Deploy Django with Nginx + Gunicorn (Step-by-Step)

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to deploy a Django application in production using:

Nginx (web server)
Gunicorn (application server)
Ubuntu (VPS)

By the end, your Django app will be live and accessible via your server.

⚡ Quick Overview (What You’ll Do)

Set up your Django project
Install Gunicorn
Configure systemd (service)
Configure Nginx
Serve static files

🧠 Architecture (How it works)

Nginx to Gunicorn to Django request flow

Flow:

Client → Nginx → Gunicorn → Django

Nginx handles HTTP + static files
Gunicorn runs your Django app

🧱 Prerequisites

Ubuntu server (22.04+)
Python 3 installed
A working Django project

1. Set Up Project

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/myproject
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/myproject
cd /var/www/myproject

Create virtual environment and activate it:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

Install dependencies

Create or upload your project files to /var/www/myproject

django-admin startproject myproject .

Test Django:

python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000

Open:

http://you-server-ip:8000/

http://localhost:8000/

2. Configure Gunicorn

gunicorn --bind 0.0.0.0:8000 myproject.wsgi:application

Test Gunicorn manually:

gunicorn --bind 0.0.0.0:8000 myproject.wsgi:application

If this works → proceed.

3. Create Gunicorn systemd Service

Create file:

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

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

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Start Gunicorn:

sudo systemctl start gunicorn
sudo systemctl enable gunicorn

Verify Gunicorn is running:

sudo systemctl status gunicorn

4. Install and Configure Nginx

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

Create config file:

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

Or use your favourite editor.

Add this config:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your_domain_or_ip;

    location /static/ {
        root /var/www/myproject;
    }

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

Enable site:

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

5. Configure Static Files

In settings.py:

STATIC_ROOT = '/var/www/myproject/static/'

Collect static files:

python manage.py collectstatic

6. Fix Permissions

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/myproject
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/myproject

7. Final Test

Visit:

http://your-domain-or-ip

or:

http://localhost

👉 Your Django app should now be live and served by Nginx + Gunicorn!

🔥 Common Issues

🔴 502 Bad Gateway

Fix:

sudo systemctl restart gunicorn
sudo systemctl restart nginx

🔴 Static files not loading

Check STATIC_ROOT in settings.py
Run collectstatic

🔴 Permission denied

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/myproject

🧠 Production Checklist

Use Let's Encrypt with Certbot:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx

Next: secure and validate this deployment

Once the stack is live, enable HTTPS with Let's Encrypt and run the production checklist before you call the rollout complete.

❓ FAQ

Why use Gunicorn?

It’s a production-grade WSGI server designed to run Django apps efficiently.

Why use Nginx?

Handles HTTP requests
Serves static files
Acts as a reverse proxy
Can I deploy without Nginx?

Yes, but not recommended for production.

🎯 Final takeaway

This setup is:

Simple
Reliable
Widely used

If something breaks, you now have a clear structure to debug it.