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Server Deployment

  • Deploy Django applications on VPS and cloud servers securely.

  • What is Server Deployment?

    Server Deployment means hosting your Django project on a remote server so that anyone on the internet can access it.

    • Provides real-world access to your application

    • Handles traffic, databases, and static files

    • Can be done on cloud platforms like Heroku, AWS, DigitalOcean

    Heroku Deployment

    What is Heroku?

    • Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS)

    • Supports Python / Django apps

    • Handles server, database, scaling automatically

    Steps to Deploy Django on Heroku

Step 1: Install Heroku CLI 

# For Ubuntu
curl https://cli-assets.heroku.com/install.sh | sh

# Login
heroku login

  • Step 2: Prepare Django Project

    1.Install Gunicorn (WSGI server):

    pip install gunicorn

    2.Add gunicorn to requirements.txt:

    pip freeze > requirements.txt

    3.Create Procfile (no file extension):

    web: gunicorn projectname.wsgi


    4. Install django-heroku (optional):

    pip install django-heroku


Step 3: Configure Settings for Production

settings.py 

import django_heroku
import os

DEBUG = False
ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['your-app-name.herokuapp.com']

# Activate Heroku settings
django_heroku.settings(locals())
  • Automatically sets DATABASE_URL, static files, logging

Step 4: Git Commit & Push 

git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit for Heroku"
heroku create your-app-name
git push heroku main  # or master

Step 5: Migrate Database 

heroku run python manage.py migrate

  • Creates tables in Heroku Postgres

    Step 6: Open App

    heroku open

    Tips for Heroku

    • Free dynos sleep after inactivity → use paid for production

    • Use Heroku Postgres for DB

    • Manage environment variables in Heroku dashboard

    AWS Deployment (EC2)

    What is AWS EC2?

    • Elastic Compute Cloud → virtual server in the cloud

    • Full control over OS, Django app, database, web server

    • Good for scalable production applications

    Steps to Deploy Django on AWS EC2

    Step 1: Launch EC2 Instance

    • Choose Ubuntu Server

    • Configure security group (allow HTTP 80, HTTPS 443, SSH 22)

    • Connect via SSH:

    ssh -i yourkey.pem ubuntu@your-ec2-ip

Step 2: Install Server Components 

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3-pip python3-venv git nginx postgresql postgresql-contrib

Step 3: Clone Project & Setup Virtualenv 

git clone https://github.com/username/project.git
cd project
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Step 4: Configure Database (PostgreSQL) 

sudo -i -u postgres
psql
CREATE DATABASE myprojectdb;
CREATE USER myprojectuser WITH PASSWORD 'password';
ALTER ROLE myprojectuser SET client_encoding TO 'utf8';
ALTER ROLE myprojectuser SET default_transaction_isolation TO 'read committed';
ALTER ROLE myprojectuser SET timezone TO 'UTC';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE myprojectdb TO myprojectuser;
\q
exit

Update settings.py: 

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
        'NAME': 'myprojectdb',
        'USER': 'myprojectuser',
        'PASSWORD': 'password',
        'HOST': 'localhost',
        'PORT': '5432',
    }
}

Step 5: Run Gunicorn 

gunicorn projectname.wsgi:application --bind 0.0.0.0:8000

  • Test app on http://ec2-ip:8000

    Step 6: Configure Nginx

    sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/project

Add: 

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your-domain.com;

    location = /favicon.ico { access_log off; log_not_found off; }
    location /static/ {
        root /home/ubuntu/project;
    }

    location / {
        include proxy_params;
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8000;
    }
}

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/project /etc/nginx/sites-enabled
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Enable HTTPS (Optional)

Use Certbot / Let’s Encrypt 

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com

  • DigitalOcean Deployment

    • Similar to AWS EC2 → Ubuntu droplet

    • Offers easy 1-click Django setup

    • Nginx + Gunicorn recommended

    • Supports managed database

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