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Introduction

The Wagtail Bakery Demo is designed to be deployed on various platforms with flexible infrastructure options. This guide covers the deployment strategies, infrastructure requirements, and platform-specific considerations.

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Deployment Options

The project supports multiple deployment strategies:

Docker

Deploy using Docker containers with docker-compose for local or cloud environments

Heroku

One-click deployment to Heroku with automated builds and releases

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Infrastructure Requirements

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Core Services

The Wagtail Bakery Demo requires the following services to run in production:
1

PostgreSQL Database

Version: PostgreSQL 18.1 or higher recommendedThe application uses PostgreSQL as its primary database. Configure via the DATABASE_URL environment variable.
DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:password@host:5432/database
2

Redis Cache (Optional but Recommended)

Version: Redis 8.4 or higher recommendedRedis is used for caching and session storage to improve performance. Configure via REDIS_URL or REDIS_TLS_URL.
REDIS_URL=redis://redis-host:6379
If Redis is not available, the application will fall back to Django’s local memory cache backend.
3

Python Runtime

Version: Python 3.12The application is built and tested with Python 3.12. Ensure your deployment environment supports this version.
4

WSGI Server

Server: uWSGIThe production build uses uWSGI as the application server with the following configuration:
  • 2 worker processes
  • 4 threads per worker
  • HTTP keep-alive enabled
  • Static file serving at /media/

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Optional Services

Purpose: Media file storageFor AWS S3:
AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME=your-bucket
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
AWS_S3_REGION_NAME=us-east-1
AWS_S3_CUSTOM_DOMAIN=cdn.example.com
For Google Cloud Storage:
GS_BUCKET_NAME=your-bucket
GS_PROJECT_ID=your-project-id
Purpose: Frontend cache purgingConfigure Cloudflare for automatic cache purging when content is published:
FRONTEND_CACHE_CLOUDFLARE_ZONEID=your-zone-id
FRONTEND_CACHE_CLOUDFLARE_BEARER_TOKEN=your-token

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Environment Configuration

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Required Environment Variables

These variables must be set for production deployments:
VariableDescriptionExample
DJANGO_SECRET_KEYDjango secret key for cryptographic signingyour-secret-key-here
DATABASE_URLPostgreSQL connection stringpostgres://user:pass@host/db
DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULEDjango settings modulebakerydemo.settings.production

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Optional Environment Variables

VariableDescriptionDefault
REDIS_URLRedis connection stringNone (falls back to local memory)
DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTSComma-separated list of allowed hosts*
PRIMARY_HOSTPrimary domain for admin emailsNone
DJANGO_DEBUGEnable debug mode (should be off in production)off
Never set DJANGO_DEBUG=on in production environments. This exposes sensitive information and creates security vulnerabilities.

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Deployment Architecture

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Container-Based Deployment

The Docker-based deployment architecture: 
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         Load Balancer / Proxy           │
└───────────────┬─────────────────────────┘
                │
┌───────────────▼─────────────────────────┐
│   App Container (uWSGI + Django)        │
│   - Port 8000                           │
│   - Static files via WhiteNoise         │
│   - Media volume mounted                │
└─────┬──────────────────────┬────────────┘
      │                      │
┌─────▼──────────┐    ┌──────▼────────────┐
│   PostgreSQL   │    │      Redis        │
│   Container    │    │    Container      │
└────────────────┘    └───────────────────┘

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Platform-as-a-Service Deployment

For Heroku and similar PaaS platforms: 
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│            Heroku Router                │
└───────────────┬─────────────────────────┘
                │
┌───────────────▼─────────────────────────┐
│         Web Dyno (uWSGI)                │
│   - Auto-scaling enabled                │
│   - Static files via WhiteNoise         │
└─────┬──────────────────────┬────────────┘
      │                      │
┌─────▼──────────┐    ┌──────▼────────────┐
│   Heroku       │    │   Heroku Redis    │
│   Postgres     │    │                   │
└────────────────┘    └───────────────────┘

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Security Considerations

Important Security SettingsThe production settings include several security features enabled by default:
  • HTTPS redirect (SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT=True)
  • HSTS header (30 days by default)
  • XSS filter enabled
  • Content type nosniff enabled
  • Secure proxy SSL header detection

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Basic Authentication

Optionally enable basic authentication for staging environments: 
BASIC_AUTH_ENABLED=true
BASIC_AUTH_LOGIN=username
BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=password
BASIC_AUTH_WHITELISTED_HTTP_HOSTS=example.com,admin.example.com

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Static Files and Media

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Static Files

Static files are handled by WhiteNoise with compression and manifest storage:
  • Storage Backend: whitenoise.storage.CompressedManifestStaticFilesStorage
  • Collection: Static files are collected during the Docker build process
  • Serving: Efficiently served by WhiteNoise middleware

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Media Files

Media files (user uploads, images) can be stored:
  1. Local Volume (Docker): Mounted at /code/bakerydemo/media/
  2. AWS S3: Configure with AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME
  3. Google Cloud Storage: Configure with GS_BUCKET_NAME
For production deployments with multiple instances, use cloud storage (S3 or GCS) to ensure media files are accessible across all instances.

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Next Steps

Docker Setup

Learn how to deploy with Docker and docker-compose

Heroku Deployment

Deploy to Heroku in minutes

Production Settings

Understand production configuration options

Getting Started

Start with local development first

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