Docker Deployment

This guide covers deploying FKApi using Docker containers for simplified setup and deployment. Docker provides a consistent environment across development and production.

Overview

FKApi includes a complete Docker setup with:

Multi-stage Dockerfile for optimized images
docker-compose.yml with all services
Service profiles for flexible deployments
Health checks for all containers
Volume management for data persistence

Prerequisites

Before you begin, install:

Docker 20.10 or higher
Docker Compose V2 or higher
Git

Linux
macOS
Windows

# Install Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh

# Install Docker Compose
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install docker-compose-plugin

# Add user to docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

# Verify installation
docker --version
docker compose version

# Install Docker Desktop
# Download from: https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop

# Or using Homebrew
brew install --cask docker

# Start Docker Desktop and verify
docker --version
docker compose version

Install Docker Desktop from https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop
Enable WSL 2 backend during installation
Restart your computer
Verify in PowerShell:

docker --version
docker compose version

Quick Start

Docker Architecture

Dockerfile

FKApi uses a multi-stage build for optimization:

FROM python:3.10.6-slim AS builder

WORKDIR /app

# Install build dependencies
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    postgresql-client \
    gcc \
    python3-dev \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# Install Python dependencies
COPY requirements.txt .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir --user -r requirements.txt

# Final stage
FROM python:3.10.6-slim

WORKDIR /app

# Install runtime dependencies
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    postgresql-client \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# Copy installed packages from builder
COPY --from=builder /root/.local /root/.local

# Copy application code
COPY . .

# Set environment
ENV PYTHONPATH=/app
ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
ENV PATH=/root/.local/bin:$PATH

# Health check
HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=10s --start-period=40s --retries=3 \
    CMD python -c "import http.client; conn = http.client.HTTPConnection('127.0.0.1', 8000, timeout=5); conn.request('GET', '/api/health'); resp = conn.getresponse(); exit(0 if resp.status in (200, 301) else 1)" || exit 1

# Run application
CMD ["sh", "-c", "if [ \"$DJANGO_DEBUG\" = \"True\" ]; then python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000; else gunicorn --bind 0.0.0.0:8000 --workers 4 --timeout 120 fkapi.wsgi:application; fi"]

Key features:

Multi-stage build: Reduces final image size
Layer caching: Faster rebuilds
Health checks: Automatic container monitoring
Dynamic command: Development vs production mode

Services

The docker-compose.yml defines these services:

Core Services (Always Active)

Database (db)

db:
  image: postgres:15
  environment:
    POSTGRES_DB: ${POSTGRES_DB:-fkapi}
    POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER:-postgres}
    POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-postgres}
  volumes:
    - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
  ports:
    - "${POSTGRES_PORT:-5432}:5432"
  healthcheck:
    test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U ${POSTGRES_USER:-postgres}"]
    interval: 10s
    timeout: 5s
    retries: 5

Redis (redis)

redis:
  image: redis:7-alpine
  command: redis-server --bind 0.0.0.0 --port 6379
  ports:
    - "${REDIS_PORT:-6379}:6379"
  volumes:
    - redis_data:/data
  healthcheck:
    test: ["CMD", "redis-cli", "ping"]
    interval: 10s
    timeout: 5s
    retries: 5

Web Application (web)

web:
  build: .
  command: sh -c "if [ \"$DJANGO_DEBUG\" = \"True\" ]; then python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:${DJANGO_PORT:-8000}; else gunicorn --bind 0.0.0.0:${DJANGO_PORT:-8000} --workers 4 --timeout 120 fkapi.wsgi:application; fi"
  volumes:
    - .:/app
  ports:
    - "${DJANGO_PORT:-8000}:8000"
  environment:
    - POSTGRES_DB=${POSTGRES_DB:-fkapi}
    - POSTGRES_USER=${POSTGRES_USER:-postgres}
    - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-postgres}
    - POSTGRES_HOST=db
    - POSTGRES_PORT=5432
    - REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379/1
    - CELERY_BROKER_URL=redis://redis:6379/0
    - CELERY_RESULT_BACKEND=redis://redis:6379/0
    - ENABLE_CELERY=${ENABLE_CELERY:-True}
    - DJANGO_SECRET_KEY=${DJANGO_SECRET_KEY:-}
    - DJANGO_DEBUG=${DJANGO_DEBUG:-True}
    - DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS=${DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS:-localhost,127.0.0.1}
  depends_on:
    db:
      condition: service_healthy
    redis:
      condition: service_healthy

Celery Worker (celery)

celery:
  build: .
  command: celery -A fkapi worker --loglevel=info --pool=threads --concurrency=4
  volumes:
    - .:/app
  environment:
    # Same as web service
  depends_on:
    db:
      condition: service_healthy
    redis:
      condition: service_healthy

Celery Beat (celerybeat)

celerybeat:
  build: .
  command: celery -A fkapi beat --loglevel=info --scheduler django_celery_beat.schedulers:DatabaseScheduler
  volumes:
    - .:/app
  depends_on:
    db:
      condition: service_healthy
    redis:
      condition: service_healthy

Flower (flower)

flower:
  build: .
  command: celery -A fkapi flower --port=5555
  ports:
    - "${FLOWER_PORT:-5555}:5555"
  environment:
    - CELERY_BROKER_URL=redis://redis:6379/0
    - CELERY_RESULT_BACKEND=redis://redis:6379/0
  depends_on:
    redis:
      condition: service_healthy
    celery:
      condition: service_started

Monitoring Services (Optional)

Monitoring services use the monitoring profile: Prometheus (prometheus)

prometheus:
  image: prom/prometheus:latest
  profiles:
    - monitoring
  volumes:
    - ../prometheus/prometheus.yml:/etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml
    - prometheus_data:/prometheus
  command:
    - '--config.file=/etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml'
    - '--storage.tsdb.path=/prometheus'
  ports:
    - "${PROMETHEUS_PORT:-9090}:9090"
  depends_on:
    - web
    - redis

Service Profiles

FKApi uses Docker Compose profiles for flexible deployments:

Default Profile (Minimal Setup)

Start only core services:

docker compose up -d

Includes:

PostgreSQL database
Redis cache
Django web application
Celery worker
Celery beat
Flower

Monitoring Profile

Add monitoring stack:

docker compose --profile monitoring up -d

Adds:

Prometheus (metrics collection)
Redis Exporter (Redis metrics)
PostgreSQL Exporter (database metrics)

See the Monitoring guide for setup details.

Common Operations

Viewing Logs

# All services
docker compose logs -f

# Specific service
docker compose logs -f web
docker compose logs -f celery
docker compose logs -f db

# Last 100 lines
docker compose logs --tail=100 web

Restarting Services

# Restart all services
docker compose restart

# Restart specific service
docker compose restart web
docker compose restart celery

# Stop all services
docker compose stop

# Start stopped services
docker compose start

Rebuilding Images

# Rebuild all images
docker compose build

# Rebuild specific service
docker compose build web

# Rebuild without cache
docker compose build --no-cache

# Rebuild and restart
docker compose up -d --build

Running Commands

# Django management commands
docker compose exec web python manage.py migrate
docker compose exec web python manage.py createsuperuser
docker compose exec web python manage.py collectstatic

# Shell access
docker compose exec web bash
docker compose exec web python manage.py shell

# Database access
docker compose exec db psql -U postgres -d fkapi

# Redis CLI
docker compose exec redis redis-cli

Managing Data

# Backup database
docker compose exec db pg_dump -U postgres fkapi > backup.sql

# Restore database
docker compose exec -T db psql -U postgres fkapi < backup.sql

# List volumes
docker volume ls

# Remove volumes (data will be lost!)
docker compose down -v

Production Deployment

Security Hardening

For production, update your .env:

# Generate a strong secret key
DJANGO_SECRET_KEY=$(python -c "from django.core.management.utils import get_random_secret_key; print(get_random_secret_key())")

# Disable debug mode
DJANGO_DEBUG=False

# Set allowed hosts
DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS=yourdomain.com,www.yourdomain.com

# Strong database password
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=$(openssl rand -base64 32)

# Enable authentication
DJANGO_API_ENABLE_AUTH=True

Using Docker Secrets

For sensitive data, use Docker secrets:

secrets:
  db_password:
    file: ./secrets/db_password.txt
  django_secret:
    file: ./secrets/django_secret.txt

services:
  web:
    secrets:
      - db_password
      - django_secret
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD_FILE=/run/secrets/db_password
      - DJANGO_SECRET_KEY_FILE=/run/secrets/django_secret

Resource Limits

Set resource limits for production:

services:
  web:
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          cpus: '2.0'
          memory: 2G
        reservations:
          cpus: '1.0'
          memory: 1G

Health Checks

All services include health checks. Monitor with:

# Check service health
docker compose ps

# Detailed health status
docker inspect --format='{{.State.Health.Status}}' fkapi-web-1

Troubleshooting

Container Fails to Start

Check logs:

docker compose logs web

Common causes:

Environment variable errors
Database not ready (increase start_period in health check)
Port conflicts
Permission issues

Database Connection Errors

Verify database is running:

docker compose ps db
docker compose exec db pg_isready -U postgres

Check connection from web:

docker compose exec web python manage.py dbshell

Redis Connection Errors

Test Redis connection:

docker compose exec redis redis-cli ping
# Should return: PONG

Check from web container:

docker compose exec web python -c "import redis; r=redis.Redis(host='redis', port=6379); print(r.ping())"

Port Already in Use

Change ports in .env:

DJANGO_PORT=8001
POSTGRES_PORT=5433
REDIS_PORT=6380

Or stop conflicting services:

# Find process using port
sudo lsof -i :8000

# Kill process
sudo kill -9 <PID>

Out of Disk Space

Clean up Docker:

# Remove unused containers
docker container prune

# Remove unused images
docker image prune -a

# Remove unused volumes
docker volume prune

# Remove everything
docker system prune -a --volumes

Best Practices

Environment Variables

Never commit .env files
Use .env.example as template
Use Docker secrets for production
Document all variables
Validate required variables on startup

Data Persistence

Use named volumes for data
Regular database backups
Test restore procedures
Monitor disk usage
Implement backup rotation

Networking

Use Docker networks for service isolation
Expose only necessary ports
Use reverse proxy (nginx) for production
Enable HTTPS/TLS
Implement rate limiting

Logging

Configure log rotation
Use centralized logging
Monitor log volume
Set appropriate log levels
Parse logs for errors

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Management Commands

Docker Deployment

Overview

Prerequisites

Quick Start

Docker Architecture

Dockerfile

Services

Core Services (Always Active)

Monitoring Services (Optional)

Service Profiles

Default Profile (Minimal Setup)

Monitoring Profile

Common Operations

Viewing Logs

Restarting Services

Rebuilding Images

Running Commands

Managing Data

Production Deployment

Security Hardening

Using Docker Secrets

Resource Limits

Health Checks

Troubleshooting

Container Fails to Start

Database Connection Errors

Redis Connection Errors

Port Already in Use

Out of Disk Space

Best Practices

Next Steps

Caching Strategy

Monitoring

​Overview

​Prerequisites

​Quick Start

​Docker Architecture

​Dockerfile

​Services

​Core Services (Always Active)

​Monitoring Services (Optional)

​Service Profiles

​Default Profile (Minimal Setup)

​Monitoring Profile

​Common Operations

​Viewing Logs

​Restarting Services

​Rebuilding Images

​Running Commands

​Managing Data

​Production Deployment

​Security Hardening

​Using Docker Secrets

​Resource Limits

​Health Checks

​Troubleshooting

​Container Fails to Start

​Database Connection Errors

​Redis Connection Errors

​Port Already in Use

​Out of Disk Space

​Best Practices

​Next Steps

Caching Strategy

Monitoring

Overview

Prerequisites

Quick Start

Docker Architecture

Dockerfile

Services

Core Services (Always Active)

Monitoring Services (Optional)

Service Profiles

Default Profile (Minimal Setup)

Monitoring Profile

Common Operations

Viewing Logs

Restarting Services

Rebuilding Images

Running Commands

Managing Data

Production Deployment

Security Hardening

Using Docker Secrets

Resource Limits

Health Checks

Troubleshooting

Container Fails to Start

Database Connection Errors

Redis Connection Errors

Port Already in Use

Out of Disk Space

Best Practices

Next Steps