Bench Overview
A Bench is a collection of apps and sites. Every site on the same bench shares the same configuration, including the versions of installed apps and their dependencies.
Frappe Cloud creates benches from Bench Templates, which are available under the Benches section of your dashboard.
If you are using a Private Bench, you can customize the apps, configuration, and dependency versions used by your bench.
What Does a Bench Template Include?
A Bench Template defines the common configuration used when creating a new bench. It includes:
- The apps that will be installed.
- Shared Site Config settings for all sites on the bench.
- The versions of Frappe, ERPNext, and other dependencies.
When Is a Bench Created?
A Bench Template does not run your site by itself. A bench is created only after the template is deployed.
You can deploy a template by clicking Deploy or Update Available from the Bench page.
- A Deploy job is created. During this step, Frappe Cloud builds a Docker image from the selected template and uploads it to the Frappe Cloud Docker registry.
- After the deployment completes successfully, a New Bench job starts. This job downloads the Docker image and launches the bench on the selected server.
Once the bench becomes active, you can create new sites on it or move existing sites from another bench.
Understanding the Different Types of “Bench”
The term Bench is used in multiple contexts within the Frappe ecosystem, which can sometimes be confusing.
| Term | Context | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Frappe Bench | Frappe Framework | A directory that contains a collection of Frappe apps and sites. |
frappe/bench |
Frappe Framework | The command-line tool used to manage a Frappe Bench. |
| Bench | Frappe Cloud | A running Frappe Bench deployed inside a container that hosts your sites. |
Think of a Bench Template as a blueprint and a Bench as the running environment created from that blueprint. Your sites are hosted on the running bench and inherit its shared configuration.
