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Deploy a Dockerized Django App on AWS (EC2 + Nginx + Gunicorn + RDS + S3) — A Beginner-Friendly Guide

#webdev #docker #beginners #python

This process only for run project on IP Address without domain but it not support other device (like mobile,tablet etc.)

No prior DevOps experience needed—just follow the steps.

Step 0 — Prerequisites

EC2 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS instance with public IP.

Security group allowing:

SSH 22 → your IP

HTTP 80 → 0.0.0.0/0

HTTPS 443 → 0.0.0.0/0 (optional)

Key pair .pem file to SSH in.

Your Django project in GitHub (with Dockerfile).

RDS (PostgreSQL) and S3 bucket ready.

Step 1 — SSH into EC2

Open your Ubuntu terminal open .pem file path where you install

ssfsf@youdsfsdf-sdf-by-lef-Laptop-134-e0xxx:~$ cd Desktop
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Importent open path where you download key par .pem file

In EC2 > Instance > Your_intance (click connect button on top right)
Go SSH Client
copy Run this command

ssfsf@youdsfsdf-sdf-by-lef-Laptop-134-e0xxx:~/Desktop$
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Past .pem path location

ssfsf@youdsfsdf-sdf-by-lef-Laptop-134-e0xxx:~/Desktop$ chmod 400 "yourpairkey.pem"
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Press Enter , then copy Example code SSH Client

ssfsf@youdsfsdf-sdf-by-lef-Laptop-134-e0xxx:~/Desktop$ ssh -i "yourpairkey.pem" ubuntu@ec2-31-85-7123-234.compute-1.amazonaws.com
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Then Press Enter, wait few seconds then it ask yes/no type yes it setup ubuntu.

Now your ubuntu live

Step 2 — Update & Install Packages 

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install required packages
sudo apt install -y git python3-pip python3-venv nginx curl ca-certificates gnupg lsb-release
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Step 3 — Install Docker CE & Compose 

# Remove any old Docker
sudo apt remove -y docker docker.io docker-engine containerd runc
sudo apt autoremove -y

# Add Docker repo
sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

# Install Docker
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin

# Start Docker & allow user access
sudo systemctl enable --now docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

# Test Docker
docker run hello-world
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Step 4 — Create virtual environment 

python3 -m venv venv
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This will create a folder venv/ inside your project.

source venv/bin/activate
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Your shell prompt should now show (venv) at the beginning.

Install project dependencies :

pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements.txt
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Step 5 — Clone your project


git clone <YOUR_REPO_URL>
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Step 6 — Create .env for secrets 

nano .env
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In your .env file have allowhost set public IP :

ALLOWED_HOSTS=<EC2_PUBLIC_IP>,localhost,127.0.0.1
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Step 7 — Adjust Django settings

Access settings.py page use cmd :

nano settings.py

for save use ctrl + o (is not zero) then Enter , Ctrl+x exit , see changes use cmd:

cat settings.py

CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS = [f"http://{h}" for h in ALLOWED_HOSTS if h not in ("localhost","127.0.0.1")]

# True to False 
CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE = False     
SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = False
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Step 8 — Build Docker image 

docker build -t mydjangoapp .
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Step 9 — Configure Nginx

Create config:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/watchmart.conf
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Paste:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name _;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}
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Check which site Nginx is serving

ls -l /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
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  • If you see default -> /etc/nginx/sites-available/default, Nginx is still using the default config.
  • Your Django config file must be enabled and default should be removed.

Enable your config & disable default :

sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/watchmart.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
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Step 10 — Run Docker container 

docker run -d \
  --name mydjangoapp \
  --env-file .env \
  -p 127.0.0.1:8000:8000 \
  --restart always \
  mydjangoapp
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  • Gunicorn runs inside container on port 8000.
  • Nginx will proxy traffic from port 80 → 8000.

Check logs:

docker logs -f mydjangoapp
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Enable and test:

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx
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  • If you see syntax is ok and test is successful, Nginx is now pointing to your Django container.

Open in browser

Visit:

http://<EC2_PUBLIC_IP>
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  • You should now see your Django app instead of the Nginx default page.

You’re live! 🎉

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