flake: add app server package output

3 files changed, 25 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index aa78700..304a908 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 __pycache__
 development_database
+result
 *~
 *.swp
 *.swo
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 4e10a12..b8616f8 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -92,6 +92,16 @@
 
   in {
 
+    packages = {
+      # Minimal production server.
+      # This includes only application files tracked by git.
+      # Using `gunicorn` on top of `uvicorn` is recommended for bigger loads.
+      server = writeShellScript "server" ''
+        cd ${./.}
+        ${pythonWithDependencies}/bin/uvicorn --app-dir app app:main "$@"
+      '';
+    };
+
     devShell = mkShell rec {
       buildInputs = [ pythonWithDependencies ] ++ develPackagesAndScripts;
 
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 8e18082..569b173 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -342,6 +342,20 @@ This server will listen to incoming requests to a locally bound port. It will
 automatically reload itself when its files are edited, and display logs about
 type checking and runtime errors.
 
+### Production deployment
+
+While the deployment phase is way out of the scope of a database introductory
+course, asking students to deploy their application on the Internet could be a
+motivational factor. It would also facilitate evaluating and grading projects,
+avoiding deployment and testing hassles to the teaching staff.
+
+The Nix Flake provides a Nix package which can be used to run the web
+application in a production context as a [daemon], managed by a standard [init]
+system.
+
+[daemon]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daemon_(computing)
+[init]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Init
+
 
 ## Copyright and licensing