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Authentication

Authentication#

By default Media Journal does not require a login to access. If you are hosting the app on a local network for personal use this is usually fine.

However, if you plan to expose the app to the internet (using a reverse proxy or Cloudflare Tunnels) it is highly recommended to enable authentication. This will lock down the entire app including your uploaded images and screenshots so only you can access them.

Setting up authentication is a two-step process: you must create an administrator account and then tell the app to require a login.

Step 1: Create an Account#

Before you lock the app you need to create a "Superuser" account so you can actually log in.

Open a terminal on the machine running your Docker container and run: 

docker exec -it media-journal python manage.py createsuperuser
It will prompt you to create a username, email (optional) and password. Note that as you type your password nothing will show on the screen for security reasons.

Open a terminal inside your media-journal folder and run: 

python manage.py createsuperuser
It will prompt you to create a username, email (optional) and password. Note that as you type your password nothing will show on the screen for security reasons.

Open your terminal, navigate to your media-journal folder, activate your virtual environment and run the command: 

source venv/bin/activate
python3 manage.py createsuperuser
It will prompt you to create a username, email (optional) and password. Note that as you type your password nothing will show on the screen for security reasons.

Open your terminal, navigate to your media-journal folder, activate your virtual environment and run the command: 

source venv/bin/activate
python manage.py createsuperuser
It will prompt you to create a username, email (optional) and password. Note that as you type your password nothing will show on the screen for security reasons.

Step 2: Enable the Login Screen#

Now that you have an account you need to start the app with the REQUIRE_LOGIN=True environment variable.

Open your docker-compose.yml file and uncomment the REQUIRE_LOGIN line under the environment section: 

environment:
  - REQUIRE_LOGIN=True
Then restart your container to apply the changes: 
docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d

If using the .bat file (Recommended):
Open your run_journal.bat file in a text editor and add set REQUIRE_LOGIN=True right before the runserver command: 

set REQUIRE_LOGIN=True
%PY% manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --noreload

If running manually in PowerShell: 

$env:REQUIRE_LOGIN="True"
python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --noreload

If running manually in CMD: 

set REQUIRE_LOGIN=True
python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --noreload

If using the Launchd Background Service (Recommended):
Open your com.mediajournal.plist file in a text editor and add the EnvironmentVariables dictionary right above your ProgramArguments: 

<key>EnvironmentVariables</key>
<dict>
    <key>REQUIRE_LOGIN</key>
    <string>True</string>
</dict>
Then restart the service in the terminal: 
launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.mediajournal.plist
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.mediajournal.plist

If running manually in the terminal: 

export REQUIRE_LOGIN=True
python3 manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --noreload

If using the Systemd Background Service (Recommended):
Edit your service file (sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/mediajournal.service) and add Environment="REQUIRE_LOGIN=True" under the [Service] section: 

[Service]
Environment="REQUIRE_LOGIN=True"
User=YOUR_LINUX_USERNAME
Then restart the service: 
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart mediajournal

If running manually in the terminal: 

export REQUIRE_LOGIN=True
python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --noreload