Students’ Portal

UniLab is a students’ centred project. The main objective is to help students in Bachelor or Master levels (or just graduated students) to be prepared to enter the labour market during their studies or as soon as possible after graduation. In order to enable this, the project has develop a Students’ Portal model that focuses on the needs of students.

The UniLab Students’ Portal model is available in English. You can see a sample portal and you can also download the code to develop your own portal from this page. 

students portal

UniLab Code to develop your own Students' Portal

UniLab_v2

UniLab is composed of 2 services, a backend written in Python using the Django-Rest-Framework, and a Single-Page-Application frontend written in JavaScript using React.

The backend needs to be run by the server on port 8000. The frontend runs on port 8080, and is composed of just an nginx server which returns the whole application as a single html file (google Single-Page-Applications for more information)

There is configuration to be made for the backend on backend/UniLab/production_settings.py like the URL that you are deploying the backend on. also on backend/Unilab/general_settings.py there is there configuration of the Postgres user and password and secret key.

 

Deploying the backend (based of DigitalOcean :

 

Installing and configuring Python and Postgres

 
  • Install python, postgress, nginx, and some other tools:
sudo apt install python3-venv python3-dev libpq-dev postgresql postgresql-contrib nginx curl
  • Create PostgreSQL Database and User. If you don’t want to change the configuration you can supply the db config that is already set up, but we suggest you create your own, at least the password!
sudo -u postgres psql
CREATE DATABASE unilab_db;
CREATE USER db_admin WITH PASSWORD 'UniLab#93580';
ALTER ROLE myprojectuser SET client_encoding TO 'utf8';
ALTER ROLE myprojectuser SET default_transaction_isolation TO 'read committed';
ALTER ROLE myprojectuser SET timezone TO 'UTC';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE myproject TO myprojectuser;
\q
  • Create and activate a Python virtual environment. We suggest you have your own folder separate from this project for VENVs
mkdir ~/VENVs
cd ~/VENVs
python3 -m venv unilab_v2
source unilab_v2/bin/activate

You should now see your terminal start each line with (unilab_v2). This means the VENV is activated.

  • Install gunicorn and the rest of the dependencies:
cd ~/Unilab_v2/backend #or wherever your cloned repository is
pip install django gunicorn psycopg2-binary
pip install -r ./requirements.txt
  • Make database migrations
./manage.py makemigrations api
./manage.py migrate
  • Open port 8000 from the firewall
sudo ufw allow 8000

 

Configuring Gunicorn

  • Bind gunicorn so it can serve the project
gunicorn --bind 0.0.0.0:8000 UniLab.wsgi
deactivate
  • Create systemd Socket and Service Files for Gunicorn
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/gunicorn.socket
  • paste the following:
[Unit]
Description=gunicorn socket

[Socket]
ListenStream=/run/gunicorn.sock

[Install]
WantedBy=sockets.target
  • Do the same for the service file:
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/gunicorn.service

[Unit]
Description=gunicorn daemon
Requires=gunicorn.socket
After=network.target

[Service]
User=<username>
Group=www-data
WorkingDirectory=/home/<username>/UniLab_v2
ExecStart=/home/<username>/VENVs/unilab_v2/bin/gunicorn \
          --access-logfile - \
          --workers 3 \
          --bind unix:/run/gunicorn.sock \
          UniLab_v2.wsgi:application

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

save and close

  • You can now start the gunicorn socket
sudo systemctl start gunicorn.socket
sudo systemctl enable gunicorn.socket
sudo systemctl status gunicorn.socket

you should receive an output like this:

Output
● gunicorn.socket - gunicorn socket
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/gunicorn.socket; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (listening) since Mon 2022-04-18 17:53:25 UTC; 5s ago
   Triggers: ● gunicorn.service
     Listen: /run/gunicorn.sock (Stream)
     CGroup: /system.slice/gunicorn.socket

Apr 18 17:53:25 django systemd[1]: Listening on gunicorn socket.

 

Configuring Nginx

  • configure nginx to pass traffic to the process
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/unilab_v2

server {
    listen 8000;
    server_name <server_domain_or_IP>;

    location = /favicon.ico { access_log off; log_not_found off; }
    location /static/ {
        root /home/<username>/UniLab_v2;
    }
    
    location / {
    include proxy_params;
    proxy_pass http://unix:/run/gunicorn.sock;
    }
}

save and close

  • Enable the file and test that it has no errors:
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/unilab_v2 /etc/nginx/sites-enabled
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx
  • open nginx port
sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'
  • Whenever you wish to restart the dajngo application, run:
sudo systemctl restart gunicorn
  • If you change the gunicorn socket or service files, restart it with
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart gunicorn.socket gunicorn.service

 

Deploying the Frontend (based of DigitalOcean))

  • create the single html which contains the whole application:
cd ~/UniLab_v2/frontent
npm run build
  • Specify the frontend in the nginx config by adding to the backend file
cat /etc/nginx/sites-available/unilab_v2

server {
        listen 80;
        listen [::]:80;

        root /var/www/<your_domain>/html;
        index index.html index.htm index.nginx-debian.html;

        server_name <your_domain> www.<your_domain>;

        location / {
                try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
        }
}

UniLab is composed of 2 services, a backend written in Python using the Django-Rest-Framework, and a Single-Page-Application frontend written in JavaScript using React.

The backend needs to be run by the server on port 8000. The frontend runs on port 8080, and is composed of just an nginx server which returns the whole application as a single html file (google Single-Page-Applications for more information)

There is configuration to be made for the backend on backend/UniLab/production_settings.py like the URL that you are deploying the backend on. also on backend/Unilab/general_settings.py there is there configuration of the Postgres user and password and secret key.

Deploying the backend (based of DigitalOcean :

Installing and configuring Python and Postgres

  • Install python, postgress, nginx, and some other tools:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3-venv python3-dev libpq-dev postgresql postgresql-contrib nginx curl
  • Create PostgreSQL Database and User. If you don’t want to change the configuration you can supply the db config that is already set up, but we suggest you create your own, at least the password!
sudo -u postgres psql
CREATE DATABASE unilab_db;
CREATE USER db_admin WITH PASSWORD 'UniLab#93580';
ALTER ROLE myprojectuser SET client_encoding TO 'utf8';
ALTER ROLE myprojectuser SET default_transaction_isolation TO 'read committed';
ALTER ROLE myprojectuser SET timezone TO 'UTC';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE myproject TO myprojectuser;
\q
  • Create and activate a Python virtual environment. We suggest you have your own folder separate from this project for VENVs
mkdir ~/VENVs
cd ~/VENVs
python3 -m venv unilab_v2
source unilab_v2/bin/activate

You should now see your terminal start each line with (unilab_v2). This means the VENV is activated.

  • Install gunicorn and the rest of the dependencies:
cd ~/Unilab_v2/backend #or wherever your cloned repository is
pip install django gunicorn psycopg2-binary
pip install -r ./requirements.txt
  • Make database migrations
./manage.py makemigrations api
./manage.py migrate
  • Open port 8000 from the firewall
sudo ufw allow 8000

 

Configuring Gunicorn

  • Bind gunicorn so it can serve the project
gunicorn --bind 0.0.0.0:8000 UniLab.wsgi
deactivate
  • Create systemd Socket and Service Files for Gunicorn
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/gunicorn.socket
  • paste the following:
[Unit]
Description=gunicorn socket

[Socket]
ListenStream=/run/gunicorn.sock

[Install]
WantedBy=sockets.target
  • Do the same for the service file:
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/gunicorn.service

[Unit]
Description=gunicorn daemon
Requires=gunicorn.socket
After=network.target

[Service]
User=<username>
Group=www-data
WorkingDirectory=/home/<username>/UniLab_v2
ExecStart=/home/<username>/VENVs/unilab_v2/bin/gunicorn \
          --access-logfile - \
          --workers 3 \
          --bind unix:/run/gunicorn.sock \
          UniLab_v2.wsgi:application

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

save and close

  • You can now start the gunicorn socket
sudo systemctl start gunicorn.socket
sudo systemctl enable gunicorn.socket
sudo systemctl status gunicorn.socket

you should receive an output like this:

Output
● gunicorn.socket - gunicorn socket
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/gunicorn.socket; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (listening) since Mon 2022-04-18 17:53:25 UTC; 5s ago
   Triggers: ● gunicorn.service
     Listen: /run/gunicorn.sock (Stream)
     CGroup: /system.slice/gunicorn.socket

Apr 18 17:53:25 django systemd[1]: Listening on gunicorn socket.

 

Configuring Nginx

  • configure nginx to pass traffic to the process
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/unilab_v2

server {
    listen 8000;
    server_name <server_domain_or_IP>;

    location = /favicon.ico { access_log off; log_not_found off; }
    location /static/ {
        root /home/<username>/UniLab_v2;
    }
    
    location / {
    include proxy_params;
    proxy_pass http://unix:/run/gunicorn.sock;
    }
}

save and close

  • Enable the file and test that it has no errors:
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/unilab_v2 /etc/nginx/sites-enabled
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx
  • open nginx port
sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'
  • Whenever you wish to restart the dajngo application, run:
sudo systemctl restart gunicorn
  • If you change the gunicorn socket or service files, restart it with
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart gunicorn.socket gunicorn.service

 

Deploying the Frontend (based of DigitalOcean))

  • create the single html which contains the whole application:
cd ~/UniLab_v2/frontent
npm run build
  • Specify the frontend in the nginx config by adding to the backend file
cat /etc/nginx/sites-available/unilab_v2

server {
        listen 80;
        listen [::]:80;

        root /var/www/<your_domain>/html;
        index index.html index.htm index.nginx-debian.html;

        server_name <your_domain> www.<your_domain>;

        location / {
                try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
        }
}

Creative development process of a Students' Portal

Identification

What do the students need? How can the HEIs help?

Design

How to make the portal useful and attractive? How to organise content to make it easy to find?

Implementation

Are all the designs possible? Can all the contents be uploaded?

Testing

What does the students think about it? What is good and what does not work well?

Validation

Have all the suggestions been updated? Is everything in the portal working well?

Launch

Have all the stakeholders been invited to visit it? How many individuals have started using the portal?

Promotion

Who else should know? How can we communicate it?

Maintenance

Does the Portal need anything else? Does everything continue working?
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