Django API Apps on Windows IIS

How to set up Windows Server IIS to serve Django 3.0.3(+) and Python 3.8

 Posted on March 3, 2020  (Last modified on April 24, 2020)  |  12 minutes  |  Chase Sawyer

This is a guide on setting up Python/Django apps to run on a Windows server using IIS as the webserver. I'll go over the specifics below. We're starting things off with the following assumptions:

  1. Windows Server is installed somewhere and running with a static IP and domain name all set.
  2. Server SSL Certificate has already been provisioned and set up. (Optional but extremely recommended to run HTTPS)
  3. (not specifically necessary) any SSO setup/shibboleth stuff has already been set up. (This is if you want to leverage SSO login, etc.)
  4. Everything is running 64-bit architecture.
[Read More]
post  iis  django  python  windows  tutorial 

Raspberry Pi HDMI Overscan

Getting settings right for a Rappberry Pi outputting to a 4k display (and others)

 Posted on January 18, 2020  |  1 minutes  |  Chase Sawyer

I had a problem when I moved my Raspberry Pi over to using a 4K display, which is just about the only resolution that professional displays come in these days, as manufacturers have all moved on to 4K as a standard. The problem was with overscanning and the display not having the ability to correctly scale the image signal coming from the Raspberry Pi, which was still a 1920x1080 signal. [Read More]
post  balena  raspberrypi  short  note 

Car Maintenance App

 Posted on July 25, 2019  (Last modified on October 31, 2019)  |  2 minutes  |  Chase Sawyer

New app in progress! Hopefully it won't take months to complete. Should be pretty simple. Especially since this app is going to be primarily for me - and I'm not going to worry too too much about the UI elements. Thinking this is going to be primarily a django based app with templates and model-based views like the keys app. Current State: Developing database models Purpose Provide myself and whoever wants it a place to track their car maintenance, and to make sure that they know when the next scheduled service for a particular maintenance item is due. [Read More]
post  project  heroku  django  app  dev 

Docker-Balena-Electron-Raspberry Pi Digital Signage

Building an Environment to Develop and Run an Electron App on a Raspberry Pi 3

 Posted on June 27, 2019  (Last modified on July 24, 2019)  |  10 minutes  |  Chase Sawyer

Fair warning: This is a work in progress, and I'm still working out the details for this project. Github Repository I have started to work on getting a digital signage solution set up where I can set up a Raspberry Pi3 to display information on a screen, and that has no local interaction (no UI, running headless without any keyboard/mouse). I wanted a solution to control updates to the app, which is where BalenaCloud comes in (along with their handy OS for the Raspberry Pi). [Read More]
post  balenacloud  electron  js  javascript  raspberrypi  docker 

Docker Infrastructure Project

Part one of [some number] of posts implementing a docker service architecture

 Posted on May 20, 2019  |  9 minutes  |  Chase Sawyer

I'm building a web infrastructure project that's based around the project verbose-equals-true (referred to as VET from now on), which sets out to create a set of services to support modern web apps, using several Docker based images to collect everything into separate concerns. I like the philosophy behind the project, and it looks well thought out, however, as things are always changing in this landscape and nobody has the same development environment, there's always going to be stumbling blocks. [Read More]
post  docker  django  python  infrastructure 

Hyper-V Local Networking

How to make use of Hyper-V's default network switch without needing extra setup

 Posted on May 1, 2019  |  6 minutes  |  Chase Sawyer

I had to set up an Ubuntu VM (Virtual Machine) on my machine recently and because I also use Docker, I had to learn exactly how Hyper-V handles networking tasks between the host machine and the virtual machines you set up. Hyper-V, as far as I understand, has 3 main networking methods called virtual switches. There's actually a 4th option that comes out of the box, which is something of a hybrid between an “Internal Switch” and an “External Switch”. [Read More]
post  hyperv  networking  virtualization 

Google .dev Domains, GitHub Pages, and Heroku Apps

How to get things wired up now that you have that sweet, sweet .dev domain name

 Posted on March 9, 2019  |  4 minutes  |  Chase Sawyer

At the end of February 2019, Google released general access to the .dev top level domain. I had heard about this happening about a year ago, and am now the happy owner of two .dev domains! One of these is chasesawyer.dev and will soon be the new home of this site! But how to get it set up? When you buy a domain name, nothing is really set up for them - going to those addresses doesn't point to anything Firefox and Google will just say “Server not found. [Read More]
post  blog  dev  heroku  google  domains  dns  security  hsts 

Maintaining Older Django and Python Projects

Notes on Legacy Software Maintenance and Building Workable Environments

 Posted on February 21, 2019  (Last modified on March 9, 2019)  |  3 minutes  |  Chase Sawyer

I have been working on the backend for a project that I've written about {{previously–link}}. The established tools server that will be supporting my new React frontend app(s) will be using a backend built on Python 2.7 and Django 1.11, and thus I've had to remember how to get a development environment set up that will appropriately support the project running locally on my machine. I have a personal site that runs on the same version of Django, but with Python 3. [Read More]
post  django  python  virtualenv 

Long Time Update; New Projects

 Posted on October 20, 2018  (Last modified on December 9, 2018)  |  9 minutes  |  Chase Sawyer

Author's Note: this post has taken a long time to get written - so long, that I already have my 2018 Hactoberfest t-shirt and stickers! It's content spans mid-October through December. I've done my best to make it a cohesive whole.

[Read More]
post  update  uw  cloud 

Debugging Node Applications

With or Without an IDE

 Posted on June 11, 2018  (Last modified on June 17, 2018)  |  3 minutes  |  Chase Sawyer

When developing an application or project with Node.js, debugging is an important aspect to getting to the bottom of issues. If you use an IDE (integrated development environment) or code editor that has built-in or supported debugging capacities, such as Visual Studio Code, then you have that ability already. But if you are someone who's developing with a more basic code editor - such as Sublime Text, then you can still debug your Node. [Read More]
post  blog  node  javascript  debugging