Truck Signs API

Truck Signs API is a backend service for managing truck signs in a transport fleet. The project is containerized using Docker and uses PostgreSQL for persistent storage.

---

Table of Contents

• Quickstart
• Usage
• Environment Variables
• Volumes
• Restarting and Stopping Containers
• Security

---

Quickstart

Prerequisites:

• Docker
• Docker network for DB

Steps:

1. Create your .env file:

cp .env.example .env

2. Create the Docker network (if not existing):

docker network create trucknet

3. Start PostgreSQL:

docker run -d \
  --name db \
  --network trucknet \
  -v postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=user \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password \
  -e POSTGRES_DB=trucksigns \
  postgres:15

4. Build and run the Truck Signs API:

docker build -t truck-signs-api .
docker run -d \
  --name truckapi \
  --network trucknet \
  -p 8020:8020 \
  --env-file .env \
  truck-signs-api

5. Access the API:

http://<your-vm-ip>:8020

Usage

• Navigate to the above URL to use the API.
• Admin panel available at /admin/.
• Entrypoint handles migrations, collectstatic, and superuser creation automatically.
• API runs on Gunicorn at port 8020.

Environment Variables

You can configure the project by modifying .env.example:

Variable	Description	Example
DJANGO_SUPERUSER_USERNAME	Username for Django superuser	admin
DJANGO_SUPERUSER_EMAIL	Email for Django superuser	admin@example.com
DJANGO_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD	Password for Django superuser	changeme
POSTGRES_USER	PostgreSQL username	user
POSTGRES_PASSWORD	PostgreSQL password	password
POSTGRES_DB	PostgreSQL database name	trucksigns
POSTGRES_HOST	PostgreSQL host (container name)	db
POSTGRES_PORT	PostgreSQL port	5432
DEBUG	Django debug mode	False

Superuser Access (Admin Panel):

1. Automatic creation (recommended)
   The entrypoint script automatically creates a superuser on the first container start if the following environment variables are set in your .env file:

   • DJANGO_SUPERUSER_USERNAME
   • DJANGO_SUPERUSER_EMAIL
   • DJANGO_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD

2. Manual creation
   If you need to create a superuser manually:

  docker exec -it truckapi python manage.py createsuperuser

After the superuser is created, log in to the Django admin panel at /admin/ using the credentials you set. From the admin panel, you can:

• Manage users and permissions
• View and edit trucks, signs, or other models
• Monitor API-related data
• The API runs on Gunicorn at port 8020.
• Entrypoint also handles migrations and collectstatic automatically.

Volumes

• postgres_data: Stores PostgreSQL database files to persist data between container restarts.

Restarting and Stopping Containers

1. Stop and start containers:

docker stop truckapi db
docker start db truckapi

Security

• Do not commit .env files, passwords, SSH keys, or other sensitive information to the repository.
• Containers communicate over Docker networks; use hostnames instead of IP addresses.
• Critical configuration is provided via environment variables only.