website security

Deploying a Django project to a live server can be challenging, especially for the first time. In this guide, I’ll walk you through a clear, step-by-step process to deploy your Django application on an AWS EC2 instance using Ubuntu, Gunicorn, and Nginx. Step 1: Install Required Packages Update the package and the Linux sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y Install Python Nginx dependencies: sudo apt install python3-pip python3-venv python3-dev libpq-dev nginx curl git -y Step 2: Create a Virtual Environment and Activate python3 -m venv myenv source myenv/bin/activate Step 3: Clone or Upload Your Django Project Clone your project to AWS. Generally, the AWS user name is Ubuntu git clone https://github.com/ubuntu/yourproject.git cd yourproject Install all the project’s libraries: pip install -r requirements.txt Step 4: Configure Django Settings Add your EC2 IP or domain in ALLOWED_HOSTS like this ALLOWED_HOSTS = [‘aws-ec2-ip’, ‘yourdomain.com’] Step 5: Install PostgreSQL on Ubuntu sudo apt update sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib -y Check PostgreSQL Status and Start PostgreSQL sudo systemctl status postgresql sudo systemctl start postgresql Switch to the postgres User and create a Database sudo -i -u postgres psql \l create database CREATE DATABASE ensdb; –set password ALTER USER postgres WITH PASSWORD ‘new_secure_password’; Exit psql and the user: \q exit Step 4: Migrate and collect static files python3 manage.py makemigrations python3 manage.py migrate #now collaect all static files python3 manage.py collectstatic Create a superuser for the django admin python3 manage.py createsuperuser Step 5: Install & Run Gunicorn pip install gunicorn Run Gunicorn and verify it’s working : gunicorn –workers 3 myproject.wsgi:application Test it by accessing http://your-ec2-ip:8000 if Gunicorn runs. Step 6: Run Gunicorn in the Background with Systemd Create a socket file sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/gunicorn.socket Please copy and paste the code below into the socket file and save it [Unit] Description=gunicorn socket [Socket] ListenStream=/run/gunicorn.sock [Install] WantedBy=sockets.target Now, create a service file sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/gunicorn.service Be careful with the socket file because your project depends on this configuration. Make sure your path to the project is correct [Unit] Description=gunicorn daemon Requires=gunicorn.socket After=network.target [Service] User=root Group=www-data WorkingDirectory=/home/ubuntu/project-dir/myproject ExecStart=/home/ubuntu/project-dir/env/bin/gunicorn \ –access-logfile – \ –workers 3 \ –bind unix:/run/gunicorn.sock \ myproject.wsgi:application [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target myproject is inside the project dir, that’s why my env is inside it. For any error, comment me, and I will help you out Enable and start it: sudo systemctl start gunicorn.socket sudo systemctl enable gunicorn.socke Restart Gunicorn and check the status: sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl restart gunicorn sudo systemctl status gunicorn Step 7: Set up Nginx We have already installed nginx, now it is time to configure it sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/myproject server { listen 80; server_name mysite.com; location = /favicon.ico { access_log off; log_not_found off; } location /static/ { alias /home/ubuntu/project-dir/myproject/myproject/static/; } location /media/ { alias /home/ubuntu/project-dir/myproject/media/; } location / { include proxy_params; proxy_pass http://unix:/run/gunicorn.sock; } } Run the commands to create a symlink and allow nginx to fully sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/myproject /etc/nginx/sites-enabled sudo nginx -t sudo systemctl restart nginx sudo ufw allow ‘Nginx Full’ Open the Nginx configuration file sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf Edit the user directive, Find the top line that looks like: user www-data; Change it to your desired user (e.g., ubuntu): user ubuntu; Check if your user has permission Ensure the user you set has permission to access: Test Nginx configuration sudo nginx -t Comment below if you have an issue with deployment, and I will help you Get Lifetime Free SSL: To get a free SSL certificate, create a Cloudflare account and configure your DNS records there