Deploying Django with Gunicorn and Nginx

This guide walks you through setting up a production-ready Django server using Gunicorn and Nginx on a Linux server (e.g., DigitalOcean, Ubuntu VPS).

📁 Project Setup

• Django project location: /var/www/pythonct
• Virtual environment: /var/www/pythonct/venv
• Gunicorn socket: /var/www/pythonct/gunicorn.sock
• Static files: /var/www/pythonct/static/
• Media files: /var/www/pythonct/media/
• Server IP: 165.22.210.213

🔧 Nginx Configuration

File: /etc/nginx/sites-available/pythonct

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name 165.22.210.213;

    location /static/ {
        alias /var/www/pythonct/static/;
    }

    location /media/ {
        alias /var/www/pythonct/media/;
    }

    location / {
        include proxy_params;
        proxy_pass http://unix:/var/www/pythonct/gunicorn.sock;
    }
}

Enable the site and restart Nginx:

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

⚙️ Gunicorn systemd Service

File: /etc/systemd/system/gunicorn.service

[Unit]
Description=gunicorn daemon for Django project
After=network.target

[Service]
User=hemant
Group=www-data
WorkingDirectory=/var/www/pythonct
ExecStart=/var/www/pythonct/venv/bin/gunicorn \
          --access-logfile - \
          --workers 3 \
          --bind unix:/var/www/pythonct/gunicorn.sock \
          ct.wsgi:application

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Reload and start the Gunicorn service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start gunicorn
sudo systemctl enable gunicorn

✅ Final Check

Visit your site:

http://165.22.210.213/

If you see your Django homepage or login screen, the setup is working! 🎉

🔐 Optional: Enable SSL (HTTPS)

If you have a domain name, run the following:

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

That's it! You've successfully deployed Django with Gunicorn and Nginx professionally and securely.