Skip to content

HERConnect Chatbot Project Deployment Documentation

Deployment Overview

The application is deployed in a Docker container hosted on a Cybera Ubuntu 22.0.4 instance. This deployment strategy with containerized approach, ensures ease of migration to various hosting services or instances, catering to the diverse infrastructure requirements and preferences of the client.

Deployment Instructions

1. Prepare the Environment

Note: Note that the installation process may vary for different operating systems. Refer to the official documentation for detailed instructions.

Note: These installations are essential for running the application on your own server and should be completed before proceeding with the application setup.

2. Access the Application Repository

To deploy the application, you need access to its source code, typically stored in a GitHub repository. Before you can clone the repository, make sure Git is installed on your machine.

Install Git

  1. Open a Terminal: On your machine, open a terminal window.
  2. Install Git: Follow the installation instructions based on your operating system. You can find detailed installation instructions in Git's official documentation.

Clone the Repository

  1. Generate an SSH key: Running the following command in the root directory:

    ssh-keygen

  2. Copy public key: Run the following command to display the public key and copy it to the clipboard:

    cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

  3. Add public key under Github account: Open the GitHub repository and navigate to Settings -> SSH and GPG keys -> New SSH key. Paste the public key into the key field.

  4. Set permissions: Running the following command to set the permissions for the SSH key: 

    chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa

  5. clone the repository: Navigate to the desired directory and clone the repository using the following command:

    git clone git@github.com:UAlberta-CMPUT401/w24project-abtn_herconnect.git

3. Finalizing the Deployment

After cloning the repository, the next step is to set up the application environment and get it running on your server. This is streamlined with the setup-environment.sh script provided in the repository.

Environment Configuration

  1. Prepare .env file: On root directory of the repository, run the following script. This script will generate Django Secret Key and store it in the /backend/chatbot_api/chatbot/.env file.

     chmod +x generate-env.sh
./generate-env.sh

  2. Configure environment variables: Edit the /backend/chatbot_api/chatbot/.env file to include your email credentials which the chatbot will use for sending emails. Replace example@example.com and password with your actual email address and password.

    HERBOT_EMAIL_HOST_USER='example@example.com'
HERBOT_EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD='password'

Note: This configuration is essential for enabling the automated email forwarding functionality.

Build and run the Docker containers

Navigate to the root directory of the repository and run the setup-environment.sh script. This script will build the Docker containers and start the application.

chmod +x setup-environment.sh
./setup-environment.sh

Access the Application

Once the setup-environment.sh script has completed its execution, the application components should be up and running. You can access them as follows:

  • Chatbot Interface: Access the chatbot on your server by navigating to /wordpress. For example, if your server IP is http://your_server_ip, you can access the chatbot at http://your_server_ip/wordpress.

  • Admin Page: To manage the chatbot settings, access the admin page at /login.

Note: For more detailed instructions, configurations, please refer to the README.md file in the repository.

Technical Details

Frontend

  • Technology: WordPress plugin
  • Languages: PHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript

Backend

  • Framework: Django
  • Database: SQLite3

Deployment Environment

  • Containerization: Docker
  • Web Server: Nginx

Required Libraries

Note: The following libraries are essential for the application, but you do not need to manually install them. They are automatically included and managed during the deployment process:

  • certifi==2024.2.2
  • charset-normalizer==3.3.2
  • greenlet==3.0.3
  • idna==3.6
  • iniconfig==2.0.0
  • packaging==23.2
  • playwright==1.41.2
  • pluggy==1.4.0
  • pyee==11.0.1
  • pytest==8.0.1
  • pytest-base-url==2.1.0
  • pytest-playwright==0.4.4
  • python-slugify==8.0.4
  • requests==2.31.0
  • text-unidecode==1.3
  • typing_extensions==4.9.0
  • urllib3==2.2.1
  • asgiref==3.7.2
  • Django==4.2.10
  • django-js-asset==2.2.0
  • django-mptt==0.16.0
  • djangorestframework==3.14.0
  • pytz==2024.1
  • sqlparse==0.4.4
  • typing_extensions==4.9.0
  • drf-spectacular==0.27.1
  • django-cors-headers==4.3.1
  • emoji==2.10.1
  • python-dotenv==1.0.1