Glider Website - Deployment & Setup Guide

Welcome to the Guide! It provides step-by-step instructions on how to set up, configure, and run this application.

1. Project Setup & Installation

1. Create a project directory to hold the codebase:

   mkdir glider_web_app #Just for your reference, you can name it anything you want.
   cd glider_web_app

2. Download (Clone) the application code from GitHub:

   git clone https://github.com/OSUGliders/gliderweb.git

3. Install Python tools required to create an isolated "Virtual Environment". A virtual environment keeps our app's dependencies organized and prevents conflicts with other system software.

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install python3.13-venv

4. Create and activate the virtual environment:

   python3 -m venv "v_env" #Just for your reference, you can name it anything you want.
   source v_env/bin/activate

   (You should now see (v_env) at the beginning of your terminal prompt).

5. Navigate into the project folder and install all necessary software packages:

   cd TrackMultipleGliders
   pip install --upgrade pip #Upgrade the current version of pip to the latest stable version
   pip install -r requirements.txt #To install all the required packages.
   pip install psycopg #To install the PostgreSQL adapter for Python.

2. Database Setup (PostgreSQL)

1. Install PostgreSQL:

   sudo apt update #Update the package list
   sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib

2. Verify Installation: Confirm the installation was successful:

   dpkg -l | grep postgresql

3. Manage the Database Service: Start the service and check its status to ensure it is actively running:

   sudo systemctl start postgresql
   sudo systemctl status postgresql

4. Initialize Database and User Credentials: Enter the PostgreSQL interactive terminal:

   sudo -u postgres psql

   At the postgres=# prompt, run the following SQL commands to securely provision your application's database. *

   CREATE USER "username" WITH PASSWORD "password";
   CREATE DATABASE "database_name";
   GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE "database_name" TO "username";

5. Verify the Database Connection: Test accessing the database using our newly created credentials:

   psql -U "username" -d "database_name"

   Type \l (backslash + lowercase L) to list all databases and verify the database is present.

6. Troubleshooting Database Access: Only if the database connection fails, manually reset the schema ownership:

   sudo -u postgres psql -d "database_name"

   Drop and recreate the public schema:

   DROP SCHEMA public CASCADE;
   CREATE SCHEMA public AUTHORIZATION "username";

3. Environment Variables

Use .env.example as a template (which is present inside the gliderweb repo) and store actual values in a new .env file. (You can also use the copyable template provided in Step 2 below).

1. Copy template to active file:

   cp .env.example .env
   nano .env

2. Add your server configuration variables (replace placeholder values with your actual values):

   SECRET_KEY="your_django_secret_key"
   # Use True for local development; set False in production
   DEBUG=True
   DB_NAME="database_name"
   DB_USER="username"
   DB_PASSWORD="password"
   # Database host
   DB_HOST="localhost"
   # Example for production domain
   GLIDER_HOST_DOMAIN="glider.example.com"
   # Default PostgreSQL port
   DB_PORT="5432"

3. Save the file and exit (Ctrl + O, Enter, then Ctrl + X).