What is the solution for accessing a Django site with the address "sitenmae.com" instead of "sitename.com:8000" without having to run the runserver command every time?

I currently have a VPS hosting and have installed Python 2.7.9 and Django 1.8.1 on it. However, to access the site, I need to run the manage.py runserver command through PuTTy with the sitename.com:8001 address and then follow a link. Can you suggest a better way to accomplish this task?

One example of using Nginx and Gunicorn together can be found in the deployment dоcumentation for Gunicorn at docs.gunicorn.org/en/latest/deploy.html.

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The website docs.gunicorn.org/en/latest/deploy.html offers guidance on deploying applications that use a combination of Nginx and Gunicorn. The two technologies can be used together to create a powerful web server setup that is able to handle a high volume of traffic and provide reliable performance. This guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to set up and configure Nginx and Gunicorn to work together, making it easier for developers to deploy their applications and ensure that they run smoothly.

"Enabled mode for dangerous advice" -
It is recommended to develop on a local machine, perhaps in a virtual environment, and only run on production after configuring Apache or Nginx.


"Disabled mode for harmful advice" -
It's important to take caution when following advice and to always double check before executing any commands. Additionally, it's wise to have backups in place to ensure that if anything goes wrong, you can easily get back to where you were before making any changes.

Check out DigitalOcean's supervisor guide for helpful information on this topic. If you're using python3, be sure to install python3-dev. For any unclear issues or errors, don't hesitate to consult Google, which offers a wealth of information.

it's important to note that properly managing system processes can greatly improve the efficiency and stability of your application. By utilizing tools like supervisor, you can simplify the process and ensure that your application is running smoothly.

You should consider using a production-grade web server like Gunicorn, combined with a reverse proxy like Nginx. This method allows your application to run more securely and efficiently. Here's a step-by-step guide to accomplish this:

1. Install Necessary Packages: Ensure you have Gunicorn and Nginx installed on your VPS. You can install Gunicorn with pip: pip install gunicorn.

2. Configure Gunicorn: You can run Gunicorn to serve your Django application. Navigate to your project directory and run: gunicorn your_project_name.wsgi:application --bind 0.0.0.0:8000. This command starts Gunicorn and binds it to port 8000. You can choose a different port if needed.

3. Setup a Service for Gunicorn: To avoid manually running Gunicorn each time, you can set it up as a service:
  - Create a systemd service file. For example, create a file named gunicorn.service in /etc/systemd/system/ with the following content:
  [Unit]
  Description=gunicorn daemon
  After=network.target

  [Service]
  User=your_username
  Group=www-data
  WorkingDirectory=/path/to/your/project
  ExecStart=/path/to/your/venv/bin/gunicorn --workers 3 --bind unix:/path/to/your/project.sock your_project_name.wsgi:application

  [Install]
  WantedBy=multi-user.target

  - Reload the systemd manager configuration with: sudo systemctl daemon-reload.
  - Start and enable the Gunicorn service: sudo systemctl start gunicorn; sudo systemctl enable gunicorn.

4. Configure Nginx: Next, set up Nginx to serve as a reverse proxy to Gunicorn. Create a new configuration file for your site in /etc/nginx/sites-available/, for example, myproject:
  server {
      listen 80;
      server_name sitename.com www.sitename.com;

      location = /favicon.ico { access_log off; log_not_found off; }
      location /static/ {
          root /path/to/your/project;
      }

      location / {
          include proxy_params;
          proxy_pass http://unix:/path/to/your/project.sock;
      }
  }

  - Enable your new site configuration by creating a symlink in the sites-enabled directory: sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/myproject /etc/nginx/sites-enabled.

5. Test Nginx Configuration: It is crucial to check for syntax errors: sudo nginx -t.

6. Restart Nginx: Finally, restart Nginx to apply your changes: sudo systemctl restart nginx.

Now, you should be able to access your Django site at "sitename.com" without needing to use "sitename.com:8000". You will also benefit from improved performance and security compared to the development server that comes with Django.

Make sure to also set up your domain's DNS records properly to point to your VPS's IP address. If you have any security concerns, you might wish to consider setting up HTTPS with Let's Encrypt for free SSL certificates.

I'd recommend deploying your Django application using a WSGI server like Gunicorn or uWSGI, and a reverse proxy server like Nginx or Apache. This setup allows you to access your site without running the runserver command every time.

You can configure Gunicorn to run your Django application, and then use Nginx as a reverse proxy to forward requests from port 80 (default HTTP port) to the port where Gunicorn is listening (e.g., port 8001). This way, you can access your site using the address "sitename.com" without specifying the port number.

Here's an example of how you can configure Nginx to proxy requests to Gunicorn:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/sitename.com

server { listen 80; server_name sitename.com; location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:8001; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; } }

Then, you can create a systemd service file to start Gunicorn automatically when your VPS boots up:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/gunicorn.service

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

[Service] User=<your_username> Group=www-data WorkingDirectory=/path/to/your/project ExecStart=/usr/bin/gunicorn --workers 3 --bind unix:/path/to/your/project.sock your_project.wsgi:application

[Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target

After setting up these configurations, you can access your site using the address "sitename.com".

To simplify Django access to a specific site address, update the ALLOWED_HOSTS in settings.py and configure the URL routing in urls.py to point to the desired address.