Application Configuration

The ODS application has variable requirements depending upon the environment.

The application code is contained within the ods directory. When deploying with a WSGI server you can use the application.py file and the application object within it for your WSGI congfiguration.

Warning

The ODS APIs use token authentication and your production ODS instances should use TLS encryption for all traffic!

Note

An example WSGI configuration file for deploying the ODS application with uWSGI can be found in /docker/webapp/web-app.ini.

There are a number of options available for deploying the ODS application. See http://flask.pocoo.org/docs/0.12/deploying/ for more information.

In a single server installation (a standard, minimal install), the ODS is capable of using a local SQLite database for server data. ODS also supports connecting to a MySQL server. MySQL can be running locally on the same server as the ODS application or remotely.

Note

PostgreSQL and MSSQL support are planned for future support.

The ODS uses Redis for queuing tasks and Celery for processing those tasks. Redis can be running locally on the same server as the ODS application or remotely.

To start the Celery worker run the following command from the application directory:

celery worker --app ods_worker.celery --workdir /path/to/ODS-dir/

Environment Variables

The ODS application will read environment variables from the system to configure itself at runtime.

Required Env Vars	Description
ODS_CONF	The path to a configuration file written in Python that contains any of the described environment variables listed here. It is recommended that your SECRET_KEY and DATABASE_KEY be populated using this file.
SECRET_KEY	A cryptographically random key used to secure user sessions.
DATABASE_KEY	A cryptographically random 32-byte key used to encrypt sensitive data within the ODS database.
CELERY_BROKER_URL	The URL to the Redis server. If not provided the value will default to redis://localhost:6379.
CELERY_BACKEND_URL	(optional) An alternative URL to the Redis backend. If not provided it will default to the value of CELERY_BROKER_URL.
UPLOAD_STAGING_DIR	(optional) You may specify the staging directory where file uploads are cached. If not provided, a randomized temp directory will be created.
DEBUG	(optional) Runs the server in Debug mode providing additional logging output.

The following code will generate a randomized 32-byte key:

>> import os
>>> os.urandom(32)

Database Configuration

By default, the ODS will create a local SQLite database located within the application’s directory on the system. To use a database server, set the appropriate environment variables as shown below.

MySQL Server Configuration
MYSQL_SERVER	The URL to the MySQL server (with port).
MYSQL_DATABASE	The name of the MySQL database to connect to.
MYSQL_USER	The user to authenticate to the database.
MYSQL_PASSWORD	The password to the user.