Django is a popular Python framework for developing secure and scalable web applications. In this guide, we will step-by-step deploy a server on Ubuntu and configure it for production deployment of a Django project.

Before starting, make sure you have:

• A Virtual or Dedicated server
• sudo or root access
• A Django project
• A registered Domain name

Server and Dependency Setup

System Update and Dependencies Installation

First, connect to your server via SSH and update the system packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Then install Python 3, pip, venv, Git, Nginx, and other basic utilities:

sudo apt install python3 python3-pip python3-venv git nginx curl -y

Configuring the Nginx Web Server

Nginx will handle incoming requests and proxy them to Gunicorn:

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

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;

    location = /static/ {
        root /var/www/projectname;
    }

    location / {
        include proxy_params;
        proxy_pass http://unix:/run/gunicorn.sock;
    }
}

Create a symlink and check the configuration:

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

Installing and Configuring Gunicorn

Gunicorn is a WSGI server through which Django operates in a production environment:

pip install gunicorn
gunicorn --workers 3 --bind unix:/run/gunicorn.sock projectname.wsgi:application

For permanent Gunicorn operation, let’s create a systemd service:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/gunicorn.service

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

[Service]
User=ubuntu
Group=www-data
WorkingDirectory=/var/www/projectname
ExecStart=/var/www/projectname/venv/bin/gunicorn --access-logfile - --workers 3 --bind unix:/run/gunicorn.sock projectname.wsgi:application

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Activate the service:

sudo systemctl start gunicorn
sudo systemctl enable gunicorn

Installing SSL (Let’s Encrypt)

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y
sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com

Security and Optimization

Configuring UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall)

Activate the firewall:

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'
sudo ufw enable

Configuring iptables

For enhanced protection, you can use iptables:

# Install iptables-persistent to save rules
sudo apt install iptables-persistent -y

# Basic security rules
sudo iptables -A INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 22 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT

# Block all other incoming traffic
sudo iptables -A INPUT -j DROP

# Save rules
sudo netfilter-persistent save

Django Project Setup

Cloning the Django Project

Let’s assume your project is hosted in a GitHub repository. Navigate to the directory where you plan to place your project:

cd /var/www/
sudo git clone https://github.com/username/projectname.git
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER projectname
cd projectname

Setting Up the Virtual Environment

A virtual environment allows you to isolate project dependencies:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

After activation, install dependencies from requirements.txt:

pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements.txt

Database Configuration

If your project uses PostgreSQL, let’s install the necessary packages and create a user and database:

sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib libpq-dev -y
sudo -u postgres createuser myuser --interactive
sudo -u postgres createdb mydb

Open settings.py and add the connection details:

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

Running Migrations and Collecting Static Files

Now let’s prepare the database and collect static files:

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py collectstatic --noinput

After completing all the steps, you should see the page of the newly created Django site in your browser: