Integrating Acra with Django app: short tutorial #

AcraWriter is available in Acra Enterprise Edition only.

This tutorial outlines a typical process of integrating Acra into a Python web app. More specifically – an app running on Django framework. It is based on the popular example where many Django users start their development journey with – djangoproject.com repository.

We will be integrating AcraWriter to protect blog posts.

This tutorial assumes that you have both AcraServer and PostgreSQL up and running.

You may browse the modified repository here.

Step 1. Clone repo #

git clone https://github.com/django/djangoproject.com.git

Step 2. Install AcraWriter #

pip install acrawriter

Step 3. Save AcraServer public key to settings #

Save AcraServer public key to settings as ACRA_SERVER_PUBLIC_KEY:

# djangoproject/settings/common.py
import json
import os
from base64 import b64decode
.
.
.
ACRA_SERVER_PUBLIC_KEY = b64decode(SECRETS.get('acra_storage_public_key'))

Step 4. Create conf/secrets.json and paste AcraServer public key as base64 string #

{
    . . .
    "acra_storage_public_key": "VUVDMgAAAC1w3M1uArNP+AWNhmOi6+bR6SXadlPbAh3XFnBuOnLziPeHn70T"
    . . .
}

Step 5. Use model fields from acrawriter.django module #

# blog/models.py
. . .
import acrawriter.django
. . .

class Entry(models.Model):
    . . .
    headline = acrawriter.django.CharField(max_length=200)
    summary = acrawriter.django.TextField()
    summary_html = acrawriter.django.TextField()
    body = acrawriter.django.TextField()
    body_html = acrawriter.django.TextField()
    author = acrawriter.django.CharField(max_length=100)
    . . .

# members/models.py
. . .
import acrawriter.django
. . . 
 
 
class IndividualMember(models.Model):
    email = acrawriter.django.EmailField(unique=True)
    contact_email = acrawriter.django.EmailField()
    billing_email = acrawriter.django.EmailField(blank=True, help_text='If different from contact email.',)
    . . .

Step 6. Run migrations #

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate

Update database connection settings #

Now your app should connect to local AcraServer. Run AcraServer on the same port as before and change db_host/trac_db_host in your conf/secrets.conf to 127.0.0.1

{ 
  "secret_key": "xyz",
  "db_host": "127.0.0.1",
  "trac_db_host": "127.0.0.1",
  "acra_storage_public_key": "VUVDMgAAAC1w3M1uArNP+AWNhmOi6+bR6SXadlPbAh3XFnBuOnLziPeHn70T"
}

Step 8. Add AcraWriter to requirements/common.txt #

. . .
stripe==1.43.0
Sphinx==1.4.9
acrawriter==1.0.0

Voila! Congratulations! You’ve integrated Acra.