Deployment Overview of Django on Server¶

Prerequisites and Basic Requirements¶

The application requires a Linux-based environment (Debian or Ubuntu) with the following specifications:

• Operating System: Debian or Ubuntu.

• Privileges: Root access or sudo privileges are required for package installation and service management.

• Domain: A domain under hostkey.in is used for SSL certificate issuance via Certbot.

• Ports:

  • 8000: Internal application port (Django development server).

  • 443: External HTTPS port.

FQDN of the final panel on the hostkey.in domain¶

The application is accessible via the following FQDN format: <prefix><server_id>.hostkey.in

Based on the configuration, the specific URL structure uses the prefix django.

File and Directory Structure¶

The deployment utilizes several key directories for application files, configurations, and SSL certificates:

Application installation process¶

The application is installed as a Django project using Python 3. The deployment includes:

1. Python Environment: A virtual environment is created at /root/django_client/venv (on Debian) or via global pip installation (on Ubuntu).

2. Dependencies: Installation of django, python3-pip, and libpq-dev.

3. Project Initialization: The Django project structure is generated in the /root/django_client/project directory.

4. Static Files: Static files are collected into a static/ directory within the project root.

Access Rights and Security¶

• User Execution: The Django service runs under the root user.

• Firewall/Network: The application is configured to listen on 0.0.0.0:8000.

• CSRF Protection: CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS is explicitly set to include the hostkey.in domain for secure form submissions.

Databases¶

The application uses PostgreSQL-compatible libraries (libpq-dev) and performs database migrations during the installation process using: python /root/django_client/project/manage.py migrate

Docker Containers and Their Deployment¶

The deployment utilizes a Docker container to manage Nginx and Let's Encrypt SSL certificates via docker compose.

Deployment Command:

cd /root/nginx && docker compose up -d

Container Configuration Details:

• Image: jonasal/nginx-certbot:latest

• Network Mode: host

• Volumes:

  • nginx_secrets:/etc/letsencrypt (External volume for SSL certificates)

  • /data/nginx/user_conf.d:/etc/nginx/user_conf.d

  • /data/nginx/letsencrypt:/var/www/letsencrypt

Proxy Servers¶

Nginx is deployed as a reverse proxy in a Docker container to handle HTTPS termination and SSL certificate management via Certbot.

• SSL Management: Automated renewal is configured with an interval of 8d.

• ACME Challenge: A specific location block is injected into the Nginx configuration to facilitate Let's Encrypt validation:

  location ^~ /.well-known/acme-challenge/ {
      root /var/www/letsencrypt;
      default_type "text/plain";
  }
  

Permission Settings¶

The following permission settings are applied to critical directories:

Available ports for connection¶