Deploying Django Applications

Talk given at Django Boulder on deploying Django Apps.

Transcript

1. Deploying Django Apps Discovering Your Approach Derek Stegelman 2013 Boulder Django
2. Our To-dos Who am I? The problem Solutions Story Telling Time/Deploying is more than a server Discussion
3. Who am I Software Developer at Five Q Previously at Kansas State University Developed and maintained several > 10,000 user applications (all Python/Django) New to the Front Range https:/ /github.com/dstegelman Self taught; Business/MIS Background
4. Django Hosting ??? I wrote this app...now what?
5. The Problem Hosting a Django app is hard! Significant learning curve for new developers from the PHP, other web worlds Too many options (uWSGI, mod_wsgi, Gunicorn) No clear path on where to begin. Significant deterrent to growing the Python/ Django community.
6. Solution(s) Roll your own (AWS, Rackspace, Datacenter) Story Time Middle Managed (Webfaction, etc) Managed (Heroku, Gondor, etc) Ultimately use what’s best for you and your situation. (Time, Money, Headaches..)
7. Roll Your Own Not that difficult Large learning curve, but maximum control Best suited for Enterprise or large scale business environments Often requires a SysAdmin to work properly Cheap and getting cheaper
8. A Deployment Story More than just hardware With a happy ending..
9. Where we started Single web/database server Mercurial copy and update to deploy or, umm FTP??? FTW?! Sys Admins had to manually “kick” apache No migrations or collect static Very unstable deployments. Not all that uncommon
10. Oh, the server broke. Let me debug that. Inefficient use of developer’s time. Difficult, painful, and scary deployments Database changes were even more painful Django deployment was immature How to Fix?? Bring in an Expert.
11. Solution(s) Evaluated Managed options (Heroku, Webfaction etc) Too Expensive for our scale (and budget) Did not have expertise to build the system ourselves Hired an expert on Django
12. Where we went Fully automated environment with Chef Fabric controlled, repeatable deployments Centralized infrastructure control (Chef/Ops Code) Inherited Fabric files and configurations (Repeatability across projects) Bundle infrastructure into your applications (Version Control All the Things)
13. Optimize Happiness New stack optimized for developer happiness Scratch your own itch All but eliminated deployment headaches Instituted a semi formal standards system through trial and error Happy ending
14. Middle Managed Example: Webfaction Entire box is managed, but you are left largely to your own devices for details Good solution for DIYs A good middle ground.
15. Fully Managed Heroku/Gondor Their way or the highway Great for prototyping/feature branches Limited customization Easiest to start with Friend for new developers!! Start Ups!
16. What should you do? Evaluate your needs and how many headaches you can stand Evaluate your staffing needs/expertise and planned scale Roll Your Own takes a significant amount of expertise. Don’t underestimate it.
17. Tools Many tools exist to make deployment and automated tasks easier. Fabric Capistrano/Fabistrano Chef/Salt Just use something!
18. Fabric Please, please use fabric. (Or another similar tool) Codified, version controlled deployment mechanisms that can be distributed FTW! When you make a change to your workflow, codify it. AUTOMATE!
19. Fabric Examples Shameless plug Hadrian https:/ /github.com/dstegelman/ hadrian/blob/master/hadrian/conf/fab.py https:/ /github.com/jacobian/django- deployment-workshop/blob/master/fabfile.py
20. Lessons to Live By AUTOMATE EVERYTHING Version Control and codify your processes Don’t live with broken windows Deployment is really important, invest in it! Choose the provider and solution that fits your team and specific needs
21. Questions? Comments? Thanks! github.com/dstegelman twitter.com/derekstegelman derek@stegelman.com