Attendance App

This repository contains the codebase for the Attendance Application. Below are the steps to set it up on your local machine.

---

How to Set Up Locally

1. Clone the Repository

To get started, clone this repository using the following command:

git clone https://github.com/vaaditya320/attendance-ledger.git

---

2. Navigate to the Project Directory

Change into the project directory:

cd attendance-ledger

---

3. Create a Virtual Environment

Set up a Python virtual environment for the project:

python3 -m venv venv

Activate the virtual environment:

• On Linux/Mac:

  source venv/bin/activate

• On Windows:

  .\venv\Scripts\activate

---

4. Install Requirements

Install the necessary Python dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

---

5. Set Up Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the root directory of the project and add the following environment variables:

MAILJET_API_KEY=your-mailjet-api-key
MAILJET_SECRET_KEY=your-mailjet-secret-key

Replace the placeholder values with your actual keys and secrets.

---

6. Apply Migrations

Run the following command to apply database migrations:

python manage.py migrate

---

7. Run the Development Server

Start the development server:

python manage.py runserver

The application will be available at http://127.0.0.1:8000/.

---

8. Access Admin Panel (Optional)

To access the Django admin panel, create a superuser:

python manage.py createsuperuser

Follow the prompts to set up an admin account. Then navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin to log in.

Step-by-Step Deployment Journey

---

1. Set Up EC2 Instance

1. Launch an EC2 instance (Ubuntu).
2. Connect via SSH:

   ssh -i "your-key.pem" ubuntu@your-ec2-public-ip

---

2. Install Required Software

1. Update packages:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

2. Install Python and Nginx:

   sudo apt install python3-pip python3-venv nginx -y

---

3. Set Up Django Application

1. Clone your project:

   cd /home/ubuntu/projects
   git clone https://github.com/vaaditya320/attendance-ledger.git attendance
   cd attendance

2. Create a virtual environment:

   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate
   pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Collect static files:

   python manage.py collectstatic

4. Update .env file with Mailjet credentials.

   MAILJET_API_KEY = "your-mailjey-api-key"
   MAILJET_API_SECRET = "your-mailjey-api-secret"

5. Modify settings.py:

   • DEBUG = False
   • ALLOWED_HOSTS = ["attendance.aadityavinayak.in.net"]
   • STATIC_ROOT = "/home/ubuntu/projects/attendance/staticfiles"

---

4. Run Gunicorn

1. Start Gunicorn manually to serve your app:

   gunicorn --workers 3 --bind unix:/home/ubuntu/projects/attendance/attendance.sock attendance.wsgi:application

---

5. Configure Nginx

1. Create an Nginx configuration:

   sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/attendance

   Add the following configuration:

   server {
       listen 80;
       server_name attendance.aadityavinayak.in.net;
   
       location / {
           proxy_pass http://unix:/home/ubuntu/projects/attendance/attendance.sock;
           proxy_set_header Host $host;
           proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
           proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
           proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
       }
   
       location /static/ {
           alias /home/ubuntu/projects/attendance/staticfiles/;
       }
   }

2. Enable the site:

   sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/attendance /etc/nginx/sites-enabled

3. Test and restart Nginx:

   sudo nginx -t
   sudo systemctl restart nginx

---

6. Set Permissions

1. Make sure the static files are accessible:

   sudo chmod -R 755 /home/ubuntu/projects/attendance/staticfiles

2. Ensure the Nginx user (www-data) has permission to read the static files and Gunicorn socket:

   sudo chown -R ubuntu:www-data /home/ubuntu/projects/attendance

---

7. DNS Configuration

1. Point your domain (attendance.aadityavinayak.in.net) to your EC2 instance's public IP.

---

8. Running the Application

Since you are running Gunicorn manually:

1. Open a new screen session:

   screen -S attendance

2. Run Gunicorn:

   gunicorn --workers 3 --bind unix:/home/ubuntu/projects/attendance/attendance.sock attendance.wsgi:application

3. Detach the screen (Ctrl+A, then D), so it continues running in the background.

---

Summary of Key Paths

• Static Files Directory: /home/ubuntu/projects/attendance/staticfiles

• Nginx Config File: /etc/nginx/sites-available/attendance

• Gunicorn Socket: /home/ubuntu/projects/attendance/attendance.sock

Next Steps (Optional):

1. Restrict Access to Static Files:

You can also add authentication to the static files directory by including the auth_basic configuration in the /static/ location block in Nginx.

location /static/ {
    auth_basic "Restricted Access";
    auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd;
    alias /home/ubuntu/projects/attendance/staticfiles/;
}

2. Add More Users:

To add more users to your .htpasswd file, run the following command (without the -c flag):

sudo htpasswd /etc/nginx/.htpasswd anotheruser

This will prompt you for the password for the new user.

3. Remove Users:

To remove a user, you can simply delete the corresponding line from the .htpasswd file or use htpasswd -D to delete a user:

sudo htpasswd -D /etc/nginx/.htpasswd username

---

Now your application is live! You can always reconnect to your screen session to manage the running Gunicorn process.