Rails 3.2.2 getting a 404 on stylesheets and js assets after deployment wit

[PrometheanSin]

after pulling my hair out with this one, I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn the knowledge of those much wiser.....again!

ok so here's the problem, I am following the following two railscasts:

deploying to a vps
asset pipeline in production

My setup:
Ubuntu Server 12.04
nginx
unicorn
ruby 1.9.3p125
rails 3.2.2

Ad far as I can tell everything has been followed to a T (or Tea or maybe a Tee, I've never seen this phrase written down before). The site is now running on my server but the stylesheet and javascript files are not loaded. it seems to be the same problem as Rails 3.1 404 Error when loading .css files that are present in public/assets or Rails 404 error for Stylesheet or JavaScript files. While the first has no answer, the latter suggests it may be a problem with the web-server not looking for static resources and perhaps shouldn't.

Does anybody know what might be causing this?

I'll try to add the relative files, but I have run out of room in the comment box

[PrometheanSin]

here is a dump of the production .log on my server

some facts:

• Firstly, I was getting some nasty errors about pre-compilation and noticed that my individual css/js files had been minified into their application counterparts and so I changed their declarations in the ruby helpers to reflect this(<%= stylesheet_link_tag "application" %>).

• The application works locally when I change to config.serve_static_assets = true in config/environments/production.rb

  Started GET "/main" for 92.237.28.149 at 2012-07-09 23:08:02 +0100
  Processing by MainController#index as HTML
  Rendered shared/_login_form.html.erb (0.4ms)
  Rendered shared/_footer.html.erb (0.4ms)
  Rendered shared/_details_form.html.erb (7.7ms)
  Rendered main/index.html.erb within layouts/main_logged (17.1ms)
  Completed 200 OK in 21ms (Views: 20.5ms | ActiveRecord: 0.0ms)
  Compiled jquery.js (2ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled jquery_ujs.js (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled admin_user.js (227ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled construction.js (227ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled google-map.js (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled jquery-1.2.6.min.js (1ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled jquery-ui-personalized-1.5.2.packed.js (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled login.js (227ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled main.js (222ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled menu.js (223ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled order_steps.js (225ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled register_user.js (223ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled sprinkle.js (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled sticky_basket/jquery.easing.1.3.js (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled sticky_basket/stickysidebar.jquery.js (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled sticky_basket/stickysidebar.jquery.min.js (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled user.js (292ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled application.js (2155ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled admin_user.css (12ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled construction.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled construction.css (1ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled lightbox.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled login.css (1ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled main.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled login.css (1ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled main.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled main.css (2ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled menu.css (1ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled menu_style.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled normalise.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled order_steps.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled order_steps.css (1ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled register_user copy.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled register_user.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled register_user.css (1ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled tab_style.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled user.css (1ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled application.css (236ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled jquery.js (2ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled jquery_ujs.js (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled admin_user.js (273ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled construction.js (225ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled google-map.js (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled jquery-1.2.6.min.js (1ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled jquery-ui-personalized-1.5.2.packed.js (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled login.js (269ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled main.js (225ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled menu.js (224ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled order_steps.js (226ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled register_user.js (224ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled sprinkle.js (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled sticky_basket/jquery.easing.1.3.js (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled sticky_basket/stickysidebar.jquery.js (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled sticky_basket/stickysidebar.jquery.min.js (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled user.js (224ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled application.js (2096ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled admin_user.css (12ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled construction.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled construction.css (1ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled lightbox.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled login.css (1ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled main.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled login.css (1ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled main.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled main.css (1ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled menu.css (2ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled menu_style.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled normalise.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled order_steps.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled order_steps.css (1ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled register_user copy.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled register_user.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled register_user.css (1ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled tab_style.css (0ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled user.css (1ms) (pid 8253)
  Compiled application.css (179ms) (pid 8253)

  Started GET "/main" for 92.237.28.149 at 2012-07-09 23:15:00 +0100
  Processing by MainController#index as HTML
  Rendered shared/_login_form.html.erb (1.2ms)
  Rendered shared/_footer.html.erb (1.1ms)
  Rendered shared/_details_form.html.erb (15.5ms)
  Rendered main/index.html.erb within layouts/main_logged (80.9ms)
  Completed 200 OK in 142ms (Views: 140.4ms | ActiveRecord: 0.0ms)

  Started GET "/main" for 92.237.28.149 at 2012-07-09 23:33:54 +0100
  Processing by MainController#index as HTML
  Rendered shared/_login_form.html.erb (1.2ms)
  Rendered shared/_footer.html.erb (1.1ms)
  Rendered shared/_details_form.html.erb (15.6ms)
  Rendered main/index.html.erb within layouts/main_logged (80.7ms)
  Completed 200 OK in 142ms (Views: 140.0ms | ActiveRecord: 0.0ms)

As you can see there are no more complaints about pre-compilation

[PrometheanSin]

here is the html generated

<title>HTML Snippet</title>
  <link href="/assets/application-dd445a707b7e96c914afd14bf1f02bbc.css" media="screen" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
  <script src="/assets/application-def3878140cda305cb0ca5ef745fd758.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
  <script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.5.1/jquery.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
  <script src="http://cloud.github.com/downloads/malsup/cycle/jquery.cycle.all.latest.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

These links generate an nginx 404 if I click on them but if i change the url to http://<ipaddress>/public/assets/application-dd445a707b7e96c914afd14bf1f02bbc.css i get a rails generated The page you were looking for doesn't exist.

And here is the important (I think) contents of /public/assets on my server

application-7c90c01effcf9d8593e28e4c4b716ac2.css
application-7c90c01effcf9d8593e28e4c4b716ac2.css.gz
application.css
application.css.gz
application-dd445a707b7e96c914afd14bf1f02bbc.css
application-dd445a707b7e96c914afd14bf1f02bbc.css.gz
application-def3878140cda305cb0ca5ef745fd758.js
application-def3878140cda305cb0ca5ef745fd758.js.gz
application.js
application.js.gz

[PrometheanSin]

finally, the area that I'm not so clear on and just so its all covered, here are the files used in the railscast for configuration of capistrano, nginx and unicorn:

I have uncommented the load 'deploy/assets' in capfile

deploy.rb

require "bundler/capistrano"

server "<myserverip>", :web, :app, :db, primary: true

set :application, "little_oven_deploy"
set :user, "daz"
set :deploy_to, "/home/#{user}/apps/#{application}"
set :deploy_via, :remote_cache
set :use_sudo, false

set :scm, "git"
set :repository, "<mygitrepo>"
set :branch, "master"

default_run_options[:pty] = true
ssh_options[:forward_agent] = true

after "deploy", "deploy:cleanup" # keep only the last 5 releases

namespace :deploy do
  %w[start stop restart].each do |command|
    desc "#{command} unicorn server"
    task command, roles: :app, except: {no_release: true} do
      run "/etc/init.d/unicorn_#{application} #{command}"
    end
  end

  task :setup_config, roles: :app do
    sudo "ln -nfs #{current_path}/config/nginx.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/#{application}"
    sudo "ln -nfs #{current_path}/config/unicorn_init.sh /etc/init.d/unicorn_#{application}"
    run "mkdir -p #{shared_path}/config"
    put File.read("config/database.example.yml"), "#{shared_path}/config/database.yml"
    puts "Now edit the config files in #{shared_path}."
  end
  after "deploy:setup", "deploy:setup_config"

  task :symlink_config, roles: :app do
    run "ln -nfs #{shared_path}/config/database.yml #{release_path}/config/database.yml"
  end
  after "deploy:finalize_update", "deploy:symlink_config"

  desc "Make sure local git is in sync with remote."
  task :check_revision, roles: :web do
    unless `git rev-parse HEAD` == `git rev-parse origin/master`
      puts "WARNING: HEAD is not the same as origin/master"
      puts "Run `git push` to sync changes."
      exit
    end
  end
  before "deploy", "deploy:check_revision"
end

nginx.conf

upstream unicorn {
  server unix:/tmp/unicorn.little_oven_deploy.sock fail_timeout=0;
}

server {
  listen 80 default deferred;
  # server_name example.com;
  root /home/daz/apps/little_oven_deploy/current/public

  location ^~ /assets/ {
    gzip_static on;
    expires max;
    add_header Cache-Control public;
  }

  try_files $uri/index.html $uri @unicorn;
  location @unicorn {
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
    proxy_redirect off;
    proxy_pass http://unicorn;
  }

  error_page 500 502 503 504 /500.html;
  client_max_body_size 4G;
  keepalive_timeout 10;
}
unicorn.rb

root = "/home/daz/apps/little_oven_deploy/current"
working_directory root
pid "#{root}/tmp/pids/unicorn.pid"
stderr_path "#{root}/log/unicorn.log"
stdout_path "#{root}/log/unicorn.log"

listen "/tmp/unicorn.little_oven_deploy.sock"
worker_processes 2
timeout 30

[PrometheanSin]

unicorn_init.sh

#!/bin/sh
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:          unicorn
# Required-Start:    $remote_fs $syslog
# Required-Stop:     $remote_fs $syslog
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
# Short-Description: Manage unicorn server
# Description:       Start, stop, restart unicorn server for a specific application.
### END INIT INFO
set -e

# Feel free to change any of the following variables for your app:
TIMEOUT=${TIMEOUT-60}
APP_ROOT=/home/daz/apps/little_oven_deploy/current
PID=$APP_ROOT/tmp/pids/unicorn.pid
CMD="cd $APP_ROOT; bundle exec unicorn -D -c $APP_ROOT/config/unicorn.rb -E production"
AS_USER=daz
set -u

OLD_PIN="$PID.oldbin"

sig () {
  test -s "$PID" && kill -$1 `cat $PID`
}

oldsig () {
  test -s $OLD_PIN && kill -$1 `cat $OLD_PIN`
}

run () {
  if [ "$(id -un)" = "$AS_USER" ]; then
    eval $1
  else
    su -c "$1" - $AS_USER
  fi
}

case "$1" in
start)
  sig 0 && echo >&2 "Already running" && exit 0
  run "$CMD"
  ;;
stop)
  sig QUIT && exit 0
  echo >&2 "Not running"
  ;;
force-stop)
  sig TERM && exit 0
  echo >&2 "Not running"
  ;;
restart|reload)
  sig HUP && echo reloaded OK && exit 0
  echo >&2 "Couldn't reload, starting '$CMD' instead"
  run "$CMD"
  ;;
upgrade)
  if sig USR2 && sleep 2 && sig 0 && oldsig QUIT
  then
    n=$TIMEOUT
    while test -s $OLD_PIN && test $n -ge 0
    do
      printf '.' && sleep 1 && n=$(( $n - 1 ))
    done
    echo

    if test $n -lt 0 && test -s $OLD_PIN
    then
      echo >&2 "$OLD_PIN still exists after $TIMEOUT seconds"
      exit 1
    fi
    exit 0
  fi
  echo >&2 "Couldn't upgrade, starting '$CMD' instead"
  run "$CMD"
  ;;
reopen-logs)
  sig USR1
  ;;
*)
  echo >&2 "Usage: $0 <start|stop|restart|upgrade|force-stop|reopen-logs>"
  exit 1
  ;;
esac

unicorn_init.sh is also chmod +x.

Sorry for the potential overload of information guys but if it helps give you a snapshot of my issue, it helps to get a diagnosis and any help is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[PrometheanSin]

not quite sure how to do this (I'm not sure on the etiquette of answering your own question) but I may have resolved the prpoblem, basically, I figured that although the nginx server was restarting, the unicorn server was not (or if so the effects were not taking effect). I found the solution to this post Restart Unicorn issue (capistrano) seems to have done the trick. now i just need to figure out how to wire it into my code!