Deploy Django on VPSGrid

1. Python venv + Django project
2. PostgreSQL or MariaDB
3. Gunicorn + systemd
4. Nginx static/media + proxy
5. collectstatic & migrate
6. ALLOWED_HOSTS + HTTPS

Overview

This guide covers the steps and checks you need on an unmanaged VPSGrid VPS. Guest OS configuration remains your responsibility unless a separate managed product is documented on your account.

VPSGrid provides unmanaged KVM VPS hosting. You are responsible for backups, OS configuration, application data, and guest-level security. VPSGrid manages hypervisor infrastructure, network connectivity, power controls, and billing. Review What Is an Unmanaged VPS at VPSGrid? and Security Responsibilities on Unmanaged VPS before relying on support for guest OS tasks.

VPSGrid operates from its US-Based infrastructure datacenter while serving customers across the United States. Plans run on KVM virtual servers on Proxmox VE with NVMe storage. Plan sizes and current pricing appear at checkout on vpsgrid.net — knowledgebase articles do not publish fixed dollar amounts because promotions and tiers change.

Plan Django on VPSGrid

Django needs WSGI server (Gunicorn), database, static file serving, and secret key management. Size RAM for Gunicorn workers plus database buffers — compare plans at vpsgrid.net checkout.

System packages

sudo apt-get update\nsudo apt-get install -y python3-venv python3-pip nginx postgresql postgresql-contrib libpq-dev

Project setup

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/djangoapp\ncd /var/www/djangoapp\npython3 -m venv venv\nsource venv/bin/activate\npip install django gunicorn psycopg2-binary\ndjango-admin startproject myproject .

Database configuration

sudo -u postgres createuser django_user
sudo -u postgres createdb django_db -O django_user
sudo -u postgres psql -c "ALTER USER django_user PASSWORD 'STRONG_PASSWORD';"

Update settings.py or split settings module with DATABASES pointing at localhost PostgreSQL. Load SECRET_KEY from environment — never commit secrets.

Gunicorn systemd unit

[Unit]\nDescription=Gunicorn Django\nAfter=network.target\n\n[Service]\nUser=www-data\nGroup=www-data\nWorkingDirectory=/var/www/djangoapp\nEnvironmentFile=/var/www/djangoapp/.env\nExecStart=/var/www/djangoapp/venv/bin/gunicorn --workers 3 --bind 127.0.0.1:8000 myproject.wsgi:application\n\n[Install]\nWantedBy=multi-user.target

Static and media files

python manage.py collectstatic --noinput

Nginx configuration

server {\n    listen 80;\n    server_name django.example.com;\n\n    location /static/ {\n        alias /var/www/djangoapp/static/;\n    }\n\n    location /media/ {\n        alias /var/www/djangoapp/media/;\n    }\n\n    location / {\n        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8000;\n        proxy_set_header Host $host;\n        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;\n        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;\n        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;\n    }\n}

Deploy workflow

git pull\nsource venv/bin/activate\npip install -r requirements.txt\npython manage.py migrate\npython manage.py collectstatic --noinput\nsudo systemctl restart gunicorn-django

Production settings

• DEBUG=False
• ALLOWED_HOSTS lists your domain
• CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS includes https URL
• Secure cookies behind HTTPS

Firewall and TLS

How to Configure UFW Firewall on Ubuntu/Debian then Let's Encrypt SSL with Certbot on VPSGrid.

Troubleshooting Django on VPS

Monitoring and scale

Watch RAM/CPU with High CPU and RAM Usage on Your VPSGrid VPS. Upgrade at Linux VPS store. Flask alternative: Deploy Flask on VPSGrid with Gunicorn and Nginx.

Support scope

VPSGrid support assists with VPS infrastructure per Security Responsibilities on Unmanaged VPS — not Django application debugging on unmanaged plans. Open tickets with service ID for network or hypervisor issues.

MariaDB alternative to PostgreSQL

Some teams prefer MariaDB for Django using the mysqlclient driver. Install python3-mysqldb or pip package, create database and user mirroring PostgreSQL steps, and set ENGINE to django.db.backends.mysql with utf8mb4 charset. Test migrations on staging — MySQL-specific field types may differ from PostgreSQL JSON support.

Logging and observability

Configure Django LOGGING to write errors to stderr consumed by journald:

journalctl -u gunicorn-django -f

Correlate timestamps with Nginx access logs during incident response. External uptime monitors hitting HTTPS endpoints alert you before customers report outages.

Django admin hardening

Change default /admin/ URL via custom AdminSite if desired, enforce staff MFA through django-otp or similar, and restrict admin access by IP in Nginx location blocks during early production phases. Never expose DEBUG toolbar publicly.

Static CDN (optional)

Serve collected static files from Nginx on same VPS for simplicity. External CDN offloads bandwidth but adds DNS complexity — evaluate after baseline Nginx static serving performs adequately on VPSGrid US-Based connectivity.

Python WSGI/ASGI deployment patterns

Flask and Django on VPSGrid run behind Gunicorn (WSGI) or Uvicorn/Hypercorn (ASGI) with Nginx terminating TLS. You manage virtual environments, dependency pins (requirements.txt or Poetry lockfiles), static file collection, and database migrations — VPSGrid does not provide PaaS-style deploy buttons on unmanaged Linux VPS.

Virtual environments

Create per-app venv under /var/www/app/venv owned by the deploy user. Never install production packages globally with pip as root unless using distribution packages intentionally. Activate venv in systemd unit ExecStart paths.

Static and media files

Django requires collectstatic before serving via Nginx whitenoise or direct alias. User uploads belong in MEDIA_ROOT with backup plans — media is not recreated by git deploy. Flask static folders follow similar Nginx alias patterns.

Database migrations

Run python manage.py migrate (Django) or Alembic upgrades (Flask-SQLAlchemy) during deploy windows after backups. Failed migrations mid-transaction need DBA attention — test on staging VPS clones first.

systemd hardening

Run Gunicorn as non-root with ProtectSystem=strict, NoNewPrivileges=yes, and explicit WorkingDirectory. Cap LimitNOFILE for busy APIs. Restart policies Restart=always recover from memory leaks but mask application bugs — monitor restart counts.

Secrets and settings modules

Split settings: settings/base.py plus environment-specific overrides loaded from env vars. Never set DEBUG=True in production — exposes stack traces and enables dangerous management endpoints.

Scaling beyond one VPS

Single VPSGrid instances suit many small APIs. Horizontal scaling across multiple VPS nodes requires external load balancing and shared session storage — outside default unmanaged scope unless you architect it.

pip-audit and supply chain

Run pip-audit or similar on requirements.txt periodically — Python dependencies on public VPS need patch cadence like OS packages.

Celery workers (optional)

Background tasks may need separate Celery systemd units — ensure Redis/RabbitMQ persistence and backup if queues hold financial data.

WSGI vs ASGI

Django 4+ async views may benefit from ASGI (Uvicorn) — evaluate separately from this Gunicorn WSGI baseline.

Database connection pooling

Configure CONN_MAX_AGE in Django database settings for persistent connections under Gunicorn — balance against PostgreSQL max_connections on small VPS plans.

Logging to journald

Route Django LOGGING to stdout for systemd journal capture — simplifies correlation with Gunicorn and Nginx errors during 502 investigations.

requirements.txt pinning

Pin exact versions in production requirements — reproducible deploys on VPSGrid NVMe reduce surprise breakages after pip install -r.

pip-audit and supply chain

Run pip-audit or similar on requirements.txt periodically — Python dependencies on public VPS need patch cadence like OS packages.

Celery workers (optional)

Background tasks may need separate Celery systemd units — ensure Redis/RabbitMQ persistence and backup if queues hold financial data.

WSGI vs ASGI

Django 4+ async views may benefit from ASGI (Uvicorn) — evaluate separately from this Gunicorn WSGI baseline.

Database connection pooling

Configure CONN_MAX_AGE in Django database settings for persistent connections under Gunicorn — balance against PostgreSQL max_connections on small VPS plans.

Logging to journald

Route Django LOGGING to stdout for systemd journal capture — simplifies correlation with Gunicorn and Nginx errors during 502 investigations.

requirements.txt pinning

Pin exact versions in production requirements — reproducible deploys on VPSGrid NVMe reduce surprise breakages after pip install -r.

pip-audit and supply chain

Run pip-audit or similar on requirements.txt periodically — Python dependencies on public VPS need patch cadence like OS packages.

Celery workers (optional)

Background tasks may need separate Celery systemd units — ensure Redis/RabbitMQ persistence and backup if queues hold financial data.

WSGI vs ASGI

Django 4+ async views may benefit from ASGI (Uvicorn) — evaluate separately from this Gunicorn WSGI baseline.

Database connection pooling

Configure CONN_MAX_AGE in Django database settings for persistent connections under Gunicorn — balance against PostgreSQL max_connections on small VPS plans.

Logging to journald

Route Django LOGGING to stdout for systemd journal capture — simplifies correlation with Gunicorn and Nginx errors during 502 investigations.

requirements.txt pinning

Pin exact versions in production requirements — reproducible deploys on VPSGrid NVMe reduce surprise breakages after pip install -r.

pip-audit and supply chain

Run pip-audit or similar on requirements.txt periodically — Python dependencies on public VPS need patch cadence like OS packages.

Celery workers (optional)

Background tasks may need separate Celery systemd units — ensure Redis/RabbitMQ persistence and backup if queues hold financial data.

WSGI vs ASGI

Django 4+ async views may benefit from ASGI (Uvicorn) — evaluate separately from this Gunicorn WSGI baseline.

Database connection pooling

Configure CONN_MAX_AGE in Django database settings for persistent connections under Gunicorn — balance against PostgreSQL max_connections on small VPS plans.

Logging to journald

Route Django LOGGING to stdout for systemd journal capture — simplifies correlation with Gunicorn and Nginx errors during 502 investigations.

requirements.txt pinning

Pin exact versions in production requirements — reproducible deploys on VPSGrid NVMe reduce surprise breakages after pip install -r.

pip-audit and supply chain

Run pip-audit or similar on requirements.txt periodically — Python dependencies on public VPS need patch cadence like OS packages.

Celery workers (optional)

Background tasks may need separate Celery systemd units — ensure Redis/RabbitMQ persistence and backup if queues hold financial data.

WSGI vs ASGI

Django 4+ async views may benefit from ASGI (Uvicorn) — evaluate separately from this Gunicorn WSGI baseline.

Database connection pooling

Configure CONN_MAX_AGE in Django database settings for persistent connections under Gunicorn — balance against PostgreSQL max_connections on small VPS plans.

Logging to journald

Route Django LOGGING to stdout for systemd journal capture — simplifies correlation with Gunicorn and Nginx errors during 502 investigations.

requirements.txt pinning

Pin exact versions in production requirements — reproducible deploys on VPSGrid NVMe reduce surprise breakages after pip install -r.

pip-audit and supply chain

Run pip-audit or similar on requirements.txt periodically — Python dependencies on public VPS need patch cadence like OS packages.

Celery workers (optional)

Background tasks may need separate Celery systemd units — ensure Redis/RabbitMQ persistence and backup if queues hold financial data.

WSGI vs ASGI

Django 4+ async views may benefit from ASGI (Uvicorn) — evaluate separately from this Gunicorn WSGI baseline.

Database connection pooling

Configure CONN_MAX_AGE in Django database settings for persistent connections under Gunicorn — balance against PostgreSQL max_connections on small VPS plans.

Logging to journald

Route Django LOGGING to stdout for systemd journal capture — simplifies correlation with Gunicorn and Nginx errors during 502 investigations.

requirements.txt pinning

Pin exact versions in production requirements — reproducible deploys on VPSGrid NVMe reduce surprise breakages after pip install -r.

pip-audit and supply chain

Run pip-audit or similar on requirements.txt periodically — Python dependencies on public VPS need patch cadence like OS packages.

Celery workers (optional)

Background tasks may need separate Celery systemd units — ensure Redis/RabbitMQ persistence and backup if queues hold financial data.

WSGI vs ASGI

Django 4+ async views may benefit from ASGI (Uvicorn) — evaluate separately from this Gunicorn WSGI baseline.

Django deployment checklist: Django deployment checklist.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Articles

• How to Connect via SSH to Your VPSGrid Linux VPS
• Deploy Flask on VPSGrid with Gunicorn and Nginx
• Let's Encrypt SSL with Certbot on VPSGrid
• How to Configure UFW Firewall on Ubuntu/Debian
• Backup Best Practices for VPS Owners
• Fix 502 Bad Gateway on VPSGrid Nginx/Apache
• How to Secure Your Linux VPS After First Login
• High CPU and RAM Usage on Your VPSGrid VPS

Next steps on VPSGrid

Ready to deploy your app on an unmanaged VPS? A VPSGrid Linux VPS gives you root access and a clean environment for Node.js, Flask, Django, Nginx, and related tools you install and maintain.

Need More Help?

Search this knowledgebase for related guides. If the issue persists, open a ticket at billing.vpsgrid.net with your service ID, primary IP, and steps already tried. See What Information to Include in a Support Request and Security Responsibilities on Unmanaged VPS for scope and required details.