# dashboard > The web UI component of the AuRa framework ## Setup ### Prerequisites This version is an early development prototype. Detailed setup infos will follow, as soon as we reach something between alpha and beta stage. For dashboard to run locally or to deploy it to some web space, you need [Node.js](https://nodejs.org) and the Node Package Manager (`npm`), which comes with Node.js. You have different [download options for Node.js](https://nodejs.org/en/download/) depending on your operating system. You need at least Node.js v14. ### Configuration All global configuration settings of the dashboard application can be set in the corresponding `.env.*` files. You can use different settings for a `development` and a `production` environment. So for a production environment you will have to set all values in `.env.production`. For development use `.env.development`. For more infos on environment variables, also for test and staging modes, see [Vue CLI 3: Environment Variables and Modes](https://cli.vuejs.org/guide/mode-and-env.html) This repository already provides sample environments in the files _sample.env.development_ and _sample.env.production_, so you can copy them to _.env.development_ and _.env.production_ depending on wheter you want to set up a dev or prod environment. All needed values are provided with comments in the `sample.env.production` file, so you can just take a look there and create your copy for the development environment. There are some important notes on what to set and what to not forget. For developers: Also be aware that these settings become environment variables once compiled by _Vue.js_, so hot reload does not work, when you change them. You have to compile the app again for changes to take effect. For the _OpenID Connect_ settings it is very important to use exactly the same redirect URIs as defined in you OIDC client settings in the _aura/steering_ module. So `VUE_APP_API_STEERING_OIDC_REDIRECT_URI` and `VUE_APP_API_STEERING_OIDC_REDIRECT_URI_SILENT` should ideally be a copy-paste from there. For further information, check out the [detailed documentation on OIDC configuration](https://gitlab.servus.at/aura/meta/-/blob/master/docs/development/dev-install.md). ### Running it locally (development environment) After you have set up the environment you first need to install the required packages: ``` bash npm install ``` And start the development server: ``` bash ./run.sh ``` For customizing the whole Vue CLI development environment, see [Configuration Reference](https://cli.vuejs.org/config/). ### Setting it up on a server (production environment) Before building the final client code, you have to copy the `sample.env.production` file to `.env.production` and change the values to your final setup, as described in the _Configuration_ section above. Similar to the dev environment you first have to install all dependencies by `npm install`. Then you can build the production code, use `npm run build`. This compiles and minifies the code for production. Then you just have to put the contents of the _dist_ folder on some web space. From a web server's perspective this is just static code, so nothing special is needed except a plain web server (using HTTPS with Let's Encrypt or any other TLS certificates is highly recommended). > TODO: provide an example setup ### Building/running with Docker You can use Docker either to run the local development server, if you do not want to set up node/npm on your host, or you can use Docker to just build the _dist_ directory, that you then use in your dashboard's web root. Before you build any image and run containers, make sure you followed the steps above in the _Configuration_ section. To create the image for the dev container and run it use the following: ```bash docker build -t dashboard-dev --target=dev . docker run --rm -it -v $(pwd):/aura -p 8080:8080 dashboard-dev ``` To use the build image to build the _dist_ directory do the following: ```bash docker build -t dashboard --target=prod . docker run --rm -it -v "$(pwd)"/dist_docker:/aura/dist_docker dashboard \ sh -c 'npm run build && mv dist/* dist_docker' ``` In this case the final result will be put into the `dist_docker` directory, so you can have different builds through docker and a local dev setup. If you do not use any local dev setup and want to get the built files directly into the `dist` directory, just change the `"$(pwd)"/dist_docker` in the volume option to `"$(pwd)"/dist`. (If you are wondering why inside the container we copy everything from the `dist` to the `dist_docker` container: this is a workaround, because the build process needs the `dist` directory unlocked, which is not the case if we bind it to a volume) A more comprehensive setup in combination with other AuRa components can be found in the [meta repository](https://gitlab.servus.at/aura/meta). ## Common problems and solutions ### Access to steering is denied due to CORS issues For the dashboard to run in a dev mode you only need the `npm install` and `npm run dev` commands. To access show data in the show manager you also have to have the [steering module](https://gitlab.servus.at/aura/steering) running somewhere. There you need to add the following lines to the `pv/local_settings.py`, in order to allow CORS requests from your dashboard: ``` CORS_ALLOW_CREDENTIALS = True CORS_ORIGIN_WHITELIST = ( 'localhost:8080' ) ``` This assumes of course that you have the dashboard running on its standard localhost port 8080. If you want to change this to e.g. port `9090`, add a line `PORT: 9090,` to the `.env.development` file of the dashboard package. ### Authentication is not working due to redirect issues Dashboard can only be used with working authentication against the OIDC provider, which is AuRa steering. Therefore you have to set up an OpenID Connect client there first. Additionally you will also need a separate client for tank. The standard setup for the dashboard client should use these values: - _Client Type_: `Public` - _Response Type_: `id_token token (Implicit Flow)` - _JWT Algorithm_: `RS256` - _Require Consent?_: `No` - _Reuse Consent?_: `Yes` You also have to set the _Redirect URIs_, which have to __match exactly__ the ones you configure in your _.env.development_ or _.env.production_ files here in the dashboard source. This also means that if you use _localhost_ in steering, you must not put _127.0.0.1_ or any aquivalent in your dashboard config, but use exactly the same string (and vice versa). So if for example the _Redirect URIs_ in the steering OIDC client are set to: ``` http://localhost:8080/static/oidc_callback.html http://localhost:8080/static/oidc_callback_silentRenew.html ``` Then your _.env.development_ (assuming this a dev environment) should contain: ``` VUE_APP_API_STEERING_OIDC_REDIRECT_URI = http://localhost:8080/oidc_callback.html VUE_APP_API_STEERING_OIDC_REDIRECT_URI_SILENT = http://localhost:8080/oidc_callback_silentRenew.html ``` ## Infos on build environment This project is built with [Vue.js 2](https://vuejs.org). Take a look at their [Guide](https://vuejs.org/v2/guide/) or the [API docs](https://vuejs.org/v2/api/) to find out more about the core framework. As template we are using the _webpack template_. For a detailed explanation on how things work with this, check out the [webpack guide](http://vuejs-templates.github.io/webpack/) and [docs for vue-loader](http://vuejs.github.io/vue-loader). For the whole einvornment setup we started out with Vue CLI 2 but now work with [Vue CLI 3](https://cli.vuejs.org). Webpack also comes with code linting, using [ESLint](https://eslint.org/), which makes our code consistent, functional and less error-prone. For infos on how the routes work, take a look at the [vue-router](http://router.vuejs.org/). And if you want to dig into a lot of useful awesome stuff that was already coded by others and which can be easily integrated into this project, go to the [vue-aweseome repo](https://github.com/vuejs/awesome-vue).