Production settings

What this episode covers

The Dockerfile that wagtail start creates runs the DEVELOPMENT settings: DEBUG on, any host, and the secret key committed to git. Forget collectstatic and every page, even the admin login, is a 500. Point DATABASE_URL at Postgres and it fails before connecting. And uploaded images stop working entirely.

Said plainly: there is no Postgres server on the recording machine, so a live Postgres connection isn't shown here. It happens against the real host in episode 14.

What you'll learn

• What the generated production.py does and doesn't do (it has no SECRET_KEY)
• Why the generated Dockerfile runs dev settings, and failing closed
• Secrets and hosts from environment variables
• DATABASE_URL with dj-database-url, and SQLite as the local default
• The postgres.E005 error, and a 10-second connect timeout
• "Missing staticfiles manifest entry" — the 500 on every page
• WhiteNoise, hashed filenames and ten-year caching
• Why media stops working with DEBUG off
• HTTPS behind a proxy, secure cookies and a deliberately short HSTS
• check --deploy: from 6 issues to 2
• The requirements file the Dockerfile really installs

Chapters

1. 0:00 What wagtail start gave us
2. 0:21 The Dockerfile runs dev settings
3. 0:45 Fail closed
4. 1:17 Everything from the environment
5. 1:41 One variable for the database
6. 2:01 Postgres fails before connecting
7. 2:29 No collectstatic: every page 500
8. 2:47 collectstatic
9. 3:11 The 404 page, finally
10. 3:23 WhiteNoise and hashed filenames
11. 3:51 Media is not static
12. 4:15 HTTPS behind a proxy
13. 4:48 check --deploy
14. 5:01 The requirements the Dockerfile installs
15. 5:25 What isn't verified yet
16. 5:46 Commit and tag
17. 5:49 Next: deploy it

Versions on screen

Wagtail 7.4.3 · Django 6.1.1 · Python 3.12. Recorded on Windows; macOS and Linux commands are in the repository for every episode.