| DJC | Django | Production Deployment |

Preparing a Django Project for Production - DJC

Before deploying a Django application to a production environment, it’s essential to follow a series of steps to ensure its stability, performance, and security. Below are best practices for preparing the project.

settings.py Configuration

  • DEBUG:

  • Make sure DEBUG is set to False. Enabling DEBUG in production can expose sensitive information if an error occurs.

  • ALLOWED_HOSTS:

  • Specify the domains that may access your application. For example:

ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['yourdomain.com', 'www.yourdomain.com']

  • Database configuration:

  • Change the database configuration to a production-ready option. PostgreSQL or MySQL are recommended. Be sure to store database credentials in environment variables.

  • Static and media files:

  • Use the collectstatic command to gather all static files into a single folder. Ensure that Nginx or whichever server you choose is configured to serve these files.

  • Email configuration:

  • Set up configuration for an SMTP server. This is crucial if your application needs to send emails. Example:

EMAIL_BACKEND = 'django.core.mail.backends.smtp.EmailBackend'
EMAIL_HOST = 'smtp.gmail.com'
EMAIL_PORT = 587
EMAIL_USE_TLS = True
EMAIL_HOST_USER = 'your_email@gmail.com'
EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = 'your_password'

Testing and Validation

  • Run tests:

  • Perform thorough testing to ensure all application features work as expected in a production environment. Use pytest or Django’s built-in testing framework.

  • Configuration validation:

  • Verify that production-specific settings, such as API keys and credentials, are correctly configured and not exposed in source code.

| DJC | Django | Production Deployment |