Installing and configuring Django on unmanaged servers

Installing and configuring Django on unmanaged servers

This guide explains how to install and configure Django on an unmanaged server.

Installing Django

1. Create a virtual environment for Python using virtualenv and install Django.

2. Log in to your server using SSH.

3. Install Python, pip, and virtualenv (as root):

Debian / Ubuntu:

apt-get install python3
apt-get install python3-pip
pip3 install virtualenv

AlmaLinux / Fedora:

yum install python34
yum install python34-pip
pip3 install virtualenv

4. Create and activate a virtual environment as a regular user:

cd ~
mkdir django-apps
cd django-apps
virtualenv env
source env/bin/activate
pip install django

5. Check the installed Django version:

django-admin --version

Configuring Django

1. Create a new Django project:

cd ~/django-apps
django-admin startproject mysite

2. Edit the settings file /home/username/django-apps/mysite/mysite/settings.py:

• Ensure debug mode is enabled:

DEBUG = True

• Set allowed hosts (replace with your server’s IP address):

ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx']

3. Start the development web server (replace with your server IP):

python ~/django-apps/mysite/manage.py runserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:8000

4. Visit the site in your browser: http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:8000
   You should see: "The install worked successfully! Congratulations!"

Configuring the administration interface

1. Run migrations and create a superuser:

cd ~
python ~/django-apps/mysite/manage.py migrate
python ~/django-apps/mysite/manage.py createsuperuser

2. Provide the admin username, e-mail, and password when prompted.

3. If the development server is not running, start it:

python ~/django-apps/mysite/manage.py runserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:8000

4. Access the admin interface at http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:8000/admin
   Log in with the username and password you created.

More information

• Official Django documentation: http://docs.djangoproject.com

• Django extensions: https://github.com/django-extensions/django-extensions