Creating engaging and exciting apps within Django’s flexible framework is easy. These apps can be hosted on cloud servers, such as UpCloud’s Developer plans, offering users a wide range of benefits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Speed<\/strong>\u2014Django’s flexible and powerful modular framework allows developers to create applications quickly and efficiently while being able to reuse code where required.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Security<\/strong>\u2014Security is a critical driver in Django’s value offer with its built-in mitigations protecting against common vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, clickjacking, and cross-site scripting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Scalability<\/strong>\u2014Django allows you to build as you grow by scaling up your app to handle more traffic over time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Bundled extras<\/strong>\u2014Django simplifies many common web development tasks, such as authentication, content administration, site maps, and RSS feeds, with dozens of extras included out of the box.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
In short, Django offers developers everything they need to confidently host their apps. This guide to running Django on UpCloud Cloud Servers aims to help you solve your application hosting needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1.<\/strong> Setting up your UpCloud server<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
To get started, you need to create a server to host your Django app. But before then, if you haven’t registered yet, sign up with UpCloud<\/a> for a free trial to test things out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once logged in, you can set up a new cloud server<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- 1. On the Dashboard<\/strong>, click on Servers <\/strong>in the top left-hand corner.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 2. Choose your server location<\/strong>. Look for the nearest data centre location to you to minimise latency for remote connections.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 3. Select the right server plan<\/a><\/strong> for you. The \u20ac3\/mo Developer plan with 1GB RAM and 10GB storage is perfect for a small project. You can always scale up later when needed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 4. Choose your operating system<\/strong>. UpCloud offers several templates. This guide is based on using Ubuntu, but much of the installation process works the same regardless of the distribution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 5. Add your SSH key as your chosen login method and click Deploy<\/strong> to launch your new server.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
2.<\/strong> Installing dependencies<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Once you’ve established your server configuration, it’s time to install the dependencies so that Django can run smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Log Into your Cloud Server<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Open your terminal, or you can use PuTTY on Windows. Run the following command replacing “your_server_public_ip” with the IP address from UpCloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ssh root@your_server_public_ip<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nIf you included your SSH keys, you should get straight in. Alternatively, if you chose to deploy your Cloud Server with a one-time password, enter it when prompted. You should have received the one-time password either by email or text message depending on what you selected at deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Update the server software<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
To ensure your server runs smoothly, run updates so you have the current versions to run Django on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nInstall Python, pip, Nginx, and virtualenv<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Django is a Python web hosting app, meaning you’ll need to install Python to run Django. In addition, you can install pip and Nginx (in this example), the web server, at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sudo apt install python3-pip python3-dev libpq-dev nginx<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThen, install virtualenv, the virtual environment, to separate the project’s dependencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sudo apt install virtualenv<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nSet up a database<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Nginx or Apache already established as the web server, you must create the SQL database. This example uses PostgreSQL, but Django supports a whole host of database types<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nNote that installing the database onto the same Cloud Server as Django works fine for testing and small development purposes. However, if you are planning to use Django for anything more substantial, we recommend deploying our Managed Databases for PostgreSQL<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3.<\/strong> Installing Django<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Once the server dependencies are installed, install Django and set up a project by following these steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Create a virtual environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, set up a project folder and a virtual environment within it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
mkdir ~\/django
cd ~\/django
virtualenv myenv<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThen, activate the virtual environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
source myenv\/bin\/activate<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nInstall Django<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, it’s time to install Django in your virtual environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
pip install django<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAnd create a new Django project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
django-admin startproject myproject .<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nNote: The period at the end of the line is an important part of the command, indicating that the project should be started in the current folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Configure the database<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before you can begin developing, you’ll need to set up a database. Start by installing the PostgreSQL adapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
pip install psycopg2<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThen, open your myproject\/settings.py<\/em> file to update the database configuration and ALLOWED_HOSTS parameter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sudo nano ~\/django\/myproject\/settings.py<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nALLOWED_HOSTS = ['your_server_public_ip']<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nDATABASES = {
'default': {
'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
'NAME': 'myproject',
'USER': 'myprojectuser',
'PASSWORD': 'password',
'HOST': 'localhost',
'PORT': '5432',
}
}<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThe next step is to create the database and user details. Open the database client using the following command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sudo -u postgres psql<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThen create the database and your user credentials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CREATE DATABASE myproject;
CREATE USER myprojectuser WITH PASSWORD 'password';
ALTER ROLE myprojectuser Set client_encoding TO 'utf8';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE myproject TO myprojectuser;
ALTER DATABASE myproject OWNER TO myprojectuser;<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nWhen done, exit the database client to return to your user account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
exit;<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nFinally, run Django’s database migrations to complete the Django installation and test the configuration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
python manage.py migrate<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n4.<\/strong> Configuring Nginx and Gunicorn for Django<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Before deploying the app, you’ll need to configure your web server, in this case, Nginx and Gunicorn, a Python server that implements the Web Server Gateway Interface (WSGI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nginx works as a reverse proxy, while Gunicorn is Django’s application server. Nginx has already been installed as one of the project dependencies, so you only need to install Gunicorn at this stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Install Gunicorn<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Install Gunicorn with the following command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
pip install gunicorn <\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThen, test it by running Gunicorn alongside your Django project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
gunicorn --workers 3 myproject.wsgi:application<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nYou should see an output similar to the example below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[2025-02-02 13:17:07 +0000] [115894] [INFO] Starting gunicorn 23.0.0
[2025-02-02 13:17:07 +0000] [115894] [INFO] Listening at: http:\/\/127.0.0.1:8000 (115894)
[2025-02-02 13:17:07 +0000] [115894] [INFO] Using worker: sync
[2025-02-02 13:17:07 +0000] [115895] [INFO] Booting worker with pid: 115895
[2025-02-02 13:17:07 +0000] [115896] [INFO] Booting worker with pid: 115896
[2025-02-02 13:17:07 +0000] [115897] [INFO] Booting worker with pid: 115897<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nOnce you can see that the workers have started successfully, you can shut down the workers by pressing Ctrl + C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Configure Nginx<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the above test done, it’s time to configure Nginx to act as the reverse proxy. This enables it to forward requests to Guincorn from the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Create a new configuration file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sudo nano \/etc\/nginx\/sites-available\/myproject<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThen, add this code to configure it as the reverse proxy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
server {
listen 80;
server_name your.domain.com your_server_public_ip;
location \/ {
proxy_pass http:\/\/localhost:8000;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
}
}<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nTo save and enable the configuration, add this code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sudo ln -s \/etc\/nginx\/sites-available\/myproject \/etc\/nginx\/sites-enabled
sudo systemctl restart nginx<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n5.<\/strong> Deploying and testing the app<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The final step in running Django on UpCloud is to deploy your app and ensure everything works properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Firstly, run Django migrations. Since we ran this command already once, there shouldn’t be any changes to migrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
python manage.py migrate <\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nNext, add a static root directory to your settings.py<\/em> file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
STATIC_ROOT = BASE_DIR\/'static'<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThen, collect static files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
python manage.py collectstatic<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThen, launch Gunicorn workers again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
gunicorn --workers 3 myproject.wsgi:application<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nYou should then see an output similar to the example below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[2025-02-02 13:25:05 +0000] [116075] [INFO] Starting gunicorn 23.0.0
[2025-02-02 13:25:05 +0000] [116075] [INFO] Listening at: http:\/\/127.0.0.1:8000 (116075)
[2025-02-02 13:25:05 +0000] [116075] [INFO] Using worker: sync
[2025-02-02 13:25:05 +0000] [116076] [INFO] Booting worker with pid: 116076
[2025-02-02 13:25:05 +0000] [116077] [INFO] Booting worker with pid: 116077
[2025-02-02 13:25:05 +0000] [116078] [INFO] Booting worker with pid: 116078<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nBy this stage, your web-based application should be working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To test it, open a browser and go to
http:\/\/your_server_public_ip<\/code> and your Django app should appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Common issues and troubleshooting<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If you can’t access your web, here are some common issues to check and how to resolve them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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- Firewall<\/strong>: Your server’s firewall may be blocking access. Use this command to allow all HTTP traffic through your firewall<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n- \n
- Incorrect Nginx configuration<\/strong>: It’s possible that Nginx isn’t serving your app correctly. Run this command to double-check the Nginx configuration file and verify it is valid.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
sudo nginx -t<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n- \n
- Nginx and Gunicorn service status<\/strong>: Check the service status to ensure they are both running. Run these commands to test.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
sudo systemctl status nginx
ps aux | grep gunicorn<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nIf Nginx and Gunicorn are running and you still can’t access your app via a web browser, check the server logs for any reported issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further resources<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
This comprehensive guide is designed to help you run Django on the Developer Cloud Servers hosted by UpCloud. For further information and reading, several excellent resources are available via UpCloud and Django to help you maximise the Django web hosting experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UpCloud advanced user setup guides<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
UpCloud API for developers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Security on UpCloud<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Nginx and Gunicorn service status<\/strong>: Check the service status to ensure they are both running. Run these commands to test.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Incorrect Nginx configuration<\/strong>: It’s possible that Nginx isn’t serving your app correctly. Run this command to double-check the Nginx configuration file and verify it is valid.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- 2. Choose your server location<\/strong>. Look for the nearest data centre location to you to minimise latency for remote connections.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Security<\/strong>\u2014Security is a critical driver in Django’s value offer with its built-in mitigations protecting against common vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, clickjacking, and cross-site scripting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n