Webfaction Flask 0.10 Boilerplate

This project will help you to start new Flask projects on Webfaction.

It provides a boilerplate template for a Flask 0.10 project on Webfaction. Clone it, customize the fabric_settings.py.sample, run Fabric, and you'll have:

• a local Python venv with Flask and a minimal Flask app installed
• a local Fabric deployment script set up to deploy your app
• a local Git repository for that app, connected to...
• a Git repository on Webfaction for the app
• a Flask app on Webfaction set up with a Python venv there
• a static app on Webfaction to serve your static content efficiently

In short, it will create a local Flask development environment and a production Flask environment on Webfaction, and hook the two together!

Use with caution

This project is intended to save repetitive work for people who know how to deploy a Flask app, not as an "easy button" for people who don't. I've used this project to create a working Flask app on Webfaction as of 2016-02-09, but if something breaks, you'll need to read the output, read the fabfile, figure out what went wrong (and open an issue here), and correct it. The fab task does try to remove previous failed attempts if it detects them.

One-time setup

This project sets up a Git repository on Webfaction for each Flask app, for source control and as the way Flask apps are deployed. This requires a Git app on Webfaction. The app is created with:

fab onetime_setup

This step is only required for your first Flask app created with this project.

Setup

First, clone this project into the directory that you want your new project to live in.

cd ~/Projects git clone git://github.com/edgewood/webfaction-flask0.10-boilerplate.git myproject cd myproject

Update the project settings file with your Webfaction and project details.

cp fabric_settings.py.sample fabric_settings.py $EDITOR fabric_settings.py

These settings must be updated:

• ENV_USER - your Webfaction username.
• ENV_PASS - your Webfaction password. Webfaction doesn't offer an API access token, so your password is required for the automated server setup. If you're uncomfortable writing this in, set to None and you'll be prompted for your password when it's needed.
• PROJECT_NAME - the name for this project.
• APP_DOMAIN - which of your domains to deploy the app on.
• APP_URL - the URL path to deploy the app on. '/' for the root of the domain, or a path like '/foo'

These settings probably don't need to be changed. They control which application types are created. See the list of application types.

• APP_TYPE - type for the Flask app. Might need to be changed for newer versions of mod_wsgi or Python, or if you want Python 2.7.
• STATIC_TYPE - type for static app that allows more efficient serving of static content.
• GIT_TYPE - type for the Git app that serves Git repos. Only relevant for onetime_setup.

Settings related to the Python virtualenvs:

• VENV_NAME - name of the local and remote virtualenv. Change if you don't like venv.
• VENV_COMMAND - command to create virtualenv. Change to the command to create`a virtualenv in your selected version of Python.

Finally, perform the local and remote setup: fab install_everything

This will:

• install the server environment
  • delete previous attempts, if any detected
  • add the Flask and static Webfaction applications
  • create a virtualenv
  • create a Git repository
  • clean up sample files in the new Webfaction applications
  • add the applications to the appropriate website
• install the local environment
  • remove the boilerplate Git repo and create a new one
  • create a Flask project
  • create fabric deployment scripts for the project
  • commit the project to Git
• link the local Git repository to the remote
• install Flask requirements to the remote virtualenv
• deploy the app remotely

You now have the sample Flask app running locally and deployed remotely. Update it with your desired behavior, test it locally, commit it to your local Git repo, and fab deploy to push it to Webfaction and deploy it.