| DJC | Django | Production Deployment |

Django Deployment on EC2 - DJC

To deploy a Django application on an Amazon EC2 instance, follow the steps below:

Set Up an EC2 Instance

Launch an EC2 instance:

Go to the EC2 console and launch a new instance. Choose an Amazon Linux 2 or Ubuntu AMI (Ubuntu is preferred for Django compatibility).
Select the instance type (you can start with a t2.micro for testing).
Create and download a new key pair (or use an existing one).
Configure security group rules to open the required ports:
Port 22 for SSH
Port 80 for HTTP
Port 443 for HTTPS (optional, if using SSL)
Launch the instance.

Connect to the instance using SSH:

ssh -i /path/to/your-key.pem ec2-user@<your-ec2-public-ip>  # For Amazon Linux
ssh -i /path/to/your-key.pem ubuntu@<your-ec2-public-ip>     # For Ubuntu

Install Dependencies

Update the system:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y  # For Ubuntu

Install Python, pip, and virtualenv:

sudo apt install python3-pip python3-dev libpq-dev nginx curl -y
sudo pip3 install virtualenv

Install PostgreSQL (optional, if you’re using PostgreSQL):

sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib -y

Configure PostgreSQL (optional):

Create a database and user for your Django app:

sudo -u postgres psql
CREATE DATABASE mydb;
CREATE USER myuser WITH PASSWORD 'mypassword';
ALTER ROLE myuser SET client_encoding TO 'utf8';
ALTER ROLE myuser SET default_transaction_isolation TO 'read committed';
ALTER ROLE myuser SET timezone TO 'UTC';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE mydb TO myuser;
\q

Configure Django

Clone your Django project or create a new one:

git clone <your-repo-url>
cd <your-project-directory>

Set up a virtual environment:

virtualenv venv
source venv/bin/activate

Install project dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Configure environment variables:

Make sure to update the settings.py file:

DEBUG = False
ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['<your-ec2-public-ip>', 'your-domain.com']

Configure the database (if using PostgreSQL) in settings.py:

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
        'NAME': 'mydb',
        'USER': 'myuser',
        'PASSWORD': 'mypassword',
        'HOST': 'localhost',
        'PORT': '',
    }
}

Collect static files:

python manage.py collectstatic

Run migrations:

python manage.py migrate

Configure Gunicorn [@gunicorn_run] [@tron_gunicorn]

Install Gunicorn:

pip install gunicorn

Test Gunicorn for your app:

gunicorn --workers 3 <your_project_name>.wsgi:application

Configure Gunicorn as a systemd service:

Create the file /etc/systemd/system/your-deployment.service:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/your-deployment.service

Add the service configuration:

[Unit]
Description=gunicorn daemon
After=network.target

[Service]
User=ubuntu
Group=www-data
WorkingDirectory=/home/ubuntu/<your-project-directory>
ExecStart=/home/ubuntu/<your-project-directory>/venv/bin/gunicorn --workers 3 --bind :8080 <your_project_name>.wsgi:application
# EnvironmentFile=/home/ubuntu/<your-project-directory>/.env

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start the Gunicorn service:

sudo systemctl enable your-deployment.service
sudo systemctl start your-deployment.service

(Optional) Edit `your-deployment.service`

After editing, reload services:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Restart the service:

sudo systemctl restart your-deployment.service

Check status:

sudo systemctl status your-deployment.service

Enable the service on boot:

sudo systemctl enable your-deployment.service

Disable the service on boot:

sudo systemctl disable your-deployment.service

Configure Nginx

Set up Nginx to serve your application:

Create a configuration file in /etc/nginx/sites-available/:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/<your-project-name>

Add the following configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name <your-ec2-public-ip> your-domain.com;

    location = /favicon.ico { access_log off; log_not_found off; }
    location /static/ {
        root /home/ubuntu/<your-project-directory>;
    }

    location / {
        include proxy_params;
        proxy_pass http://unix:/home/ubuntu/<your-project-directory>/gunicorn.sock;
    }
}

Enable the configuration and restart Nginx:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/<your-project-name> /etc/nginx/sites-enabled
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Configure Firewall

Use UFW to allow SSH, HTTP, and HTTPS connections:

sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'
sudo ufw enable

(Optional) Set Up SSL with Let's Encrypt

Install Certbot:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

Generate an SSL certificate:

sudo certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com

Test automatic renewal:

sudo certbot renew --dry-run

Completion

Your Django application should now be live on your EC2 public IP or custom domain. Be sure to monitor performance and security as your application scales.