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Linux

Setup for Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)#

  1. Open your terminal and install Python, pip, virtual environment tools and Git:

    sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3 python3-pip python3-venv git

  2. Navigate to the folder where you want the app installed and clone the repository:

    git clone https://github.com/mihail-pop/media-journal
cd media-journal

  3. Create and activate a Virtual Environment: 

    python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

  4. Install the dependencies:

    pip install -r requirements.txt

  5. Create the database:

    python manage.py migrate

  6. Generate static files (required after every update):

    python manage.py collectstatic --noinput

  7. Start the app:

    TZ=Europe/London python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --noreload
    Or use this command if you plan to run it on a machine 24/7:
    TZ=Europe/London python -m waitress --listen=0.0.0.0:8000 --threads=8 media_journal.wsgi:application
    (Replace Europe/London with your local timezone. You can find a clean list of supported timezones here).

  8. Open the app in your browser at: http://localhost:8000

  9. Inside the app navigate to Settings → API Keys. You will need to add your own API keys. In that section there are instructions on how to obtain them.

Access from Other Devices#

To access the app from your phone, tablet or other devices on the same Wi-Fi network, use your computer's IP address instead of localhost.

You can find your IP address by running this command in the terminal: 

hostname -I
(Example: Once you find it, you would type http://192.168.1.15:8000 into your phone's browser).

Run Automatically on Boot#

To make the app start automatically and silently in the background when your Linux machine boots up, you can use Linux's built-in service manager called systemd.

1. Create the Service File:
Open your terminal and create a new service file using the nano text editor: 

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/mediajournal.service

2. Add the Configuration:
Paste the following code into the terminal. Make sure to replace /PATH/TO/YOUR/ with the actual path to your folder and change YOUR_LINUX_USERNAME to your actual username. 

[Unit]
Description=Media Journal Waitress Server
After=network.target

[Service]
User=YOUR_LINUX_USERNAME
WorkingDirectory=/PATH/TO/YOUR/media-journal
# Replace Europe/London with your local timezone
Environment="TZ=Europe/London"
ExecStart=/PATH/TO/YOUR/media-journal/venv/bin/python -m waitress --listen=0.0.0.0:8000 --threads=8 media_journal.wsgi:application
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
(To save and exit nano: Press Ctrl+O, Enter, then Ctrl+X).

For timezone you can find a clean list of supported timezones here.

3. Activate the Service:
Run these three commands to tell Linux to read your new file, start the app right now and enable it to start on every future boot: 

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start mediajournal
sudo systemctl enable mediajournal

If you want to access the app from outside your local Wi-Fi network, check the following guides: