# Alliance Auth Installation

```eval_rst
.. important::
   Installation is easiest as the root user. Log in as root or a user with sudo powers.
```

## Dependencies

```eval_rst
.. hint::
   CentOS: A few packages are included in a non-default repository. Add it and update the package lists. ::
   
      yum -y install https://centos7.iuscommunity.org/ius-release.rpm
      yum update
```

### Python

Alliance Auth requires python3.4 or higher. Ensure it is installed on your server before proceeding.

Ubuntu:

    apt-get install python3 python3-dev python3-setuptools python3-pip

CentOS:

    yum install python36u python36u-devel python36u-setuptools python36u-pip bzip2-devel

### Database

It's recommended to use a database service instead of sqlite. Many options are available, but this guide will use MariaDB. Ensure it's installed on your server before proceeding. It can be installed with:

Ubuntu:

    apt-get install mariadb-server mysql-client libmysqlclient-dev

CentOS:

    yum install mariadb-server mariadb-devel mariadb

### Redis and Other Tools

A few extra utilities are also required for installation of packages.

Ubuntu:

    apt-get install unzip git redis-server curl libssl-dev libbz2-dev libffi-dev

CentOS:

    yum install gcc gcc-c++ unzip git redis curl

```eval_rst
.. important::
   CentOS: Make sure redis is running before continuing: ::

      systemctl enable redis.service
      systemctl start redis.service
```

## Database Setup

Alliance Auth needs a MySQL user account and database. Create one as follows, replacing `PASSWORD` with an actual secure password:

    mysql -u root -p
    CREATE USER 'allianceserver'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'PASSWORD';
    CREATE DATABASE alliance_auth;
    GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON alliance_auth . * TO 'allianceserver'@'localhost';

Secure your MySQL / MariaDB server by typing `mysql_secure_installation`

## Auth Install

### User Account

For security and permissions, it’s highly recommended you create a separate user to install under.

Ubuntu:

    adduser --disabled-login allianceserver

CentOS:

    useradd -s /bin/nologin allianceserver

### Virtual Environment

Create a Python virtual environment and put it somewhere convenient (e.g. `/home/allianceserver/venv/auth/`)

    python3 -m venv /home/allianceserver/venv/auth/

```eval_rst
.. tip::
   A virtual environment provides support for creating a lightweight "copy" of Python with their own site directories. Each virtual environment has its own Python binary (allowing creation of environments with various Python versions) and can have its own independent set of installed Python packages in its site directories. You can read more about virtual environments on the Python_ docs.
.. _Python: https://docs.python.org/3/library/venv.html
```
    
Activate the virtualenv using `source /home/allianceserver/venv/auth/bin/activate`. Note the `/bin/activate` on the end of the path.

```eval_rst
.. hint::
   Each time you come to do maintenance on your Alliance Auth installation, you should activate your virtual environment first. When finished, deactivate it with the 'deactivate' command.
```

### Alliance Auth Project

Now you can install the library using `pip install allianceauth`. This will install Alliance Auth and all its python dependencies.

Now you need to create the application that will run the Alliance Auth install. Ensure you are in the allianceserver home directory by issuing `cd /home/allianceserver`.

Issue `allianceauth start myauth` to bootstrap the Django application that will run Alliance Auth. You can rename it from `myauth` to anything you'd like: this name is shown by default as the site name but that can be changed later.

The settings file needs configuring. Edit the template at `myauth/myauth/settings/local.py`. Be sure to configure the EVE SSO and Email settings.

Django needs to install models to the database before it can start.

    python /home/allianceserver/myauth/manage.py migrate

Now we need to round up all the static files required to render templates. Make a directory to serve them from and populate it.
    
    mkdir /var/www/myauth/static
    python /home/allianceserver/myauth/manage.py collectstatic
    chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/myauth/static

Check to ensure your settings are valid.

    python /home/allianceserver/myauth/manage.py check

And finally ensure the allianceserver user has read/write permissions to this directory before proceeding.

    chown -R allianceserver:allianceserver /home/allianceserver/myauth

## Superuser

Before proceeding it is essential to create a superuser account. This account will have all permissions in Alliance Auth. It's OK to use this as your personal auth account.

    python /home/allianceserver/myauth/manage.py createsuperuser

```eval_rst
.. important::
   Be sure to add a main character to this account before attempting to activate services with it.
```

## Webserver

Once installed, move onto the [Gunicorn Guide](gunicorn.md) and decide on whether you're going to use [NGINX](nginx.md) or [Apache](apache.md). You will also need to install [supervisor](supervisor.md) to run the background tasks.