Rails 4 - Background Image Appears in Localhost but not in production

Question

I recently rewrote one of my Rails 3.2.13 applications to use Rails 4. I used twitter-bootstrap-rails 2.1.2 in my Rails 3 application. When I rewrote the Rails 4 version it started using version 2.2.8. I'm using Phusion Passenger 4.0.20 on my development and production servers to host all my Rails applications.

In my Rails 3 application the background image appeared correctly in localhost and in production. However when I rewrote the application using Rails 4 and the current version of twitter-bootstrap-rails I noticed that the background image appears correctly but when I deploy it in production the background image does not display.

I have tried the following CSS but the background image only appears in localhost. The first statement is the original CSS code that was working well in my Rails 3 application in localhost and production.

background: url(/assets/landingpage2.jpg); width: 574px; height: 650px;

background: url(../assets/landingpage2.jpg); width: 574px; height: 650px;

background-image: url(../assets/landingpage2.jpg); width: 574px; height: 650px;

background-image: url("../assets/landingpage2.jpg"); width: 574px; height: 650px;

background-image: url("/assets/landingpage2.jpg"); width: 574px; height: 650px;

Here is the class that includes the background statement that originally worked:

.landing-cube-menu {
  font-weight: bold; 
  font-size: 150%;
  line-height: 100%;    
  background: url(/assets/landingpage2.jpg); width: 574px; height: 650px;
  margin:0 auto;  
}

Here is the code that I am using in my view:

<div class="header-cube-menu" style="position: relative;">

  <div class="header-store" style="position: absolute;">
    <p><%= link_to "Online Store", store_path %></p>
  </div>

  <div class="header-about" style="position: absolute;">
    <p><%= link_to "About", about_path %></p>
  </div>

  <div class="header-contact" style="position: absolute;">
    <p><%= link_to "Contact", contact_path %></p>
  </div>

  <div class="header-verse" style="position: absolute;">
    <p><a href="/verse">Bible<br>Verse</a></p>
  </div>

  <div class="header-app" style="position: absolute;">
    <p><a href="/app">Mobile<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;App</a></p>
  </div>

  <div class="header-home" style="position: absolute;">
    <p><a href="/home">Home<br>&nbsp;Page</a></p>
  </div>

  <div class="header-math" style="position: absolute;">
    <p><a href="/math">The<br>Math</a></p>
  </div>

  <div class="header-vision" style="position: absolute;">
    <p><a href="/vision">&nbsp;Vision<br>Mission</a></p>
  </div>

  <div class="header-pendant" style="position: absolute;">
    <p><a href="/pendant">Pendant<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Desk Cross<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and more</a></p>
  </div>

  <div class="header-puzzle" style="position: absolute;">
    <p><a href="/puzzle">3D-Puzzle<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;eBook</a></p>
  </div>

</div>

I have cleared the cache in my browser for both localhost and my domain. I still see the image in localhost but not with the domain. I have tried using the latest version of Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Opera on my Mac Mini Server. All of them get the same results.

I could understand this if I was not seeing the background image in localhost. I did my testing for the Rails 4 app using localhost and assumed that it would work in production. However after I deployed it the background image was missing. This is happening on both my production and development servers. The image file is in app/assets/images on both servers.

My original code and all the examples I posted here are correct since the image displays in localhost. I have no clue where to check at this point. I may post this in the Passenger Google Group. That is the only other variable between localhost and production, especially considering my development server.

UPDATE: I decided to try other possibilities after I posted this. NOW the background image no longer appears for localhost. I'm completely frustrated with this.

Any help would be appreciated.

UPDATE 10/19/2013 8:05 PM CDT GMT-5

I attempted to implement the asset_url solution in my .less file. Here are the errors I got when I did the rake assets:precompile RAILS_ENV=production command

I, [2013-10-19T19:59:05.384878 #69440]  INFO -- : Writing /Users/myusername/Sites/myrailsapp/public/assets/application-f8821f5601f793a09e9373fb397df1b1.js
    rake aborted!
    undefined method `[]' for nil:NilClass
      (in /Users/myusername/Sites/hypercubeoflove_RoR_4/app/assets/stylesheets/application.css)
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/sass_functions.rb:63:in `sprockets_context'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-rails-4.0.0/lib/sass/rails/helpers.rb:23:in `asset_url'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/script/funcall.rb:112:in `_perform'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/script/node.rb:40:in `perform'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/perform.rb:298:in `visit_prop'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/base.rb:37:in `visit'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/perform.rb:100:in `visit'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/base.rb:53:in `block in visit_children'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/base.rb:53:in `map'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/base.rb:53:in `visit_children'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/perform.rb:109:in `block in visit_children'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/perform.rb:121:in `with_environment'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/perform.rb:108:in `visit_children'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/base.rb:37:in `block in visit'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/perform.rb:320:in `visit_rule'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/base.rb:37:in `visit'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/perform.rb:100:in `visit'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/base.rb:53:in `block in visit_children'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/base.rb:53:in `map'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/base.rb:53:in `visit_children'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/perform.rb:109:in `block in visit_children'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/perform.rb:121:in `with_environment'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/perform.rb:108:in `visit_children'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/base.rb:37:in `block in visit'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/perform.rb:128:in `visit_root'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/base.rb:37:in `visit'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/perform.rb:100:in `visit'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/visitors/perform.rb:7:in `visit'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/tree/root_node.rb:20:in `render'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/engine.rb:315:in `_render'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sass-3.2.12/lib/sass/engine.rb:262:in `render'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/sass_compressor.rb:24:in `evaluate'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/tilt-1.4.1/lib/tilt/template.rb:103:in `render'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/context.rb:197:in `block in evaluate'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/context.rb:194:in `each'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/context.rb:194:in `evaluate'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/bundled_asset.rb:25:in `initialize'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/base.rb:377:in `new'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/base.rb:377:in `build_asset'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/index.rb:94:in `block in build_asset'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/caching.rb:58:in `cache_asset'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/index.rb:93:in `build_asset'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/base.rb:287:in `find_asset'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/index.rb:61:in `find_asset'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/manifest.rb:211:in `block in find_asset'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/manifest.rb:257:in `benchmark'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/manifest.rb:210:in `find_asset'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/manifest.rb:119:in `block in compile'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/manifest.rb:118:in `each'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/sprockets/manifest.rb:118:in `compile'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-rails-2.0.0/lib/sprockets/rails/task.rb:60:in `block (3 levels) in define'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-2.10.0/lib/rake/sprocketstask.rb:146:in `with_logger'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/gems/sprockets-rails-2.0.0/lib/sprockets/rails/task.rb:59:in `block (2 levels) in define'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/bin/ruby_noexec_wrapper:14:in `eval'
    /Users/myusername/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p247@mygemset/bin/ruby_noexec_wrapper:14:in `<main>'
    Tasks: TOP => assets:precompile
    (See full trace by running task with --trace)

Answer 1

Your problem with almost certainly be to do with rake assets:precompile & your production environment

A good test will be to Right-Click > View Source on your production app and click on the CSS file where your background image is called. If your problem is your CSS is calling url("background-image.png") & when you click onto the file, it doesn't show, the solution is to use SCSS to precompile the assets dynamically

---

Precompiling The Assets With SCSS

We had the problem where you couldn't access the image files in the CSS, and found it was because the CSS was only referencing static url() locations; and in precompile, our app was calling images "backgroun-image-234234nsdfasfdjasdfk2jij234ij32i.png"

The way to fix that is to use SCSS to create dynamic links to the assets; allowing your app to put the correct path to the images, etc. Here is some live code:

#application.css.scss (yes, you need to rename it)
@import 'layout/body'


#app/assets/stylesheets/layout/body.css.scss
body {
    background: asset_url('background-image.png')
}

If you do this, and then when you push to production, you perform these commands, it should work:

rake assets:precompile RAILS_ENV=production

Answer 2

Fwiw, I just changed the name of the css file that referenced the background image from styleblah.css to styleblah.css.scss then changed background: url('/assets/images/imagetitle.png'); to background: asset_url('imagetitle.png'); and it worked perfectly.

Like the man says, run something along these lines: rake assets:precompile RAILS_ENV=production

then restart your web/http server (in my case unicorn) for good measure: sudo service unicorn restart