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Ubuntu 18.04.1, ISPConfig3, Python 3, Flask, Apache 2, and mod_wsgi

Today I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get a Flask application started using Python 3 on Ubuntu 18.04.1. I had previously built an application using Python 2.7, Flask, and mod_wsgi, but it had been a while and the documentation I came across just wasn't connecting the dots properly. Here's my notes after the endeavor.

How to structure your Flask application. (Source)

For the example, the root directory of the ISPConfig3 user is going to be /var/www/clients/client1/web1/.

# install 
sudo apt install libapache2-mod-wsgi-py3 python3-pip
# disable mod_python if it's installed, or just uninstall it as mod_wsgi can't be loaded at the same time

# install python3 virtualenv globally
sudo pip3 install virtualenv

# change to the private folder where we'll create the project
cd /var/www/clients/client1/web1/private/
# create the project folder and change into it
mkdir project1 && cd project1
# create the virtual environment in the env directory, which will be created for us
virtualenv env
# activate the virtual environment
source env/bin/activate
# install flask
pip install flask
# setup some other directories and empty files
mkdir app log
touch wsgi.py run.py config.py app/__init__.py

wsgi.py

import sys
sys.path.insert(0, "/var/www/clients/client1/web1/private/project1")

from app import app as application

run.py

# WSGI Server for Development
# Use this during development vs. apache. Can view via [url]:8001
# Run using virtualenv. 'env/bin/python run.py'
from app import app

app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=8001, debug=True)

app/__init__.py

from flask import Flask
app = Flask(__name__)

# Configurations
#app.config.from_object('config')

@app.route('/')
def hello_world():
    return 'Hello, World!'

Apache virtual host configuration

<VirtualHost *:80>

ServerName test.domain.com
ServerAdmin webmaster@test.domain.com

ErrorLog /var/log/ispconfig/httpd/test.domain.com/error.log

WSGIDaemonProcess client1web1 python-home=/var/www/clients/client1/web1/private/project1/env python-path=/var/www/clients/client1/web1/private/project1
WSGIProcessGroup client1web1
WSGIScriptAlias / /var/www/clients/client1/web1/private/project1/wsgi.py
WSGIPassAuthorization On

<Directory /var/www/clients/client1/web1/private/project1>
    WSGIProcessGroup client1web1
    WSGIApplicationGroup %{GLOBAL}
	WSGIScriptReloading On
    Require all granted
</Directory>

</VirtualHost>

 Source material:

 

  • coxley/flask-file-structure (Source)
  • proper structure of the wsgi.py file (Source)
  • Flask 1.0.2 Quickstart (Source)
  • Flask Deployment Options - mod_wsgi / Apache (Source)
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