Django – create and deploy a new Django app with Gunicorn and Nginx

This guide walks you through deploying a Django application on a LumaDock VPS running Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. You will configure Python, a virtual environment, Gunicorn, Nginx, and optional PostgreSQL and HTTPS.

Firewall note: if you enable the cloud firewall later, allow inbound ports 22/tcp, 80/tcp, and 443/tcp.

Requirements

A working Django setup requires:

A LumaDock VPS running Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
SSH access as root or a sudo-enabled user
A domain pointed to your VPS (recommended for HTTPS)

1) Connect and update

ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP

Update packages:

apt update && apt -y upgrade

To avoid using root directly, create a sudo user:

adduser admin usermod -aG 

sudo admin ssh admin@YOUR_SERVER_IP

2) Install Python and build tools

Install required packages:

apt install -y python3 python3-venv python3-pip python3-dev build-essential nginx git

3) Create your Django project and virtual environment

Create a directory and activate a virtual environment:

mkdir -p /opt/djangoapp && 

cd /opt/djangoapp 

python3 -m venv venv source 

venv/bin/activate

Install Django and Gunicorn:

pip install --upgrade pip pip install django gunicorn

Create a Django project:

django-admin startproject myproject .

Allow your domain or IP in Django settings:

nano myproject/settings.py

# ALLOWED_HOSTS = ["YOUR_DOMAIN_OR_IP"]

4) Test with Gunicorn

Run migrations:

python manage.py migrate

Collect static files:

python manage.py collectstatic --noinput

Start Gunicorn:

gunicorn --bind 127.0.0.1:8000 myproject.wsgi

In another terminal:

curl -I http://127.0.0.1:8000

You should see 200 OK.

5) Set up Nginx as a reverse proxy

Create a new Nginx configuration:

nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/djangoapp

Paste the following block:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name YOUR_DOMAIN_OR_IP;

    client_max_body_size 20M;

    location /static/ {
        alias /opt/djangoapp/static/;
    }

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;

        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";

        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    }
}

Enable and test the configuration:

ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/djangoapp /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ nginx -t && systemctl restart nginx

Visit:

http://YOUR_DOMAIN_OR_IP

6) Create a systemd service for Gunicorn

Create a service file:

nano /etc/systemd/system/gunicorn-djangoapp.service

Insert:

[Unit]
Description=Gunicorn for Django (djangoapp)
After=network.target

[Service]
User=www-data
Group=www-data
WorkingDirectory=/opt/djangoapp
Environment="PATH=/opt/djangoapp/venv/bin"
ExecStart=/opt/djangoapp/venv/bin/gunicorn --workers 3 --bind 127.0.0.1:8000 myproject.wsgi:application
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable the service:

systemctl daemon-reload systemctl enable --now gunicorn-djangoapp 

systemctl status gunicorn-djangoapp

7) Optional — enable HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt

Install Certbot:

apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Request a certificate:

certbot --nginx -d YOUR_DOMAIN -m you@example.com --agree-tos --redirect

Check automatic renewal:

systemctl list-timers | grep certbot

8) Optional — configure PostgreSQL

Install PostgreSQL:

apt install -y postgresql postgresql-contrib libpq-dev

Create a database and user:

sudo -u postgres psql

CREATE DATABASE mydb;
CREATE USER myuser WITH PASSWORD 'StrongPassword123!';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE mydb TO myuser;
\q

Install the driver:

source /opt/djangoapp/venv/bin/activate pip install psycopg2-binary

Update settings:

DATABASES = {
    "default": {
        "ENGINE": "django.db.backends.postgresql",
        "NAME": "mydb",
        "USER": "myuser",
        "PASSWORD": "StrongPassword123!",
        "HOST": "127.0.0.1",
        "PORT": "5432",
    }
}

Apply migrations:

python manage.py migrate

systemctl restart gunicorn-djangoapp

9) Configure and collect static files

Add to settings:

STATIC_URL = "static/" 

STATIC_ROOT = "/opt/djangoapp/static"

Collect files and restart services:

python manage.py collectstatic --noinput

systemctl restart gunicorn-djangoapp

systemctl restart nginx

Troubleshooting

Common issues you may encounter:

400 Bad Request: your domain/IP is missing from ALLOWED_HOSTS
403/404 static files: STATIC_ROOT missing or static not collected
502 Bad Gateway: Gunicorn is not running or Nginx proxy_pass uses wrong address
Port 80/443 errors: Nginx down or firewall blocking traffic

Appendix: useful commands

Logs and service checks:

journalctl -u gunicorn-djangoapp -e 

journalctl -u nginx -e 

systemctl restart gunicorn-djangoapp

systemctl restart nginx

Check open ports:

ss -tulpen | egrep ':80|:443|:8000' curl -I http://127.0.0.1:8000 curl -I http://YOUR_DOMAIN_OR_IP

Your Django application is now running behind Nginx and Gunicorn on your LumaDock VPS.

You can deploy your code, configure environment variables, and continue building out your project.

Django – deploy an existing project on a LumaDock VPS