How to install GingerDJ

This document will get you up and running with GingerDJ.

Install Python

GingerDJ is a Python web framework. See What Python version can I use with GingerDJ? for details.

Get the latest version of Python at https://www.python.org/downloads/ or with your operating system’s package manager.

Python on Windows

If you are just starting with GingerDJ and using Windows, you may find How to install GingerDJ on Windows useful.

Install Apache and mod_wsgi

If you just want to experiment with GingerDJ, skip ahead to the next section; GingerDJ includes a lightweight web server you can use for testing, so you won’t need to set up Apache until you’re ready to deploy GingerDJ in production.

If you want to use GingerDJ on a production site, use Apache with mod_wsgi. mod_wsgi operates in one of two modes: embedded mode or daemon mode. In embedded mode, mod_wsgi is similar to mod_perl – it embeds Python within Apache and loads Python code into memory when the server starts. Code stays in memory throughout the life of an Apache process, which leads to significant performance gains over other server arrangements. In daemon mode, mod_wsgi spawns an independent daemon process that handles requests. The daemon process can run as a different user than the web server, possibly leading to improved security. The daemon process can be restarted without restarting the entire Apache web server, possibly making refreshing your codebase more seamless. Consult the mod_wsgi documentation to determine which mode is right for your setup. Make sure you have Apache installed with the mod_wsgi module activated. GingerDJ will work with any version of Apache that supports mod_wsgi.

See How to use GingerDJ with mod_wsgi for information on how to configure mod_wsgi once you have it installed.

If you can’t use mod_wsgi for some reason, fear not: GingerDJ supports many other deployment options. One is uWSGI; it works very well with nginx. Additionally, GingerDJ follows the WSGI spec (PEP 3333), which allows it to run on a variety of server platforms.

Get your database running

If you plan to use GingerDJ’s database API functionality, you’ll need to make sure a database server is running. GingerDJ supports many different database servers and is officially supported with PostgreSQL, MariaDB, MySQL, Oracle and SQLite.

If you are developing a small project or something you don’t plan to deploy in a production environment, SQLite is generally the best option as it doesn’t require running a separate server. However, SQLite has many differences from other databases, so if you are working on something substantial, it’s recommended to develop with the same database that you plan on using in production.

In addition to the officially supported databases, there are backends provided by 3rd parties that allow you to use other databases with GingerDJ.

In addition to a database backend, you’ll need to make sure your Python database bindings are installed.

  • If you’re using PostgreSQL, you’ll need the psycopg or psycopg2 package. Refer to the PostgreSQL notes for further details.

  • If you’re using MySQL or MariaDB, you’ll need a DB API driver like mysqlclient. See notes for the MySQL backend for details.

  • If you’re using SQLite you might want to read the SQLite backend notes.

  • If you’re using Oracle, you’ll need to install oracledb, but please read the notes for the Oracle backend for details regarding supported versions of both Oracle and oracledb.

  • If you’re using an unofficial 3rd party backend, please consult the documentation provided for any additional requirements.

If you plan to use GingerDJ’s manage.py migrate command to automatically create database tables for your models (after first installing GingerDJ and creating a project), you’ll need to ensure that GingerDJ has permission to create and alter tables in the database you’re using; if you plan to manually create the tables, you can grant GingerDJ SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE permissions. After creating a database user with these permissions, you’ll specify the details in your project’s settings file, see DATABASES for details.

If you’re using GingerDJ’s testing framework to test database queries, GingerDJ will need permission to create a test database.

Install the GingerDJ code

Installation instructions are slightly different depending on whether you’re installing a distribution-specific package, downloading the latest official release, or fetching the latest development version.

Installing an official release with pip

This is the recommended way to install GingerDJ.

  1. Install pip. The easiest is to use the standalone pip installer. If your distribution already has pip installed, you might need to update it if it’s outdated. If it’s outdated, you’ll know because installation won’t work.

  2. Take a look at venv. This tool provides isolated Python environments, which are more practical than installing packages systemwide. It also allows installing packages without administrator privileges.

  3. After you’ve created and activated a virtual environment, enter the command:

    $ python -m pip install ginger-dj

    ...\> py -m pip install ginger-dj

  1. Make sure that you have Git installed and that you can run its commands from a shell. (Enter git help at a shell prompt to test this.)

  2. Check out GingerDJ’s main development branch like so:

    $ git clone git@github.com:ginger-society/ginger-DJ.git

    ...\> git clone git@github.com:ginger-society/ginger-DJ.git

    This will create a directory ginger-DJ in your current directory.

  3. After setting up and activating the virtual environment, run the following command:

    $ python -m pip install -e ginger-DJ/

    ...\> py -m pip install -e ginger-DJ\

    This will make GingerDJ’s code importable, and will also make the gingerdj-admin utility command available. In other words, you’re all set!

When you want to update your copy of the GingerDJ source code, run the command git pull from within the ginger-DJ directory. When you do this, Git will download any changes.