Skip to content

Docker Setup and Development

The application is containerized using Docker and Docker Compose. The Docker Compose setup is split into two files:

  • compose.yml: This file contains the base configuration for the production environment.
  • compose.override.yml: This file contains the configuration for the development environment. It overrides the base configuration.

1. Running the application

Development Environment

To run the application in a development environment: 

docker compose up
This will start all services defined in compose.yml and compose.override.yml (the web backend, primary database, read-only HOPE database, Redis, Celery worker/beat, and Flower dashboard).

Production Environment

To run the application in a production environment, use only the base compose.yml file: 

docker compose -f compose.yml up

2. Running Django Management Commands

When running with Docker Compose, you can execute Django management commands inside the backend container.

Execute a command

To execute any command: 

docker compose run --rm backend python manage.py <command>

Common Commands

  • Create a superuser: 
    docker compose run --rm backend python manage.py createsuperuser
  • Run migrations manually: 
    docker compose run --rm backend python manage.py migrate
  • Introspect and sync HOPE database schema: 
    docker compose run --rm backend python manage.py inspect_hope --database=hope_ro --schema=public --output-file=_inspect.py