Complete Guide to Deploying Django Applications on DigitalOcean

Introduction

Deploying a Django application to production can be challenging, especially for developers new to server management. This comprehensive guide will walk you through deploying a Django application on DigitalOcean, from initial setup to handling common issues and maintaining your application. I am supposing that you do not use docker and docker compose to ship your app, so we will install everything separatly on our new Virtual Machine in digitalocean.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

• A Django application ready for deployment
• A GitHub repository with your project
• A DigitalOcean account
• A domain name (optional but recommended)
• Basic command line knowledge

Table of Contents

1. Initial Server Setup
2. Installing Required Software
3. Database Setup
4. Django Project Configuration
5. Gunicorn Setup
6. Nginx Configuration
7. SSL Certificate Setup
8. Common Issues and Solutions
9. Maintenance and Updates

Initial Server Setup

Creating a Droplet