amweekly

Developing

Requirements

• Python 3
• Postgresql
• Redis
• foreman

Python and Django

First you need to configure your environment:

cp env.example .env

Edit .env and set the values you need to run the project locally.

Next, create a Python 3 virtual environment and install the requirements:

mkvirtualenv --python=$(which python3) amweekly
pip install -r requirements.txt

Create the database specified in .env, run the initial model migration, and create a super user:

createdb amweekly
foreman run python manage.py migrate
foreman run python manage.py createsuperuser

Front End Tools

Use nvm to install the correct version of Node.js and install the front-end dependencies:

nvm install
npm install

Do an initial build of assets:

npm run build

Running the Project

First load the virtualenv:

workon amweekly

Then use foreman to run the development processes:

foreman start -f Procfile.dev

Procfile.dev defines the following processes:

• web: the Django development server
• static: the gulp watch process
• rqworker: the RQ worker process (high, low, and default)

foreman start -f Procfile.dev will start all of the processes at once. If you want to run a specific process, you can specify it directly:

foreman start -f Procfile.dev web

or

foreman start -f Procfile.dev rqworker

Procfile

When deployed to production or staging, the application and any other processes will be run as defined in the Procfile. You can run this file locally using foreman to launch the application the same way it will be run in production:

foreman start

You are highly encouraged to do this before finishing features to make sure the app runs as expected before it is deployed.

Deploying the Project

Set Environment Variables

Environment Variable	Description
DEBUG	True in development, False otherwise
SECRET_KEY	Set this to a different value in every environment
ALLOWED_HOSTS	comma separated list of allowed domains
DATABASE_URL	database config URI
SSLIFY_DISABLE	disables SSL check when True

Deploying on Heroku

In addition to deploying the project, some additional steps are necessary for deployment to Heroku.

Multiple Buildpacks

In order to build static assets, we'll include the nodejs buildpack in addition to the Python buildpack.

heroku buildpacks:set https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-python
heroku buildpacks:add --index 1 https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-nodejs

For more information, see Heroku's multiple buildpack guide.

Database

heroku addons:create heroku-postgresql:hobby-basic

Redis

heroku addons:create heroku-redis:hobby-dev --maxmemory volatile-lru

Scheduler

Heroku provides a basic scheduled task runner, but don't worry about installing it unless you project needs one.

heroku addons:create scheduler:standard

To create a new scheduled task, run:

heroku addons:open scheduler

The scheduler admin will open in your browser, then click the Add new job button.

HTTPS

All projects should use HTTPS in production. Some projects will terminate on Heroku, others on CloudFront. Ask your system administrator if Heroku SSL is right for you.

heroku addons:create ssl:endpoint

Follow the SSL Endpoint documentation to upload the custom cert and finish configuration.

Operational Notes

The setting RQ_SHOW_ADMIN_LINK = True tells django-rq to override the base django admin template. If your project wants to override the base admin template, you should disable this feature and add a link to django-rq yourself. Documentation