Deploy your site¶
So far, you’ve been accessing your site locally. Now, it’s time to deploy it.
Deployment makes your site publicly accessible by moving it to a production server. Upon deployment, your site becomes accessible worldwide.
In this section of the tutorial, you’ll use two platforms to deploy your site. You’ll host your site on fly.io and serve your site’s images on Backblaze.
You can use fly.io to host your site and serve your images. However, storing your images on a platform other than the one hosting your site provides better performance, security, and reliability.
Note
In this tutorial, you’ll see “yourname” several times. Replace it with a name of your choice.
Setup Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage¶
To serve your images, set up a Backblaze B2 storage following these steps:
Visit the Backblaze website in your browser.
Click Products from the top navigation and then select B2 Cloud Storage from the dropdown.
Sign up to Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage by following these steps:
a. Enter your email address and password.
b. Select the appropriate region.
c. Click Sign Up Now.Verify your email by following these steps:
a. Go to Account > My Settings in your side navigation.
b. Click Verify Email in the Security section.
c. Enter your sign-up email address and then click send Send Code.
d. Check your email inbox or spam folder for the verification email.
e. Click the verification link or use the verification code.Create a Bucket by going to B2 Cloud Storage > Bucket and clicking Create a Bucket.
Go to B2 Cloud Storage > Bucket and then click Create a Bucket.
Add your Bucket information as follows:
Bucket information |
Instruction |
---|---|
Bucket Unique Name |
Use a unique Bucket name. For example,yourname-wagtail-portfolio |
Files in Bucket are |
Select Public |
Default Encryption |
Select Disable |
Object Lock |
Select Disable |
Click Create a Bucket.
Link your site to Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage¶
After setting up your Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage, you must link it to your portfolio site.
Start by creating a .env.production
file at the root of your project directory. At this stage, your project directory should look like this:
mysite/
├── base
├── blog
├── home
├── media
├── mysite
├── portfolio
├── search
├── .dockerignore
├── .gitignore
├── .env.production
├── Dockerfile
├── manage.py
├── mysite/
└── requirements.txt
Now add the following environment variables to your .env.production
file:
AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME=
AWS_S3_ENDPOINT_URL=https://
AWS_S3_REGION_NAME=
AWS_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID=
AWS_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=
DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS=
DJANGO_CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS=https://
DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=mysite.settings.production
Fill in your Backblaze B2 bucket information¶
The next step is to provide values for your environment variables. In your .env.production
file, use your Backblaze B2 bucket information as values for your environment variables as follows:
Environment variable |
Instruction |
---|---|
AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME |
Use your Backblaze B2 bucket name |
AWS_S3_ENDPOINT_URL |
Use the Backblaze B2 endpoint URL. For example, https://s3.us-east-005.backblazeb2.com |
AWS_S3_REGION_NAME |
Determine your bucket’s region from the endpoint URL. For example, if your endpoint URL is s3.us-east-005.backblazeb2.com, then your bucket’s region is us-east-005 |
AWS_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID |
Leave this empty for now |
AWS_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY |
Leave this empty for now |
DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS |
Leave this empty for now |
DJANGO_CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS |
Use https:// |
DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE |
Use mysite.settings.production |
In the preceding table, you didn’t provide values for your AWS_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID
, AWS_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
, and DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS
.
To get values for your AWS_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID
and AWS_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
, follow these steps:
Log in to your Backblaze B2 account.
Navigate to Account > Application Keys.
Click Add a New Application Key.
Configure the application key settings as follows:
Setting |
Instruction |
---|---|
Name of Key |
Provide a unique name |
Allow access to Buckets |
Choose the Backblaze B2 bucket you created earlier |
Type of Access |
Select Read and Write |
Allow List All Bucket Names |
Leave this unticked |
File name prefix |
Leave field empty |
Duration (seconds) |
Leave field empty |
Click Create New Key.
Now, use your keyID
as the value of AWS_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID
and applicationKey
for AWS_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
in your .env.production
file:
Environment variable |
Instruction |
---|---|
AWS_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID |
Use your keyID |
AWS_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY |
Use your applicationKey |
At this stage, the content of your .env.production
file looks like this:
AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME=yourname-wagtail-portfolio
AWS_S3_ENDPOINT_URL=https://s3.us-east-005.backblazeb2.com
AWS_S3_REGION_NAME=us-east-005
AWS_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your Backblaze keyID
AWS_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your Backblaze applicationKey
DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS=
DJANGO_CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS=https://
DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=mysite.settings.production
Note
The Backblaze B2 storage uses AWS and S3 because it works like Amazon Web Services’ S3.
Do not commit or share your .env.production
file. Anyone with the variables can access your site.
If you lost your secret application key, create a new key following the preceding instructions.
For more information on how to set up your Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage, read the Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage Documentation.
Set up Fly.io¶
Now that you’ve linked your site to your Blackblaze storage, it’s time to set up Fly.io to host your site.
To set up your Fly.io account, follow these steps:
Visit Fly.io in your browser.
Click Sign Up.
Sign up using your GitHub account, Google account, or the email option.
Check your email inbox for the verification link to verify your email.
Note
If your email verification fails, go to your Fly.io Dashboard and try again.
Go to Dashboard > Billing and click Add credit card to add your credit card.
Note
Adding your credit card allows you to create a project in Fly.io. Fly.io won’t charge you after adding your credit card.
Install flyctl by navigating to your project directory and then running the following command in your terminal:
On macOS:
# If you have the Homebrew package manager installed, run the following command:
brew install flyctl
# If you don't have the Homebrew package manager installed, run the following command:
curl -L https://fly.io/install.sh | sh
On Linux:
curl -L https://fly.io/install.sh | sh
On Windows, navigate to your project directory on PowerShell, activate your environment and run the following command:
pwsh -Command "iwr https://fly.io/install.ps1 -useb | iex"
Note
If you get an error on Windows saying the term pwsh
is not recognized, install PowerShell MSI and then rerun the preceding Windows command.
Sign in to your Fly.io by running the following command:
fly auth login
If you use Microsoft WSL, then run:
ln -s /usr/bin/wslview /usr/local/bin/xdg-open
Note
If you successfully install flyctl but get an error saying “fly
is not recognized” or “flyctl: command not found error”, then you must add flyctl to your PATH. For more information, read Getting flyctl: command not found error post install.
Create your Fly.io project by running
fly launch
and answering the resulting prompt questions as follows:
Question |
Instruction |
---|---|
Choose an app name |
Enter a name of your choice. For example, yourname-wagtail-portfolio |
Choose a region for deployment |
Select the region closest to the AWS_S3_REGION_NAME in your env.production file. |
Overwrite “…/.dockerignore”? |
Enter y |
Overwrite “…/Dockerfile”? |
Enter y |
Would you like to set up a Postgresql database now? |
Enter y |
Select configuration |
select Development - Single node, 1x shared CPU, 256MB RAM, 1GB disk if available. Otherwise, select the smallest configuration option |
Scale single node pg to zero after one hour? |
Enter y |
Would you like to set up an Upstash Redis database now? |
Enter n |
The fly launch
command creates two new files, Dockerfile
and fly.toml
, in your project directory.
If you use a third-party app terminal like the Visual Studio Code terminal, you may get an error creating your Postgres database. To rectify this error, follow these steps:
Delete
fly.toml
file from your project directory.Go to your Fly.io account in your browser and click Dashboard.
Click the created app in your Apps list.
Click Settings in your side navigation.
Click Delete app.
Enter the name your app.
Click Yes delete it.
Repeat steps 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 for all apps in your Apps list.
Run the
fly launch
command in your built-in terminal or PowerShell MSI on Windows.
Customize your site to use Fly.io¶
Now, you must configure your portfolio site for the final deployment.
The fly launch
command creates two new files, Dockerfile
and fly.toml
, in your project directory.
Add the following to your .gitignore
file to make Git ignore your environment files:
.env*
Also, add the following to your .dockerignore
file to make Docker ignore your environment and media files:
.env*
media
Configure your Fly.io to use 1
worker. This allows your site to work better with Fly.io’s low memory allowance. To do this, modify the last line of your Dockerfile
as follows:
CMD ["gunicorn", "--bind", ":8000", "--workers", "1", "mysite.wsgi"]
Also, check if your fly.toml
file has the following:
[deploy]
release_command = "python manage.py migrate"
Your fly.toml
file should look as follows:
app = "yourname-wagtail-portfolio"
primary_region = "lhr"
console_command = "/code/manage.py shell"
[build]
# add the deploy command:
[deploy]
release_command = "python manage.py migrate"
[env]
PORT = "8000"
[http_service]
internal_port = 8000
force_https = true
auto_stop_machines = true
auto_start_machines = true
min_machines_running = 0
processes = ["app"]
[[statics]]
guest_path = "/code/static"
url_prefix = "/static/"
Now add your production dependencies by replacing the content of your requirements.txt
file with the following:
Django>=4.2,<4.3
wagtail==5.1.1
gunicorn>=21.2.0,<22.0.0
psycopg[binary]>=3.1.10,<3.2.0
dj-database-url>=2.1.0,<3.0.0
whitenoise>=5.0,<5.1
django-storages[s3]>=1.14.0,<2.0.0
The preceding dependencies ensure that the necessary tools and libraries are in place to run your site successfully on the production server. The following are the explanations for the dependencies you may be unaware of:
gunicorn
is a web server that runs your site in Docker.psycopg
is a PostgreSQL adapter that connects your site to a PostgreSQL database.dj-database-url
is a package that simplifies your database configurations and connects to your site to a PostgreSQL database.whitenoise
is a Django package that serves static files.django-storages
is a Django library that handles your file storage and connects to your Backblaze B2 storage.
Replace the content of your mysite/settings/production.py
file with the following:
import os
import random
import string
import dj_database_url
from .base import *
DEBUG = False
DATABASES = {
"default": dj_database_url.config(
conn_max_age=600,
conn_health_checks=True
)
}
SECRET_KEY = os.environ["SECRET_KEY"]
SECURE_PROXY_SSL_HEADER = ("HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO", "https")
SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT = True
ALLOWED_HOSTS = os.getenv("DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS", "*").split(",")
CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS = os.getenv("DJANGO_CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS", "").split(",")
EMAIL_BACKEND = "django.core.mail.backends.console.EmailBackend"
MIDDLEWARE.append("whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware")
STORAGES["staticfiles"]["BACKEND"] = "whitenoise.storage.CompressedManifestStaticFilesStorage"
if "AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME" in os.environ:
AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME = os.getenv("AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME")
AWS_S3_REGION_NAME = os.getenv("AWS_S3_REGION_NAME")
AWS_S3_ENDPOINT_URL = os.getenv("AWS_S3_ENDPOINT_URL")
AWS_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID = os.getenv("AWS_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID")
AWS_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = os.getenv("AWS_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY")
INSTALLED_APPS.append("storages")
STORAGES["default"]["BACKEND"] = "storages.backends.s3boto3.S3Boto3Storage"
AWS_S3_OBJECT_PARAMETERS = {
'CacheControl': 'max-age=86400',
}
LOGGING = {
"version": 1,
"disable_existing_loggers": False,
"handlers": {
"console": {
"class": "logging.StreamHandler",
},
},
"loggers": {
"django": {
"handlers": ["console"],
"level": os.getenv("DJANGO_LOG_LEVEL", "INFO"),
},
},
}
WAGTAIL_REDIRECTS_FILE_STORAGE = "cache"
try:
from .local import *
except ImportError:
pass
The explanation of some of the code in your mysite/settings/production.py
file is as follows:
DEBUG = False
turns off debugging for the production environment. It’s important for security and performance.SECRET_KEY = os.environ["SECRET_KEY"]
retrieves the project’s secret key from your environment variable.SECURE_PROXY_SSL_HEADER = ("HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO", "https")
ensures that Django can detect a secure HTTPS connection if you deploy your site behind a reverse proxy like Heroku.SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT = True
enforces HTTPS redirect. This ensures that all connections to the site are secure.ALLOWED_HOSTS = os.getenv("DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS", "*").split(",")
defines the hostnames that can access your site. It retrieves its values from theDJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS
environment variable. If no specific hosts are defined, it defaults to allowing all hosts.EMAIL_BACKEND = "django.core.mail.backends.console.EmailBackend"
configures your site to use the console email backend. You can configure this to use a proper email backend for sending emails.WAGTAIL_REDIRECTS_FILE_STORAGE = "cache"
configures the file storage for Wagtail’s redirects. Here, you set it to use cache.
Now, complete the configuration of your environment variables by modifying your .env.production
file as follows:
Environment variable |
Instruction |
---|---|
DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS |
This must match your fly.io project name. For example, yourname-wagtail-portfolio.fly.dev |
DJANGO_CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS |
This must match your project’s domain name. For example, https://yourname-wagtail-portfolio.fly.dev |
The content of your .env.production
file should now look like this:
AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME=yourname-wagtail-portfolio
AWS_S3_ENDPOINT_URL=https://s3.us-east-005.backblazeb2.com
AWS_S3_REGION_NAME=us-east-005
AWS_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your Backblaze keyID
AWS_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your Backblaze applicationKey
DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS=yourname-wagtail-portfolio.fly.dev
DJANGO_CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS=https://yourname-wagtail-portfolio.fly.dev
DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=mysite.settings.production
Set the secrets for Fly.io to use by running:
flyctl secrets import < .env.production
On Windows, run the following command in your PowerShell MSI:
Get-Content .env.production | flyctl secrets import
Finally, deploy your site to Fly.io by running the following command:
fly deploy --ha=false
Note
Running “fly deploy” creates two machines for your app. Using the “–ha=false” flag creates one machine for your app.
Congratulations! Your site is now live. However, you must add content to it. Start by creating an admin user for your live site. Run the following command:
flyctl ssh console
Then run:
DJANGO_SUPERUSER_USERNAME=username DJANGO_SUPERUSER_EMAIL=mail@example.com DJANGO_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD=password python manage.py createsuperuser --noinput
Note
Ensure you replace username, mail@example.com, and password with a username, email address, and password of your choice.
For more information on how to set up your Django project on Fly.io, read Django on Fly.io.
Add content to your live site¶
All this while, you’ve been adding content to your site in the local environment. Now that your site is live on a server, you must add content to the live site. To add content to your live site, go to https://yourname-wagtail-portfolio.fly.dev/admin/
in your browser and follow the steps in the following sub-sections of the tutorial:
Note
If you encounter errors while trying to access your live site in your browser, check your application logs in your Fly.io Dashboard. To check your application logs, click Dashboard > Apps > yourname-wagtail-portfolio > Monitoring
Congratulations! You made it to the end.
Where next¶
Learn how to implement StreamField for freeform page content
Browse through the advanced topics section and read third-party tutorials