docker-django

Docker image for a Django website using Gunicorn.

What is Django?

Django is a high-level Python Web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. Built by experienced developers, it takes care of much of the hassle of Web development, so you can focus on writing your app without needing to reinvent the wheel. It’s free and open source.

Django Wikipedia

How to use this image

Hosting the default Django project

$ docker run --name some-django -d dtempleton/django

Exposing external port

$ docker run --name some-django -d -p 8080:8000 dtempleton/django

Then you can hit http://localhost:8080 or http://host-ip:8080 in your browser.

Building a Django website

This image has my base Django project created by running:

django-admin startproject \
	--template https://github.com/BashfulBandit/django-project-template/archive/master.zip \
	website

See the list of Environment Variables below. Since it has a specific settings.py file, it is recommended to use docker cp some-django:/home/django/website . to retrieve the Django files from the image to develop with by mounting a host directory to your Docker container.

Once you have a copy of the Docker container /home/django/website directory on your host, you can begin using the image with more complex configuration, but the basic would:

$ docker run --name some-django -v /path/to/host/website:/home/django/website -p 8080:8000 dtempleton/django

Configuring Gunicorn

The default Docker image starts using the command gunicorn --config config.py website.wsgi:application. This means if you mount your own config.py file at /home/django/website/config.py you can apply your own gunicorn configuration.

Environment Variables

When you start the dtempleton/django image, you can adjust the configuration of Django by passing one or more environment variable to docker run

DEBUG

This environment variable is used to set the Django DEBUG variable. It has a default value of True.

https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.1/ref/settings/#std:setting-DEBUG

HOST

This environment variable is used to set the Django ALLOWED_HOSTS array. It has a default value of *.

https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.1/ref/settings/#allowed-hosts

SECRET_KEY

This environment variable is used to set the Django SECRET_KEY variable. It has a default value, but it shouldn't be used in a production environment. See below for more information.

https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.1/ref/settings/#std:setting-SECRET_KEY

NOTE: It is not recommended to leave the Django SECRET_KEY variable to the one included in the Docker image. Specially in a production environment. I use django-secret-key to generate a new SECRET_KEY.

SQL_ENGINE

This environment variable is used to set the Django ENGINE variable for the default Database in the DATABASES array. It has a default value of django.db.backends.sqlite3.

https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.1/ref/settings/#databases

MYSQL_DATABASE

This environment variable is used to set the Django NAME variable for the default Database in the DATABASES array. It has a default value of db.sqlite3.

https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.1/ref/settings/#databases

MYSQL_USER

This environment variable is used to set the Django USER variable for the default Database in the DATABASES array. It has a default value of django.

https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.1/ref/settings/#databases

MYSQL_PASSWORD

This environment variable is used to set the Django PASSWORD variable for the default Database in the DATABASES array. It has a default value of password, but it shouldn't be used in a production environment.

https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.1/ref/settings/#databases

MYSQL_HOST

This environment variable is used to set the Django HOST variable for the default Database in the DATABASES array. It has a default value of localhost.

https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.1/ref/settings/#databases

MYSQL_PORT

This environment variable is used to set the Django PORT variable for the default Database in the DATABASES array. It has a default value of 3306.

https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.1/ref/settings/#databases