Installation

​

Prerequisites

• Python 3.7+ installed on your system
• pip (Python package manager)
• Git (for cloning the repository)
• A Google Cloud service account with Drive API access (see Google Drive Setup)
• A shared Google Drive folder containing Platzi course content

​

Installation Methods

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/your-username/platzi-viewer.git
cd platzi-viewer

# Create a virtual environment
python -m venv .venv

# Activate the virtual environment
# On Windows:
.venv\Scripts\activate
# On Linux/Mac:
source .venv/bin/activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

​

Core Dependencies

​

Environment Configuration

# Server configuration
PORT=8080
HOST=127.0.0.1
PUBLIC_HOST=127.0.0.1

# Google Drive service account
GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_FILE=/path/to/service_account.json
# Alternative: inline JSON credentials
# GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON={"type":"service_account",...}

# Optional: Project paths
# PLATZI_VIEWER_PATH=/path/to/platzi-viewer
# PLATZI_DATA_PATH=/path/to/data

# Progress file size limit (bytes)
MAX_PROGRESS_BYTES=2097152

​

Environment Variables Reference

• PORT: HTTP server port (default: 8080)
• HOST: Bind address (default: 127.0.0.1, use 0.0.0.0 for Docker/network access)
• PUBLIC_HOST: Host displayed in logs (default: same as HOST)
• GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_FILE: Path to service account JSON file
• GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON: Alternative to file path - full JSON credentials as string
• PLATZI_VIEWER_PATH: Project root directory (default: current directory)
• PLATZI_DATA_PATH: Data storage directory (default: same as PLATZI_VIEWER_PATH)
• MAX_PROGRESS_BYTES: Maximum size for progress.json (default: 2MB)

​

Service Account Setup

platzi-viewer/
├── service_account.json  # Your credentials file
├── server.py
├── requirements.txt
└── ...

1. GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON environment variable (inline JSON)
2. GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_FILE environment variable (file path)
3. service_account.json in the executable directory (for PyInstaller builds)
4. service_account.json in the current working directory
5. service_account.json in the script directory

​

Verification

# Check Python version
python --version
# Should show Python 3.7 or higher

# Verify core dependencies
python -c "import requests; print('requests OK')"
python -c "import google.oauth2.service_account; print('google-auth OK')"
python -c "import googleapiclient.discovery; print('google-api-python-client OK')"

​

Docker Installation Details

services:
  platzi-viewer:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    image: platzi-viewer:latest
    container_name: platzi-viewer
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    environment:
      HOST: "0.0.0.0"
      PORT: "8080"
      PUBLIC_HOST: "localhost"
      PLATZI_DATA_PATH: "/data"
      GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_FILE: "/secrets/service_account.json"
    volumes:
      - ./runtime-data:/data
      - ./secrets:/secrets:ro
    restart: unless-stopped

• Python 3.13-slim base image
• Health checks every 30 seconds via /api/health
• Volume mounts for persistent data (runtime-data/) and read-only secrets (secrets/)
• Auto-restart policy (unless-stopped)

​

Building Windows Executable (Optional)

# Ensure you're in the virtual environment
.venv\Scripts\activate

# Install PyInstaller if not already installed
pip install pyinstaller==6.2.0

# Build portable executable
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\build_portable_exe.ps1

​

Next Steps

​

Troubleshooting

​

Python Version Issues

# Check your Python version
python --version

# On some systems, use python3 explicitly
python3 --version
python3 -m venv .venv

​

Import Errors

# Ensure you're in the virtual environment
source .venv/bin/activate  # Linux/Mac
.venv\Scripts\activate     # Windows

# Reinstall dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

​

Permission Errors

# Use --user flag to install in user directory
pip install --user -r requirements.txt

# Or use sudo (not recommended with virtual environments)
sudo pip install -r requirements.txt