Django School Tenant

This project is a Django application set up to use multi-tenancy with django-tenants and PostgreSQL. It includes three Django apps: schools, students, and dashboard.

Getting Started

Follow these steps to set up your development environment and run the project.

1. Create and Activate Virtual Environment

python -m venv venv

On Windows

venv\Scripts\activate

On macOS/Linux:

source venv/bin/activate

2. Install Dependencies

pip install Django
pip install django-tenants
pip install psycopg2
pip install python-decouple

Generate the requirements.txt file:

pip freeze > requirements.txt

3. Set Up the Django Project

Create the Django project and apps:

django-admin startproject tenant_project .
django-admin startapp schools
django-admin startapp students
django-admin startapp dashboard

4. Configure Django-Tenants

Follow the setup instructions for django-tenants here.

5. Set Up PostgreSQL

Follow the PostgreSQL setup guide here.

1. Create a PostgreSQL Database

   • Use a PostgreSQL client or command-line tools to create a new database.

   • Example using psql command-line tool:

     psql -U postgres
     CREATE DATABASE mydatabase;

2. Configure Database Settings

   • Open settings.py and configure the DATABASES setting to use django-tenants with PostgreSQL.

   • Add the following configuration:

     DATABASES = {
         'default': {
             'ENGINE': 'django_tenants.postgresql_backend',
             'NAME': config('DB_NAME'),
             'USER': config('DB_USER'),
             'PASSWORD': config('DB_PASSWORD'),
             'HOST': config('DB_HOST'),
             'PORT': config('DB_PORT'),
         }
     }

3. Add Environment Variables

   • Create a .env file in the root directory of your project to store sensitive information.

   • Add the following environment variables to the .env file:

     DB_NAME=mydatabase
     DB_USER=myuser
     DB_PASSWORD=mypassword
     DB_HOST=localhost
     DB_PORT=5432

   • Install python-decouple if you haven’t already, to manage environment variables:

     pip install python-decouple

   • Ensure you have the following in your settings.py to read from the .env file:

     from decouple import config

6. Apply Migrations

Create and apply initial migrations:

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate_schemas --shared

Ensure that the database is empty when running the migrate_schemas --shared command for the first time.

7. Create Public and Tenant Data

Create a public tenant and a new tenant using Django's shell:

python manage.py shell

In the shell:

from schools.models import Client, Domain

# Create public tenant
tenant = Client(schema_name='public', name='Public')
tenant.save()

# Add domain for public tenant
domain = Domain(domain='localhost', tenant=tenant, is_primary=True)
domain.save()

# Create a tenant for a new client
tenant = Client(schema_name='maplehigh', name='Maple High School')
tenant.save()
domain = Domain(domain='maplehigh.localhost', tenant=tenant, is_primary=True)
domain.save()
exit()

8. Run the Development Server

python manage.py runserver

9. Configure Public Schema URL Configuration

In settings.py, add the following to use the schools URLs for the public schema:

PUBLIC_SCHEMA_URLCONF = 'schools.urls'

10. Create Models

Create the Student model in the students app:

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate_schemas

Notes

• For changes in models, always run makemigrations followed by migrate_schemas --shared.
• Make sure to properly configure your PostgreSQL database and update your .env file accordingly.

Additional Resources

• Django Documentation
• django-tenants Documentation
• PostgreSQL Documentation

These resources are useful for further reading and understanding the technologies used in this project.