Store data in own directory

[MarcelBruckner]

Problem

After every restart of the docker container all data stored in ideas.json and users.json is lost.

Idea

We need to have the files at a location that can be mounted into the container, so that it can be persisted.

Implementation

I moved the files to a dedicated data directory, stored at /app/data. The files are read from the directory /app/data instead of ./ as previously. The path /app/data can now be mounted into the docker container and the ideas.json and users.json are persisted.

When a directory is mounted into a docker container, the directory of the host overrides the directory in the container. Using a predefined users.json and ideas.json was not possible before, as mounting the directory from the host would override the directory (and thus the files) in the container. I additionally implemented the prepopulation of the files with the default values programatically.

Other

This merge request should also fix this issue: https://github.com/icbestCA/giftmanager/issues/9#issue-2485308802

[icbestCA]

So this is a problem with the permissions? So you suggest to mount the data folder in a location with controlled permissions?? If so, we will also need to modify the docker script with the backup system. Thanks I will look into that.

[MarcelBruckner]

No, its not a permission problem but how docker containers work.

When you stop a container, all data is wiped. On restart of the container, the container is in its original state. So by stopping the container, the content of the users.json and ideas.json was lost.

To persist data in a container, you have to mount a directory from the host (your PC) into the container. This is now possible by using the /app/data directory, which can be mounted.

See: https://docs.docker.com/engine/storage/ https://docs.docker.com/engine/storage/volumes/

[MarcelBruckner]

BTW: Thank you for the nice app! I was looking for a gift manager for a long time, but never had time to implement it myself! Keep up the good work!

[MarcelBruckner]

What you additionally gain by using this approach is, that you don't have to backup data anymore. Everything is already persisted in the mounted directory of the host, so no backups needed.

[MarcelBruckner]

Hey, thank you for the feedback! I fixed the f-strings as per your stacktrace. Can you please try running it in Docker again?

[MarcelBruckner]

Can you maybe add the Dockerfile to the repository so that I can build and test it myself?

[icbestCA]

The dockerfile is in this repo. https://github.com/icbestCA/dockergiftmanager I will merge it with the main later this day. Because the app.py file is different from the flask app, I will make a separate folder. But for now you can take it on the other repo, it's the one I use.

[icbestCA]

Thanks!! I've used your code but added it to a new folder. Thank you, I've pushed the new docker image.