Setting up the website

Local Setup

To run this project locally, ensure you have Docker Desktop installed. Then:

1. Clone the repository and navigate to the my_website directory.
2. SMTP server for generating OTP. I have used gmail's SMTP server for my localhost (You may go through this video for reference): https://youtu.be/y5IasMFYdBc?si=HQLDn9fRT3lCX-1D
3. Create a .env file in ".upload-service" directory and add the following value based on your SMTP server configurations.

   # .env file for SMTP configuration
   SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
   SMTP_PORT=465
   SMTP_SECURE=true
   SMTP_USER=<your_email_id>@gmail.com
   SMTP_PASS=<generated_smtp_password>
   ADMIN_EMAILID=<email_id_where_you_would_receive_OTP_for_authentication>

4. Execute the initial build command:

   make initial_build PROD=true

   Now, you should be able to access the frontend through the localhost.

Additional make Commands

• make down: Stop the running containers.
• make up PROD=true: Start the containers.
• make rebuild PROD=true: Stop, rebuild, and restart the containers.
• make destroy_project: Stop and remove all containers and associated data. |

Deploying Your Website with SSL/HTTPS

To deploy your website with an SSL certificate, follow these steps:

• Deploy your code on a server: Also note its public IP address.

• Acquire a Domain Name: Obtain a registered domain name from a trusted provider.

• Frontend Configuration (frontend/script.js):

  • Update the value of const PUBLIC_IP.
  • Set PROD = true within this file.

• Nginx Configuration (nginx/nginx.conf):

  • Initially, update the server_name directive to include your exact domain name(s) (e.g., yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com).

• DNS Mapping: Map your domain name(s) to your server's public IP address using A/AAAA records in your DNS settings.

• Initial Project Build (HTTP): Build your project using the provided Makefile. Please note that your website will initially be accessible via HTTP (port 80).

    make initial_build PROD=true

• Generate SSL Certificate:

  • Initially, the "my-website-nginx" container will fail because it is mounting the certificate from the local directory, and it is not present. So, turn off the container:

    docker stop my-website-nginx

  • Run certbot in standalone mode:

    docker run -it --rm \
    -v ./data/certbot/conf:/etc/letsencrypt \
    -v ./data/certbot/www:/var/www/certbot \
    --publish 80:80 \
    --publish 443:443 \
    certbot/certbot certonly \
    --standalone \
    -d <domain_name> \
    -m <your_email@example.com> \
    --agree-tos \
    --no-eff-email

  • Start Nginx Container (after Certbot succeeds)

    docker start my-website-nginx

• Update Nginx Configuration for Production:

  • Replace the content of your nginx/nginx.conf with the production-ready configuration from nginx_for_prod/nginx.conf.
  • Replace the content of your nginx/Dockerfile with the production-ready Dockerfile from nginx_for_prod/Dockerfile.
  • Replace <domain_name> in both the above files with your actual domain name ex: ninad.meverse.in.
  • Replace <public_IP_address> in nginx/nginx.conf with your actual public IP address

• Final Project Rebuild: Rebuild your Docker project to apply the updated Nginx configuration and activate HTTPS.

    make rebuild PROD=true

• Change the script permission:

  chmod +x update_script.sh
  chmod +x restart_mongodb.sh

• Commit all the changes locally, DO NOT PUSH

• To make sure git pull does not modify local changes:

  git update-index --skip-worktree nginx/nginx.conf
  git update-index --skip-worktree nginx/Dockerfile

• Scheduling update_website.sh to pull new changes every day at 12 AM:
  • Run crontab -e to open crontab
  • Add following line to the file 0 0 * * * <path_to_my_website>/update_website.sh <path_to_my_website>
  • Add following line to the file 30 * * * * <path_to_my_website>/restart_mongodb.sh <path_to_my_website>
  • Save and close