Truck Signs API - Deployment

This repository contains the containerized deployment for the Truck Signs API, a Django-based REST API for truck signage management. The setup uses Docker to orchestrate a production-ready environment with PostgreSQL database, Stripe payment integration, and email functionality.

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Table of Contents

1. Prerequisites
2. Quickstart
3. Usage
   • Project Structure
   • Environment Configuration
   • Managing Containers
4. Troubleshooting
   • Container won't start
   • Database connection errors
   • Port already in use
   • Complete cleanup and fresh start

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Prerequisites

• Docker: Version 20.10 or higher
• Python: Version 3.10 or higher
• Git: For repository management
• Stripe Account: For payment integration (test keys for development)
• Gmail Account: With app password for email functionality

Verify Docker installation:

docker --version
docker images
docker ps

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Quickstart

1. Clone the repository

git clone -b feature/api-containerization git@github.com:Ozinho78/truck_signs_api.git
cd truck_signs_api

2. Create environment file

# Windows
copy env.template .env

# Linux/macOS
cp env.template .env

3. Build Docker image

docker build -t truck-signs-api:latest .

4. Create Docker network

docker network create truck-signs-network

5. Start PostgreSQL database

docker run -d \
    --name truck-signs-db \
    --network truck-signs-network \
    --env-file .env \
    -v truck-signs-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data \
    postgres:15-alpine

6. Start Django API

docker run -d \
    --name truck-signs-api \
    --network truck-signs-network \
    --env-file .env \
    -p 8020:8000 \
    truck-signs-api:latest

7. Verify containers status

docker ps --filter "name=truck-signs"

Expected output:

CONTAINER ID   IMAGE                    STATUS         PORTS                    NAMES
abc123def456   truck-signs-api:latest   Up 10 seconds  0.0.0.0:8020->8000/tcp  truck-signs-api
def456ghi789   postgres:15-alpine       Up 15 seconds  5432/tcp                truck-signs-db

9. Access application

• API: http://<YOUR_SERVER_IP>:8020
• Admin Panel: http://<YOUR_SERVER_IP>:8020/admin

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Usage

Project Structure

truck-signs-api/
├── .gitignore                  # Excludes .env, logs, IDE configs, OS files
├── Dockerfile                  # Container build instructions
├── checklist.md                # DevSecOps checklist that has to be fulfilled for the project
├── entrypoint.sh               # Container startup script, DB migrations and Gunicorn launch
├── .env.template               # Template for .env, contains environment variables
├── .env                        # Runtime environment variables (NOT in Git!), created by YOU
├── README.md                   # This document, project documentation with ToC, quickstart, usage
├── requirements.txt            # Python dependencies that have to be installed for running the project

Environment Configuration

The .env file contains all configuration for the deployment. This file is not stored in Git for security reasons.

Create from template:

# Windows
copy .env.example .env
notepad .env

# Linux/macOS
cp .env.example .env
nano .env

Critical settings to modify:

1. Database Configuration (REQUIRED)

POSTGRES_HOST=truck-signs-db            # Container name
POSTGRES_PORT=5432                      # Default PostgreSQL port
POSTGRES_DB=truck_signs_db              # Database name
POSTGRES_USER=truck_signs_user          # Database user
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=use_strong_password   # CHANGE THIS!

[!WARNING] Never use default passwords in production!

2. Django Secret Key

Generate using Python (Python and Django required):

python -c 'from django.core.management.utils import get_random_secret_key; print(get_random_secret_key())'

Then set in .env:

DOCKER_SECRET_KEY=your_generated_secret_key_here

3. Django Settings (REQUIRED for production)

DJANGO_ENV=production                               # or 'development'
DEBUG=False                                         # NEVER True in production!
ALLOWED_HOSTS=localhost,127.0.0.1,<YOUR_SERVER_IP>  # Add the ip address of your server here

4. Stripe Integration (REQUIRED)

Get your keys from Stripe Dashboard:

DOCKER_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_test_xxxxxxxxxxxxx
DOCKER_STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_xxxxxxxxxxxxx

[!TIP] Use test keys (pk_test_ and sk_test_) for development

5. Email Configuration (REQUIRED)

For Gmail, create an App Password:

DOCKER_EMAIL_HOST_USER=<your-email>@gmail.com
DOCKER_EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD=your_16_char_app_password

Managing Containers

View running containers:

docker ps --filter "name=truck-signs"

Stop containers:

docker stop truck-signs-api truck-signs-db

Start stopped containers:

docker start truck-signs-db
docker start truck-signs-api

Restart containers:

docker restart truck-signs-api
docker restart truck-signs-db

Remove containers (keeps data volumes):

docker stop truck-signs-api truck-signs-db
docker rm truck-signs-api truck-signs-db

Remove everything including data:

[!WARNING] This deletes all database data permanently!

# Stop and remove containers
docker stop truck-signs-api truck-signs-db
docker rm truck-signs-api truck-signs-db

# Remove network
docker network rm truck-signs-network

# Remove volume (DATABASE DATA WILL BE LOST!)
docker volume rm truck-signs-data

# Remove image
docker rmi truck-signs-api:latest

View database logs:

docker logs truck-signs-db
docker logs -f truck-signs-db

Save logs to file:

docker logs truck-signs-api > api-logs.txt
docker logs truck-signs-db > db-logs.txt

Troubleshooting

Container won't start

Check if image exists:

docker images | findstr truck-signs-api

Check container status:

docker ps -a --filter "name=truck-signs"

View startup logs:

docker logs truck-signs-api

Database connection errors

Verify database is running:

docker ps --filter "name=truck-signs-db"

Check database logs:

docker logs truck-signs-db

Verify network connectivity:

docker network inspect truck-signs-network

Test database connection from API container:

docker exec -it truck-signs-api psql -h truck-signs-db -U truck_signs_user -d truck_signs_db

Port already in use

Check what's using port 8020:

# Windows
netstat -ano | findstr :8020

# Linux/macOS
lsof -i :8020

Use different port:

docker run -d \
    --name truck-signs-api \
    --network truck-signs-network \
    -p 8080:8000 \
    --env-file .env \
    truck-signs-api:latest

Complete cleanup and fresh start

# Stop all containers
docker stop truck-signs-api truck-signs-db

# Remove containers
docker rm truck-signs-api truck-signs-db

# Remove network
docker network rm truck-signs-network

# Remove volume (WARNING: deletes data!)
docker volume rm truck-signs-data

# Remove image
docker rmi truck-signs-api:latest

# Start fresh deployment from step 4 in Quickstart

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Project Information

• Course: DevSecOps
• Branch: feature/api-containerization
• Last Updated: January 2026