Jota/Joti JID code deployment

This repository contains a recipe for deploying the entire JID code application using Docker. It's a configurable deployment using Docker Compose and published Docker images which makes it easy to setup a running JID code application on single server.

Architecture

The setup consists of 3 Docker containers:

• JID Server which handles the API requests and data persistence.
• JID UI which is the web app the users interacts with
• Gateway which is reverse-proxy and SSL termination based on Traefik

Note

The diagram for the architecture is an drawio.png file, which means that the diagram itself can be edited using Diagrams.net

Usage on Production

To deploy follow these steps:

Step 0 - Obtain a physical/virtual server to host on

Before actually going through the usage guide, you need to make sure you have access to an actual server, ideally running Linux. The application itself doesn't require much, so you can probably get away with a small machine.

The server also needs to be accessible from the internet and you need to ensure that TCP port 80 and 443 can reach the server. These ports are the standard internet web ports.

Step 1 - Domain name setup

The first step is to decide on which domain names the JID code application should have. This is important, if you want to have SSL certificates (https) on you JID code application.

You need two domains (probably just two CNAME's):

• One for the Backend server (API).
• One for the Frontend application (Web App).

Two give an example, we are hosting it ourselves during Jota/Joti and we use api.jidcodes.org for the Backend server and www.jidcodes.org for the frontend server. If you already own a domain it is perfectly fine to create two subdomains for use here, to avoid having to buy a new domain name. jid-api.mypersonaldomain.net and jid.mypersonaldomain.net will work just as well.

Make sure that both domain names point to your server's IP address BEFORE moving on in this guide. Ideally wait until you are sure that the DNS is updated and you have verified that the domain name now resolves to the server IP.

Step 2 - Install required software on server

This step assumes that you are running Linux on the server and that you are reasonably comfortable with the command line and how to install packages on your Linux flavor.

Packages to install (ideally from package manager):

• Docker
• Docker Compose
• Git

Step 3 - Download this repo and configure

This repository contains all required configuration files for setting up the application. Start by cloning this repository to a folder of your choice on the server by executing this command:

# git clone https://github.com/jotajoti/jid-deploy

Now go into the folder using this command:

# cd jid-deploy

In the jid-deploy folder you should now edit the .env file. It has a lot of comments to help you configure it and should be self explanatory.

After editing the file, save it

Step 4 - Run the application

Now you are ready to start up the application. You do that while standing in the jid-deploy folder and execute this command:

# docker-compose up -d

This will bring both the backend, the frontend and the gateway up.
If you have enabled SSL in the configuration file, the gateway will issue an SSL certificate, if you have configured the domain name correctly in Step 1.

You can verify that the site is running correctly by opening a browser and entering the domain name for the Frontend.