tools/droplets/README.md
This guide is for mentors who want to help create remote Zulip dev servers for hackathon, GCI, or sprint participants.
The machines (droplets) have been generously provided by DigitalOcean to help Zulip contributors get up and running as easily as possible. Thank you DigitalOcean!
The create.py create uses the DigitalOcean API to quickly create new virtual
machines (droplets) with the Zulip dev server already configured.
We have created a team on DigitalOcean for Zulip mentors. Ask Rishi or Tim to be added. You need access to the team so you can create your DigitalOcean API token.
Once you've been added to the Zulip team, log in to the DigitalOcean control panel and create your personal API token. Make sure you create your API token under the Zulip team. (It should look something like this).
Copy the API token and store it somewhere safe. You'll need it in the next step.
In tools/droplets/ there is a sample configuration file conf.ini-template.
Copy this file to conf.ini:
$ cd tools/droplets/
$ cp conf.ini-template conf.ini
Now edit the file and replace APITOKEN with the personal API token you
generated earlier.
[digitalocean]
api_token = APITOKEN
Now you're ready to use the script.
create.py takes two arguments
$ python3 create.py <username>
$ python3 create.py <username> --tags <tag>
$ python3 create.py <username> --tags <tag1> <tag2> <tag3>
Assigning tags to droplets like GCI can be later useful for
listing all the droplets created during GCI.
Tags
may contain letters, numbers, colons, dashes, and underscores.
You'll need to run this from the Zulip development environment (e.g., in Vagrant).
The script will also stop if a droplet has already been created for the
user. If you want to recreate a droplet for a user you can pass the
--recreate flag.
$ python3 create.py <username> --recreate
This will destroy the old droplet and create a new droplet for the user.
In order for the script to work, the GitHub user must have:
(Share this link with students if they need to do these steps.)
The script will stop if it can't find the user's fork or SSH keys.
Once the droplet is created, you will see something similar to this message:
Your remote Zulip dev server has been created!
- Connect to your server by running
`ssh zulipdev@<username>.zulipdev.org` on the command line
(Terminal for macOS and Linux, Bash for Git on Windows).
- There is no password; your account is configured to use your SSH keys.
- Once you log in, you should see `(zulip-server) ~$`.
- To start the dev server, `cd zulip` and then run `./tools/run-dev`.
- While the dev server is running, you can see the Zulip server in your browser
at http://<username>.zulipdev.org:9991.
See [Developing
remotely](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/development/remote.html) for tips on
using the remote dev instance and [Git & GitHub
Guide](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/git/index.html) to learn how to
use Git with Zulip.
Copy and paste this message to the user via Zulip chat. Be sure to CC the user so they are notified.
tools/droplets/new-droplet-image into the
text box which says Enter user data here...base-ubuntu-22-04.zulipdev.org)NYC3, SFO3, BLR1, and FRA1.curl -u <API_KEY>: https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/snapshots | jq .template_id in create.py in this directory with the
appropriate id.base.zulipdev.orgtemplate_id.To SSH into a droplet, first make sure you have a SSH key associated with your GitHub account, then ask the student to run the following in their VM:
$ python3 ~/zulip/tools/droplets/add_mentor.py <your username>
You should now be able to connect to it using:
$ ssh zulipdev@<their username>.zulipdev.org
They can remove your SSH keys by running:
$ python3 ~/zulip/tools/droplets/add_mentor.py <your username> --remove
create.py can also create a production droplet quickly for testing purposes.
$ python3 create.py <username> --production