Server Details

IP address: 18.216.134.208
SSH Port: 2200
URL: http://18.216.134.208

Getting Started

First begin by setting up your Amazon Lightsail instance: - Choose OS Only - Select Ubuntu Upon creating your instance, opt to set a custom ssh key-pair to login with and download it on your local machine. Then set permissions on the .pem file using

chmod 600 yourdownloadedpemfile.pem

Double check your ability to log into your instance from your local machine:

ssh ubuntu@your.public.ip.address -i yourdownloadedpemfile.pem

Setting up the server

Update all packages:

sudo apt-get update  
sudo apt-get upgrade

Create a new user:

sudo adduser grader

After setting up the grader details, proceed to give grader sudo access:

sudo visudo

Below the line with the following:

root  ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

Add the same line, but replaec root with grader.

Configuring the firewall (part 1)

Head to your instance dashboard on Lightsail, and go to the 'networking' tab. Edit the Firewall section to add a custom rule with port 2200. Then edit your sshd config file with the following command:

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Comment out Port 22 so that your file looks like this:

   # What ports, IPs and protocols we listen for
   # Port 22
   Port 2200
   
   # Authentication:
   LoginGraceTime 120
   #PermitRootLogin prohibit-password
   PermitRootLogin no
   StrictModes yes
   
   # Change to no to disable tunnelled clear text passwords
   PasswordAuthentication No

You should now reload your ssh to reflect the changes made:

sudo service ssh restart

Creating your ssh key pairs

On your LOCAL MACHINE, generate a new key pair with this command:

ssh-keygen

You will be prompted to input a destination for the file. It's good practice to store it in the directory example that shows in the prompt (typicall the .ssh folder). You will be prompted to select a passphrase, which is optional. But if you do set one, you will have to remember it for future login attempts. Now switch to the grader account with sudo su grader. Create a new .ssh directory and cd into it mkdir .ssh && cd .ssh. Create a new file called 'authorized keys' in that folder, and paste the content of the public key that you generated earlier (yourdownloadedpem.pub). You should now be able to log into the grader account from your local machine:

ssh grader@your.public.ip.address -i ~/.ssh/yoursshkeypairfile

Configuring the firewall (part 2)

You will now need to enable certain ports in your firewall. First start by disabling everything, then enabling outgoing requests and allowing specific ports.

   sudo ufw default deny incoming
   sudo ufw default allow outgoing
   sudo ufw allow 2200/tcp
   sudo ufw allow 80/tcp or sudo ufw allow www (both work)
   sudo ufw allow 123/udp

Then enable those changes with sudo ufw enable. Check if the changes were reflected with sudo ufw status. If the changes were made, you should see a total of 6 lines, 2 for each enabled port.

Configure your timezone

sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

Select 'None of the above', and in the next window, select UTC.

Setting up Apache and other libraries

Install apache with sudo apt-get install apache2, then install wsgi: sudo apt-get install libapache2-mod-wsgi python-dev. Wsgi allows your app to be read and interpreted by the Apache server. Next step is to install Git, in order to download your app from your Github (or any other Git service) repository

sudo apt-get install git Head over to Github and copy the clone link for your app. Then head back to your terminal, CD into the www directory cd /var/www, and clone your app there: sudo git clone <your clone link>. Setup your WSGI file within your app directory sudo nano /var/www/<your app folder>/app.wsgi Fill it with the following:

   # WSGI file
   
   import sys
   import logging
   
   logging.basicConfig(stream=sys.stderr)
   sys.path.insert(0, '/var/www/itemsCatalog/vagrant/catalog')
   
   from application import app as application
   application.secret_key='super_secret_key'

Note: the line with from application assumes that your app folder has a file named 'application.py'. If your file is named, for example, 'catalog.py', then this line would become from catalog import app as application. Next, edit your .conf file (the apache/wsgi configuration file):

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf

Fill it with the following:

<VirtualHost *:80>
   # Server details
   ServerName  your.public.ip.address
   ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost (or an actual email)
   
   #Location of the items-catalog WSGI file
   WSGIScriptAlias / /var/www/itemsCatalog/vagrant/catalog/itemsCatalog.wsgi
   
   #Allow Apache to serve the WSGI app from our catalog directory
   <Directory /var/www/your-app-folder>
       Order allow,deny
       Allow from all
   </Directory>
   
   #Allow Apache to deploy static content
   <Directory /var/www/your-app-folder/static>
       Order allow,deny
       Allow from all
   </Directory>
   
   ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
   LogLevel warn
   CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Setup Flask and other Python libs

sudo apt-get install python-pip python-flask python-sqlalchemy python-psycopg2
sudo pip install oauth2client requests httplib2

Postgresql

sudo apt-get install postgresql

Set your database table, make sure to change the create engine parameters in your python scripts to reflect the changes.

Acknowledgements

Amazon Lightsail