Installation#

Get e-Babylab Code#

To get started, you will need a copy of the e-Babylab code. You can either:

  • Clone the repository if you just want to try e-Babylab locally, without any modifications, or

  • Fork the repository if you plan to run your own production instance or make custom changes — this lets you keep track of your own customisations and changes to the code, while still being able to pull in updates from the original repository.

To clone the repository, run the following command in the terminal:

git clone https://github.com/lochhh/e-Babylab.git

To fork the repository, go to the e-Babylab repository and click Fork. This will create a copy of the repository under your own GitHub account, which you can then clone using:

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME/e-Babylab.git

Install Docker Desktop#

e-Babylab runs in a containerised environment using Docker and Docker Compose, which are both included in Docker Desktop. No other software is required.

Configure Your Instance#

To set up e-Babylab, you will need to define values specific to your own instance in a .env file.

  1. In the terminal, navigate to the directory where you cloned or forked the e-Babylab repository:

    cd e-Babylab

  2. Create your .env file by copying the template:

    cp .env.template .env

  3. Generate a Django SECRET_KEY:

    python -c 'import secrets; print(secrets.token_urlsafe())'

    Or use an online generator such as Djecrety.

  4. Copy the generated key and paste it into the SECRET_KEY field in your .env file.

  5. Register for Google reCAPTCHA v3 to obtain the site key and secret key:

    • Go to the reCAPTCHA admin console.

    • Log in and register a new site with:

      • Label: e.g. e-Babylab

      • reCAPTCHA type: Score based (v3)

      • Domains: localhost for local development, or your own domain (e.g. your-domain.com) for production

      • Project name: e.g. e-Babylab

    • Click Submit to create the reCAPTCHA keys.

  6. Copy the site key to GOOGLE_RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY and the secret key to GOOGLE_RECAPTCHA_SECRET_KEY in your .env file.

  7. The database connection values (DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, DB_HOST, DB_PORT) are pre-filled with defaults that work for local development. If you are deploying to production, make sure to set a strong DB_PASSWORD.