approval voting website

dev

set up on new server

i have an almalinux server. the default python is 3.9 but i also have 3.12 so i can use fstrings

sudo dnf install python3.12

pip3.12 install virtualenv if necessary

python3.12 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

use nginx/approvalvote.bootstrap to set up letsencrypt ssl certs for https

sudo ln -s /var/www/approvalvote.co/nginx/approvalvote.bootstrap /etc/nginx/conf.d/approvalvote.conf

make sure config works

sudo nginx -t

restart nginx

sudo systemctl reload nginx

make sure nginx config context is httpd_config_t

sudo chcon -t httpd_config_t /etc/nginx/conf.d/approvalvote.conf
sudo semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_config_t "/etc/nginx/conf.d(/.*)?"
sudo restorecon -Rv /etc/nginx/conf.d

ensure webroot context is httpd_sys_content_t

sudo semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_content_t "/var/www/approvalvote.co(/.*)?"
sudo restorecon -Rv /var/www/approvalvote.co

make ssl certs

sudo certbot certonly --force-renewal -a webroot -w /var/www/approvalvote.co -d approvalvote.co -d www.approvalvote.co

install production nginx config

rm /etc/nginx/conf.d/approvalvote.conf
sudo ln -s /var/www/approvalvote.co/nginx/approvalvote.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/approvalvote.conf
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

make approvalvote user to run the service in production

sudo useradd -M -s /sbin/nologin approvalvote
sudo usermod -aG nginx approvalvote

make it so that personal user and approvalvote user can both run the service via approvalvote_group

sudo groupadd approvalvote_group
sudo usermod -aG approvalvote_group ruth
sudo usermod -aG approvalvote_group approvalvote

make sure approvalvote_group has the right permissions

sudo chown -R approvalvote:approvalvote_group /var/www/approvalvote.co
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/approvalvote.co
sudo chmod -R g+w /var/www/approvalvote.co
sudo chmod -R g+s /var/www/approvalvote.co

tell git it's ok that you don't own the directory

git config --global --add safe.directory /var/www/approvalvote.co

make sure nginx has permission to run gunicorn and connect to local 8000 port

sudo semanage fcontext -a -t bin_t "/var/www/approvalvote.co/venv/bin(/.*)?"
sudo restorecon -Rv /var/www/approvalvote.co/venv/bin
sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect on
sudo systemctl restart nginx

add systemctl service file. note that it's copied instead of symlinked because systemctl doesn't support symlinks unless the file has the right ownership and permissions

sudo cp /var/www/approvalvote.co/approvalvote.service /etc/systemd/system/
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable approvalvote
sudo systemctl start approvalvote
sudo systemctl status approvalvote

install pre-commit hook

this is to run tests when you commit

pre-commit install

install production tailwind css

on my current machine i have npm version 10.8.1

npm install
npm run build

troubleshooting

check status

sudo systemctl status approvalvote

follow logs

sudo journalctl -u approvalvote -f

restart

sudo systemctl restart approvalvote

cursor/vs code doesn't have permission to change files

last time i added myself to the production group (approvalvote_group) i also had to clean up all the vs code and cursor files before logging in via vs code or cursor would have the correct group so i could edit files

First, let's see all running VS Code related processes on the server:
ps aux | grep -i "code\|cursor"
Kill all VS Code and Cursor servers:
pkill -f "code-server"
pkill -f "vscode-server"
pkill -f "cursor"
Check if any SSH sessions are still hanging:
ps aux | grep ssh
On your local machine, completely quit both VS Code and Cursor
Clean up any leftover VS Code/Cursor directories on the server:
exists
rm -rf ~/.vscode-server
rm -rf ~/.cursor-server  # if it exists
Then try a fresh connection:
SSH in via terminal first
Check groups are correct
Start VS Code fresh
Connect to the server

run in development

Set up Python virtual environment

First time setup:

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv

# Activate virtual environment
source venv/bin/activate  # On macOS/Linux
# OR
venv\Scripts\activate  # On Windows

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

For subsequent development sessions:

# Activate the existing virtual environment
source venv/bin/activate  # On macOS/Linux
# OR
venv\Scripts\activate  # On Windows

# Run the development server
venv/bin/python website.py

The development server will run on port 3000.

run tests

tests are in the tests folder.

unit tests

pytest -v

end to end tests

npx playwright test

set up unit tests to run on every commit

ln -s /var/www/approvalvote.co/pre-commit .git/hooks/pre-commit

to do

• feature for opening and closing polls
• make sure there aren't duplicate options
• edit poll ** delete poll from database option ** view voters for a poll (but maybe hide what they voted for)
• dockerize it, run multiple docker containers
• look into autoscaling in digital ocean

API Endpoints