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Deployment with Debian Packages

This method installs HCW@Home directly on a Debian/Ubuntu server via .deb packages. Services are managed by systemd. This is the recommended approach for production deployments on dedicated infrastructure.

Prerequisites

  • Debian 13 (Trixie) or compatible
  • PostgreSQL 15+
  • Redis 7+
  • Nginx
  • Minimum 2 GB RAM

Available Packages

The solution is distributed as three independent packages:

Package Content
hcw-backend Django API, administration, Celery worker, scheduler
hcw-practitioner Practitioner web interface (Angular)
hcw-patient Patient web/mobile interface (Ionic)

Installation

1. Install system dependencies

apt install postgresql redis-server nginx

2. Create the database

su postgres
createuser -P hcw
# Put hcw as password
createdb -O hcw hcw

3. Install HCW packages

apt install hcw-backend hcw-practitioner hcw-patient

The installation automatically creates:

  • A hcw system user
  • The /var/lib/hcw/ directory for uploads
  • The systemd services

4. Configure the backend

Edit the configuration file:

nano /etc/hcw/backend.conf

Security

Generate an encryption key with: echo -n "your secret phrase" | sha256sum

For the full list of variables, see the Docker Compose page.

5. Create a tenant

HCW@Home uses multi-tenancy with PostgreSQL schema isolation. Each tenant has its own data, users, and configuration. Tenants are created via the Django shell.

cd /usr/share/hcw/backend
. ./venv/bin/activate
set -a ; source /etc/hcw/backend.conf

python manage.py create_tenant
  • schema name: localhost
  • name: localhost
  • domain: 127.0.0.1
python manage.py tenant_command createsuperuser -s localhost

Nginx Configuration

The hcw-backend package provides a reference Nginx configuration file. Copy and adapt it:

cp /usr/share/hcw/nginx /etc/nginx/sites-available/hcw
ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/hcw /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
nginx -t && systemctl reload nginx

The default configuration defines two server blocks:

HTTPS

In production, add a TLS certificate. With Let's Encrypt: certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com -d patient.your-domain.com

Upgrading

apt update
apt install hcw-backend hcw-practitioner hcw-patient

Migrations are automatically applied on hcw service restart.

Load Test Data (optional)

cd /usr/share/hcw/backend
sudo -u hcw venv/bin/python manage.py loaddata initial/TestData.json

Test1234