PyLadies Stockholm: Build your own Blog with Django

Note for Windows' users

Windows users: first you need to figure out which system architecture you have (32-bits or 64-bits):

• Right-click on "Computer" or "My Computer"
• Choose "Properties" on the context menu
• Depending on which Windows version you have (XP, Vista, 7, or 8), you may have to click on "General" tab.
• You should see something like "... x64 Edition...", or "64-bit Operating System..." or "32-bit Operating System...". If you see no numbers, then it is a 32-bit system.
• Remember your architecture type!

Installation

You can either download everything or copy & run everything from a USB to install all the packages you need for tonight.

Downloading over the internet

Step 1: VirtualBox

1. Download the VirtualBox executable file to your machine from here.
2. Double-click the downloaded file to install it. The file will end in either .exe, .dmg, .rpm, or .deb file extension depending on your operating system.

Step 2: Vagrant

1. Download the Vagrant executable file to your machine from here.
2. Double-click the downloaded file to install it. The file will end in either .exe, .dmg, .rpm, or .deb file extension depending on your operating system.

Step 3: Text Editor

If you don't have a text editor (like Notepad++, TextEdit, TextWrangler, Sublime Text), install Sublime Text 2. NOTE: Windows' users: select the downloadable file per your architecture (32-bit/64-bit).

1. download the executable file here.
2. Double-click the downloaded file to install it. The file will end in either .exe, .dmg, .rpm, or .deb file extension depending on your operating system.

Step 4: PyLadies prepacked Virtual Machine/Box

1. Download the PyLadiesDjango.box pre-packaged virtual machine from here
2. Save the pre-packaged virtual machine to a location you will remember for later.
3. DO NOT open this file!!

Continue to Setup below when you're all set with downloading & installing.

Using the USB stick

Step 1: VirtualBox

Install VirtualBox by running the VirtualBox executable file (.exe, .dmg, .rpm, or .deb file extension depending on your operating system) file from the USB stick. Click through the install process, if any, like you normally would when installing a new program.

Step 2: Vagrant

Install Vagrant by running the vagrant executable (.exe, .dmg, .rpm, or .deb file extension depending on your operating system) file from the USB stick. Click through the install process, if any, like you normally would when installing a new program.

Step 3: Text Editor

If you don't have a text editor (like Notepad++, TextEdit, TextWrangler, Sublime Text), install Sublime Text 2. Run the Sublime Text executable (.exe, .dmg, .rpm, or .deb file extension depending on your operating system) file from the USB stick.

Step 4: PyLadies prepacked Virtual Machine/Box

Save the pre-packaged PyLadies virtual machine titled PyLadiesDjango.box to some place you'll remember. DO NOT open this file!!

Continue to Setup below when you're all set with downloading & installing.

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To read while you're waiting for everything to download.

What does this all mean?

• Virtual Machine is a computer within your computer. You are able to create virtual machines to run many different types of operating systems, like Ubuntu, Fedora, and Debian, regardless if you own a Windows machine, a Mac, or a Linux machine.
• In Installation Step #1, you downloaded VirtualBox. VirtualBox is free software that allows you to run virtual machines on your computer.
• For our workshop, we are running the Linux flavor called Ubuntu 12.04. Why? Because Linux-type environments make it really easy for Python development. Also, Ubuntu is one of the most popular Linux-flavors out there within the developer circles. It's very well supported.
• Vagrant, which you downloaded & installed in step 2 above, is a tool that developers often use to work with virtual machines. It pairs nicely with the VirtualBox software that we downloaded.
• All you need to know about Vagrant is that it makes it very easy to create virtual machines, so that I am able to give you an Ubuntu virtual machine that is ready to go for today's workshop.
• You may hear me refer to the PyLadiesDjango virtual machine (downloaded in step 3 above) as a "box" or a "vm". These are the same things.
• You are able to reuse this virtual machine whenever you'd like!

An FYI for the not-so-n00b

Go ahead and skip this section if virtual machines are new to you.

• The vagrant box, "PyLadiesDjango", has python, pip, virtualenv, and virtualenvwrapper installed. The whole system as also been updated as of Nov 18th, 2013.
• It also already as a "synced folder" setup, linked locally to DjangoProj, and on the VM to /home/vagrant/DjangoProj. Any changes locally within DjangoProj will be reflected within /home/vagrant/DjangoProj on the VM, and vice-versa. All code-work will be done locally within DjangoProj, and run within the VM.
• The virtualenv "DjangoProj" has also already been created, with Django 1.6 installed.
• The virtual machine is setup to forward to port 8080 on the local machine from port 8000 on the vm. Therefore, if you have a server running within the virtual machine, you will be able to see it on localhost:8080 on the local machine.

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Setup

Setup some folders on your local machine

• Create a "pyladies" folder anywhere that you prefer. Take note of where you created that folder.
• Move the PyLadiesDjango.box virtual machine to the "pyladies" folder.
• Within the "pyladies" folder, create another folder called "DjangoProj". NOTE: spelling and capitalization is important here!

Setup virtual machine

• Open up your command line program:

  • For Windows, click "Start", then select "run". Type "cmd" and press enter. You should see a screen with C:\, or C:\Users\lynn> prompt, where lynn is actually your username.
  • For Mac, press "COMMAND+Space Bar" at the same time; you should get a "Spotlight" finder that pops up to the upper-right. Type "terminal" and press enter. You should just see the $ prompt.
  • For Linux: I trust that you know where your terminal/shell is. :)

• Navigate to the "pyladies" folder that you created:

  • Windows: For instance, if you created the "pyladies" folder within "My Documents", then within the CMD/Command Prompt, type cd C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Desktop\My Documents\pyladies. Be sure to put in your own username for <username. The actual command/path may be different depending on capitalization, spelling, and actual location of where you put the "pyladies" folder.
  • Mac: For instance, if you created the "pyladies" folder within "Documents", then within your terminal, type: cd Documents/pyladies.
  • Linux: Very similar to Mac, but perhaps your file heirarchy/path is different.

• In the terminal/command line, type the following 3 commands. Make sure that you are 1) within the "pyladies" directory, and 2) you moved the "PyLadiesDjango" box that you downloaded above within the "pyladies" directory. Note that each command may take a while. You must wait for the process to finish before proceeding to the next command:

   vagrant box add PyLadiesVM PyLadiesDjango.box

   vagrant init

   vagrant up

• You now have a virtual machine called "PyLadiesVM" using the "PyLadiesDjango" box that I gave you in step 3 of the installation process!