running the necessary configuration import and database updates.

The main purpose of the script is to automate the setup of a Drupal site in every environment, ensuring consistency and eliminating manual steps.

Provisioning flow

Below is a generic provisioning flow diagram illustrating the steps taken by the provision script. The flow may vary based on environment variables and conditions that could alter the execution path.

The numbered steps refer to the environment variables described in the next section.

🚀 Start
   │
① 💡 Skip provision? ──Yes──► 🏁 End
   │ No
   ▼
② 💡 Provision type = database
│
├─ 💡 Existing site found = YES
│  ├─ Container image set? ──► preserve content (no change)
│  ├─ ③ Overwrite DB? ──Yes──► 🗑️ Drop DB ──► 🛢️ Attempt import from dump
│  │                                              │
│  │                                              ├─ Dump file exists? ──► 🛢️ Import DB
│  │                                              └─ Dump file missing?
│  │                                                  ├─ ④ Fallback? ──Yes──► 📦 Install from profile ✓
│  │                                                  └─ ④ Fallback? ──No───► 🏁 EXIT 1 (fail) ✗
│  └─ else ──► preserve content, ⑩ skip sanitization
│
└─ 💡 Existing site found = NO
   ├─ Container image set?
   │  ├─ ④ Fallback? ──Yes──► 📦 Install from profile ✓
   │  └─ ④ Fallback? ──No───► 🏁 EXIT 1 ("corrupted image") ✗
   └─ Container image not set? ──► 🗑️ Drop DB ──► 🛢️ Attempt import from dump
                                                     │
                                                     ├─ Dump file exists? ──► 🛢️ Import DB
                                                     └─ Dump file missing?
                                                         ├─ ④ Fallback? ──Yes──► 📦 Install from profile ✓
                                                         └─ ④ Fallback? ──No───► 🏁 EXIT 1 (fail) ✗

── after provisioning (both DB and profile paths) ──

⑤ 💡 Skip other operations? ──Yes──► 🏁 End
   │ No
   ▼
⑥ 🚧 Enable maintenance mode
   ▼
   🆔 Set site UUID from configuration (if config files present)
   ▼
   🔄 Run DB updates
   ▼
⑦ 💡 Verify config unchanged? ──Config changed──► 🏁 EXIT 1 (fail) ✗
   │ Config unchanged (or check disabled)
   ▼
⑧ 🧹 Rebuild caches after DB updates (skippable)
   ▼
   ⬇️ Import configuration (if config files present)
   ▼
   ⬇️ Import config_split configuration (if the module is enabled)
   ▼
⑨ 🔁 Repeat configuration import (opt-in)
   ▼
   🧹 Rebuild caches
   ▼
   🔄 Run deployment hooks
   ▼
⑩ 😷 Run DB sanitization
   ▼
   ⚙️ Run custom scripts
   ▼
⑥ 🚧 Disable maintenance mode
   ▼
   🏁 End

Customizing flow

You can control the provisioning flow using the following environment variables:

VORTEX_PROVISION_SKIP=1
Kill-switch to completely skip provisioning. The script will exit immediately after start. Useful in emergencies when any kind of automation needs to be disabled.
VORTEX_PROVISION_TYPE=profile
Install from a Drupal profile instead of importing from a database dump. Useful for building sites without the persistent DB and/or test profile configuration installation.
VORTEX_PROVISION_OVERRIDE_DB=1
Drop an existing database before importing from dump/installing from profile. This is useful when an already provisioned environment requires a fresh database to be imported.
VORTEX_PROVISION_FALLBACK_TO_PROFILE=1
Automatically fall back to installing from profile if the database dump file or container image is not available. The site is installed from the configured profile, the Shield module is enabled to protect the environment, and all post-provision operations (configuration import, database updates, deployment hooks, etc.) are skipped. This provides a minimal working Drupal site when no database is available.
VORTEX_PROVISION_POST_OPERATIONS_SKIP=1
Skip configuration imports, database updates, and other post-provisioning steps. This is useful when you want to provision a site without running any additional operations.
VORTEX_PROVISION_USE_MAINTENANCE_MODE=1
Enable maintenance mode right after the site is bootstrappable and disable it at the end. Useful when you want to prevent users from accessing the site while it is being provisioned.
VORTEX_PROVISION_VERIFY_CONFIG_UNCHANGED_AFTER_UPDATE=1
Verify that active configuration was not changed by database updates. When enabled and config files are present, the provision will fail if drush updatedb modifies active configuration, preventing drush config:import from silently overwriting those changes.
VORTEX_PROVISION_CACHE_REBUILD_AFTER_DB_UPDATE_SKIP=1
Skip the cache rebuild that runs between database updates and configuration import. By default, caches are rebuilt after drush updatedb to ensure a clean state before importing configuration.
VORTEX_PROVISION_CONFIG_IMPORT_REPEAT=1
Repeat the configuration import after the initial import. Useful when database update hooks introduce new configuration that affects subsequent configuration imports (e.g., new config_split settings). Disabled by default.
VORTEX_PROVISION_SANITIZE_DB_SKIP=1
Disable database sanitization.

tip

These variables can be set in your .env file to apply them globally or set in your CI or hosting provider's specific environment based on your needs.

Maintenance mode

During the provisioning process, you may want to enable maintenance mode to prevent users from accessing the site while it is being updated.

To enable maintenance mode, set the VORTEX_PROVISION_USE_MAINTENANCE_MODE=1 environment variable in your .env file to apply it globally or set it in your hosting provider's specific environment.

Database sanitization

The provision script includes a step to sanitize the database after provisioning. This helps ensure that sensitive data - like real email addresses, passwords, and user information - is replaced with safe, generic values in non-production environments. It prevents issues like accidentally sending emails to real users or exposing private data during testing, making shared environments safer to work with.

warning

Sanitization takes place only after the database is imported, so anyone with access to the dump file can still see sensitive data.

If your database has highly sensitive data, consider sanitizing the database dump before it can be downloaded (sanitize on export). There are tools available for this purpose, such as Drush GDPR Dumper or MTK. These tools can be integrated into Vortex-based projects without changing the provisioning process.

The database sanitization step is enabled by default on all environments except production. To disable database sanitization, set VORTEX_PROVISION_SANITIZE_DB_SKIP=1 in the .env file or in your hosting provider's specific environment.

Customizing database sanitization

Place these variables in the .env file or in your hosting provider's specific environment to further customize the database sanitization:

VORTEX_PROVISION_SANITIZE_DB_EMAIL=user_%uid@your-site-domain.example
Replace all emails with a tokenized email string.
VORTEX_PROVISION_SANITIZE_DB_PASSWORD=<random or exact>
Replace passwords with a random or exact value.
VORTEX_PROVISION_SANITIZE_DB_REPLACE_USERNAME_WITH_EMAIL=0
Replace username with email. Useful to also sanitize user names.
VORTEX_PROVISION_SANITIZE_DB_ADDITIONAL_FILE=./scripts/sanitize.sql
Path to a file with custom sanitization SQL queries.

Database

The running site's database lives inside the database container - the .data/db.sql file on the host is only a dump used for imports and exports. Removing the container (for example, with ahoy reset) discards the live database, and the next build re-creates it from the dump.

Fetching and exporting run on the host (they move dump files around), while refreshing runs inside the containers (it imports into the running database) - the tabs below reflect that difference.

Fetching database

To fetch the database with the latest data from the production environment, fetch the latest database dump into the .data directory.

Ahoy
Host

# Fetch latest database dump (uses cache if fetched today)
ahoy fetch-db
# Force a fresh fetch regardless of cache
ahoy fetch-db --fresh

# Fetch latest database dump (uses cache if fetched today)
./vendor/bin/vortex-fetch-db
# Force a fresh fetch regardless of cache
VORTEX_FETCH_DB_FRESH=1 VORTEX_FETCH_DB_FORCE=1 ./vendor/bin/vortex-fetch-db

note

The database dump is stored in the .data directory instead of being directly imported into the local environment to allow for caching and reusing the database dump without needing to fetch it every time you need to refresh the local environment.

You can manually fetch the database dump from the production environment, name it db.sql, and place it in the .data directory.

Refreshing database

There are 2 distinct ways to load the dump from .data into the running database container - pick the one matching what you need.

Import and run updates (`ahoy provision`)

ahoy provision imports the dump and applies all the provisioning steps:

Database import from dump or profile installation
Database updates via drush updatedb
Configuration import via drush config:import (if config files present)
Cache rebuilds
Deployment hooks
Post-provisioning custom scripts

Use it any time you need the local environment reset to a fully updated state - a fully configured site ready for development or deployment.

Ahoy
Docker Compose

ahoy provision

docker compose exec cli ./vendor/bin/vortex-provision

Import only (`ahoy import-db`)

ahoy import-db imports the raw dump without running any updates, configuration imports or scripts:

Imports the database dump
Skips configuration imports
Skips database updates
Skips post-provisioning scripts

Use it to quickly reset the database contents to the state captured in the dump.

Ahoy
Docker Compose

# Import database only from default dump in .data/db.sql
ahoy import-db
# Import database only from a specific dump file
ahoy import-db path/to/dump.sql

# Import database only from default dump in .data/db.sql
docker compose exec cli ./vendor/bin/vortex-import-db
# Import database only from a specific dump file
docker compose exec cli ./vendor/bin/vortex-import-db path/to/dump.sql

When to use which command

Use ahoy import-db when you only need the raw database data without any configuration changes or updates.

Use ahoy provision when you want the full setup including configuration and updates.

Exporting database

Export timestamped database dumps from the local environment.

Ahoy
Host

# Export current database to .data directory
ahoy export-db

# Export current database to .data directory
./vendor/bin/vortex-export-db

You can use these dumps to restore the local environment to a specific state: rename the dump file to .data/db.sql and run the import command.

Cache tables are exported with their structure but without their data, because Drupal rebuilds them on demand and their contents would only inflate the dump. Set VORTEX_EXPORT_DB_FILE_STRUCTURE_TABLES to a comma-separated list of table names, each of which may use the * wildcard, to choose which tables are exported this way. Set it to an empty value to export the data of every table.

Rationale

While Drush provides individual commands for deployment steps (such as drush updatedb, drush config:import, and drush deploy:hook), using them directly assumes the site is already in a bootstrapped, stable state. In practice, especially during initial setup or provisioning in dynamic environments (like CI pipelines, container builds, or multisite setups), additional orchestration is needed.

The provision script addresses these gaps by:

Bootstrapping the environment: It can import a database dump or install a fresh Drupal instance from a profile.
Handling conditional logic: It accounts for different runtime scenarios, such as skipping provisioning, enforcing fresh database imports, or using maintenance mode.
Enforcing consistency: The same provisioning logic runs across local, CI, staging, and production environments, eliminating "it works on my machine" issues.
Supporting extensibility: It allows for custom post-provisioning scripts, making it easy to layer in project-specific logic like enabling test modules or running migrations.

In short, provision orchestrates standalone Drush commands in a consistent, repeatable, and configurable process - turning a manual setup step into a reliable automation layer.

Running custom scripts

The provision script can execute custom scripts after all provisioning steps. This feature allows you to automate additional tasks specific to your project, such as conditionally enabling modules or running migrations in a specific order.

To run custom scripts, create a new file in the scripts directory with the provision- prefix and the .sh extension, and make it executable with chmod +x scripts/provision-50-custom.sh. The script will be automatically discovered and executed. (The discovery directory can be changed with the VORTEX_PROVISION_SCRIPTS_DIR variable, default ./scripts.)

It is recommended to use a 2-digit suffix to control the order of execution: e.g., provision-50-custom.sh, provision-60-another-custom.sh.

Vortex ships the following scripts:

Script	Purpose	Present when
`provision-00-enable-demo-modules.sh`	Enables the modules and content model the demo site uses	Always; the installer trims its operations to the selected modules
`provision-10-enable-dev-modules.sh`	Enables the development modules and generates content	Any of `devel`, `sdc_devel`, `generated_content` or `testmode` is selected; removed by the installer otherwise
`provision-20-migration.sh`	Runs the content migration	The migration feature is selected; removed by the installer otherwise
`provision-30-search-index.sh`	Rebuilds the search index	The Solr service is selected; removed by the installer otherwise
`provision-40-example.sh`	A runnable example that performs no operations	Always; copy it as a starting point or remove it

Conditional execution

You may choose to only perform an action based on a specific environment (the value of $settings['environment'] is populated by the Drupal settings file):

environment="$(drush php:eval "print \Drupal\Core\Site\Settings::get('environment');")"

if echo "${environment}" | grep -qxF -e local -e ci -e dev -e stage; then
  echo "> Running custom script for local, ci, dev or stage environment."
  # Place your commands here.
else
  echo "> Skipping custom script for ${environment} environment."
fi

You may also conditionally perform an action based on whether the database is freshly imported or not:

if [ "${VORTEX_PROVISION_OVERRIDE_DB:-0}" = "1" ]; then
  echo "> Fresh database detected."
else
  echo "> Existing database detected."
fi

Expand below to see a provision scaffold script that you can use as a starting point for your custom scripts:

Example of a custom provision script

#!/usr/bin/env bash
##
# Example of the custom per-project command that will run after website is installed.
#
# Clone this file and modify it to your needs or simply remove it.
#
# For ordering multiple commands, use a two-digit suffix for clarity and consistency.
# This approach ensures a clear sequence and avoids potential ordering issues.
#
# Example:
# - provision-40-example.sh
# - provision-50-example.sh
# - provision-60-example.sh

set -eu
[ "${VORTEX_DEBUG-}" = "1" ] && set -x

# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# @formatter:off
info() { printf "   ==> %s\n" "${1}"; }
note() { printf "       %s\n" "${1}"; }
task() { printf "     > %s\n" "${1}"; }
pass() { printf "     < %s\n" "${1}"; }
fail() { printf "     ! %s\n" "${1}"; exit "${2:-1}"; }
# @formatter:on

drush() { ./vendor/bin/drush -y "$@"; }

# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

info "Started example operations."

# Get the current environment from Drupal settings.
environment="$(drush php:eval "print \Drupal\Core\Site\Settings::get('environment');")"
note "Environment: ${environment}"

# Perform operations based on the current environment.
if ! echo "${environment}" | grep -qxF -e local -e ci -e dev -e stage; then
  note "Skipped example operations in production environment."
  exit 0
fi

note "Running example operations in non-production environment."

task "Performing an example operation."
note "Replace this with your own commands."
pass "Performed an example operation."

# Conditionally perform an action if this is a "fresh" database.
if [ "${VORTEX_PROVISION_OVERRIDE_DB:-0}" = "1" ]; then
  note "Fresh database detected. Performing additional example operations."
else
  note "Existing database detected. Performing additional example operations."
fi

info "Finished example operations."

Demo modules

Vortex ships a scripts/provision-00-enable-demo-modules.sh custom script that stands up the demo site: it creates the content model, sets the site name, switches the administration interface to the core Navigation module, and installs the contrib, service and custom site modules before running their deployment hooks.

It runs first so that the content model exists before the modules that depend on it are installed. Replace its operations with your own once the site stops relying on the demo content.

Development modules

Vortex ships a scripts/provision-10-enable-dev-modules.sh custom script that installs the development modules - Devel, SDC Devel and Testmode.

Development modules live in their own script so that they stay enabled after the demo and example scripts are adapted or removed. They are also the modules kept out of the exported configuration, so provisioning is the only place that can install them.

Both scripts run only in the local, ci, dev and stage environments. To opt out of either set of modules, remove the corresponding script.

Generated content

Projects with the Generated content module install it from the same scripts/provision-10-enable-dev-modules.sh custom script, after the development modules and before the search index is rebuilt.

The module creates content from its own hook_modules_installed() when GENERATED_CONTENT_CREATE=1 is set, so the script installs it with that variable and the content appears as part of the install. The site modules providing the generated content plugins are already enabled by then, so their plugins are picked up.

To opt out of the content, set DRUPAL_GENERATED_CONTENT_SKIP=1 in the .env file or in your hosting provider's specific environment. The module is still installed, so content can be generated later from the admin interface or with drush generated-content:create-content.

Installing a module that is already installed does nothing, so provisioning a site that already holds the module leaves its content untouched. This also means the content is created only on the provision that first installs the module: a site provisioned once with DRUPAL_GENERATED_CONTENT_SKIP=1 does not gain the content by unsetting the variable and provisioning again.

Migration

Projects with the migration feature ship a scripts/provision-20-migration.sh custom script that runs the content migration: it imports the migration source database dump into the database2 container, probes it for corruption, and runs the migrations via drush migrate:import, with an optional rollback before the import.

On projects with the Solr service, the script disables the search server while the migrations run, so migrated entities are not indexed one at a time - the search indexing script rebuilds the index straight after.

➡️ See Migrations for the script's configuration variables and how to add your own migrations.

Search indexing

Projects with the Solr service ship with a scripts/provision-30-search-index.sh custom script that rebuilds the search index at the end of provisioning: it resets the Search API index tracker and re-indexes the site content.

The script runs only in the local, ci, dev and stage environments, as these environments receive a database with an index tracker state that does not match their own (empty) search backend. Other environments are skipped to preserve the existing index.

To opt out of search indexing, set DRUPAL_SEARCH_INDEX_SKIP=1 in the .env file or in your hosting provider's specific environment.

Deploy hooks

Update hooks automate database schema changes, data migrations, and environment-specific deployment tasks, so a change ships together with the code that needs it instead of being applied by hand.

Drupal provides several types of hooks for database updates. Understanding the differences helps you choose the right one for a deployment task.

Hook types overview

Hook type	Use case	Execution	File location
`hook_update_N()`	Database schema changes, data migrations	`drush updatedb`	`MODULE.install`
`hook_post_update_NAME()`	Entity updates and other module operations	`drush updatedb`	`MODULE.post_update.php`
`hook_deploy_NAME()`	Environment-specific deployment tasks	`drush deploy:hook`	`MODULE.deploy.php`

All of these hooks run automatically during the provisioning process: drush updatedb runs the update and post-update hooks, and drush deploy:hook runs the deploy hooks.

To automate changes during site deployments, use deploy hooks. Note that deploy hooks run only once: Drupal tracks which hooks have been executed by name.

Example deploy hook

function ys_base_deploy_create_about_page(): string {
  $environment = \Drupal\Core\Site\Settings::get('environment');

  // Conditional execution based on environment.
  if ($environment === ENVIRONMENT_PROD) {
    return 'Skipped in production environment';
  }

  // Check if the About Us page already exists.
  $node = \Drupal::entityTypeManager()
    ->getStorage('node')
    ->loadByProperties(['type' => 'page', 'title' => 'About Us']);
  if (!empty($node)) {
    return 'About Us page already exists';
  }

  $node = \Drupal\node\Entity\Node::create([
    'type' => 'page',
    'title' => 'About Us',
    'body' => [
      'value' => 'This is the About Us page content.',
      'format' => 'basic_html',
    ],
  ]);

  $node->save();

  return 'Created About Us page';
}

The shipped Drupal helpers module provides static facade helpers for the common deploy hook operations, so a hook stays a few lines instead of repeating the entity API boilerplate every time:

use Drupal\drupal_helpers\Helper;

function ys_base_deploy_create_default_tags(): string {
  Helper::term()->createTree('tags', ['News', 'Events', 'Blog']);

  return 'Created the default tags.';
}

Debugging commands

# Show pending deploy hooks.
drush deploy:hook-status

# Run deploy hooks manually (for testing).
drush deploy:hook

Provisioning flow​

Customizing flow​

Maintenance mode​

Database sanitization​

Customizing database sanitization​

Database​

Fetching database​

Refreshing database​

Import and run updates (ahoy provision)​

Import only (ahoy import-db)​

Exporting database​

Rationale​

Running custom scripts​

Conditional execution​

Demo modules​

Development modules​

Generated content​

Migration​

Search indexing​

Deploy hooks​

Hook types overview​

Example deploy hook​

Debugging commands​