Containerizing a Django Todo Application: A Docker Project for DevOps Engineers

Introduction

DevOps engineers are instrumental in streamlining software development and deployment processes, and Docker has become an indispensable tool in their toolkit. In this blog post, we'll walk you through a Docker project tailored specifically for DevOps engineers. This project involves containerizing a Django-based Todo application, building the Docker image, running the container, verifying the application's functionality, and pushing the image to a repository.

Step 1: Create an AWS EC2 Instance 🌐

1. Navigate to the AWS Management Console.

2. Launch an EC2 instance, selecting an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) based on your preference (e.g., Amazon Linux).

3. Configure the instance, setting up security groups to allow inbound traffic on ports 22 (SSH) and 8001 (Django application).

4. Launch the instance and download the private key.

5. Connect to the instance using SSH:

bashCopy codessh -i /path/to/private-key.pem ec2-user@your-instance-ip

Step 2: Clone the Django Todo App from GitHub 🔄

Once connected to your EC2 instance, clone your Django Todo application from GitHub:

bashCopy code# Clone the GitHub repository
git clone https://github.com/SandhyaDeotare26/django-todo.git

# Navigate to the project directory
cd django-todo

Step 3: Create a Dockerfile for the Django Todo App 🐍

Craft a Dockerfile that defines the environment for our Django Todo application:

DockerfileCopy codeFROM python:3

RUN pip install django==3.2

COPY . .

RUN python manage.py migrate

CMD ["python","manage.py","runserver","0.0.0.0:8001"]

Step 4: Build the Docker Image and Run the Container 🏗️

Navigate to the directory containing your Docker file and application code in the terminal. Run the following commands:

bashCopy code# Build the Docker image
docker build . -t todo-app

# Run the Docker container
docker run -p 8001:8001 <image-id>

Step 5: Verify Application Functionality 👩‍💻

Open your web browser and navigate to http://<ipaddress>:8001, where <ipaddress> is the appropriate IP of your remote server. You should see your application running.

Step 6: Push the Image to a Repository ☁️

To share your Docker image or deploy it to other environments, push it to a container registry. For example, let's use Docker Hub as the repository:

bashCopy code# Log in to Docker Hub (replace USERNAME with your Docker Hub username)
docker login -u USERNAME

# Tag the image with your Docker Hub username and repository name
docker tag todo-app USERNAME/todo-app

# Push the image to Docker Hub
docker push USERNAME/todo-app

Conclusion

This Docker project for DevOps engineers guides you through the process of containerizing a Django Todo application. By creating a Dockerfile, building an image, running a container, and pushing the image to a repository, you ensure consistency and reproducibility in deploying your Django applications across different environments. 🌐