Eric Gitangu's Tech Blog

Eric Gitangu

A Django-powered blog showcasing insights in technology, AI, systems architecture, cybersecurity, and software development.

Live: blog.ericgitangu.com

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Features

• Dynamic Content Management: Built-in Django admin interface for content creation
• Fly.io Deployment: Production hosting with PostgreSQL and persistent volumes
• Production-Ready Security: HTTPS, HSTS, secure cookies, and CSRF protection
• PostgreSQL Database: Robust data storage with connection pooling
• WhiteNoise Static Files: Compressed and cached static file serving
• Console Logging: Streamlined logging for fly.io log aggregation

Tech Stack

Category	Technology
Framework	Django 5.1
Language	Python 3.11
Database	PostgreSQL (Fly Postgres)
Static Files	WhiteNoise
Media Storage	Fly Volumes
Server	Gunicorn
Deployment	Fly.io

Architecture

flowchart TB
    subgraph Client ["Client Layer"]
        Browser[Web Browser]
        Mobile[Mobile Browser]
    end

    subgraph Edge ["Fly.io Edge"]
        LB[Load Balancer]
        SSL[SSL/TLS Termination]
    end

    subgraph App ["Application Layer"]
        subgraph Django ["Django Application"]
            WSGI[Gunicorn WSGI]
            MW[Middleware Stack]
            Views[Views & Templates]
            Admin[Admin Dashboard]
            Models[ORM Models]
        end

        subgraph Static ["Static Files"]
            WN[WhiteNoise]
            CSS[CSS/JS Assets]
        end
    end

    subgraph Data ["Data Layer"]
        PG[(PostgreSQL)]
        Vol[Fly Volume<br>/data/media]
    end

    subgraph Models_Detail ["Data Models"]
        Post[Post]
        Author[Author]
        Tag[Tag]
        Comments[Comments]
    end

    Browser --> LB
    Mobile --> LB
    LB --> SSL
    SSL --> WSGI
    WSGI --> MW
    MW --> Views
    MW --> Admin
    Views --> Models
    Admin --> Models
    Models --> PG
    Views --> WN
    WN --> CSS
    Models -.-> Vol

    Post --> Author
    Post --> Tag
    Comments --> Post

    style Django fill:#092E20,color:#fff
    style PG fill:#336791,color:#fff
    style Edge fill:#7C3AED,color:#fff

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Component Interaction Flow

sequenceDiagram
    participant U as User
    participant F as Fly.io Edge
    participant G as Gunicorn
    participant D as Django
    participant P as PostgreSQL
    participant V as Volume

    U->>F: HTTPS Request
    F->>G: Forward Request
    G->>D: WSGI Handler

    alt Static Asset
        D->>D: WhiteNoise serves
        D-->>U: Static file
    else Blog Post
        D->>P: Query posts
        P-->>D: Post data
        D->>V: Fetch media
        V-->>D: Image files
        D-->>U: Rendered HTML
    else Admin Action
        D->>D: Auth check
        D->>P: CRUD operation
        P-->>D: Confirmation
        D-->>U: Admin response
    end

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Local Development

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+
• PostgreSQL (or use SQLite for local dev)

Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/ericgitangu/blog.git
cd blog

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Set environment variables
export SECRET_KEY="your-secret-key"
export DEBUG="True"
export DBNAME="blog_dev"
export DBUSER="postgres"
export DBPASS="password"
export DBHOST="localhost"
export DBPORT="5432"

# Run migrations
python manage.py migrate

# Create superuser
python manage.py createsuperuser

# Run development server
python manage.py runserver

Deployment to Fly.io

Prerequisites

• Fly CLI
• Fly.io account

Deploy

# Authenticate
fly auth login

# Create app and Postgres
fly apps create deveric-blog
fly postgres create --name deveric-blog-db --region iad
fly postgres attach deveric-blog-db --app deveric-blog

# Create volume for media files
fly volumes create blog_data --region iad --size 1 --app deveric-blog

# Set secrets
fly secrets set SECRET_KEY="$(python -c 'from django.core.management.utils import get_random_secret_key; print(get_random_secret_key())')" --app deveric-blog
fly secrets set DEBUG="False" --app deveric-blog

# Deploy
fly deploy --app deveric-blog

# Create superuser
fly ssh console --app deveric-blog
python manage.py create_superuser --username egitangu --email [email protected] --password yourpassword

Custom Domain

fly certs add blog.ericgitangu.com --app deveric-blog
fly ips list --app deveric-blog
# Add A/AAAA records in your DNS provider

Project Structure

blog/
├── blog/                 # Django project settings
│   ├── settings.py       # Configuration (Fly.io aware)
│   ├── urls.py           # URL routing
│   └── wsgi.py           # WSGI entry point
├── portfolio/            # Main blog app
│   ├── models.py         # Post, Author, Tag, Comments
│   ├── views.py          # ListView, DetailView
│   ├── admin.py          # Admin customization
│   └── templates/        # HTML templates
├── Dockerfile            # Multi-stage production build
├── fly.toml              # Fly.io configuration
└── requirements.txt      # Python dependencies

Security

• HTTPS enforced via Fly.io
• HSTS with 1-year max-age
• Secure session and CSRF cookies
• Password validation policies
• XFrame options protection

Connect

• Portfolio: developer.ericgitangu.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ericgitangu
• GitHub: github.com/ericgitangu
• Blog: blog.ericgitangu.com

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.