Python Django Deployment with Gunicorn and Nginx on a VPS in 2026

Django includes a development server (manage.py runserver) that works fine for local development. For production on a VPS, you need Gunicorn (the WSGI server) behind Nginx (reverse proxy handling SSL and static files).

Stack Overview

Internet → Nginx (SSL, static files) → Gunicorn (Django WSGI workers) → Django (Python)

Nginx handles the slow parts (SSL handshake, serving static files, connection keep-alive). Gunicorn handles fast Python request processing. Neither alone does both well.

Installation

# In your project directory
source venv/bin/activate
pip install gunicorn

# Test Gunicorn manually:
gunicorn --bind 0.0.0.0:8000 myproject.wsgi:application

Gunicorn Systemd Service

# /etc/systemd/system/gunicorn.service
[Unit]
Description=Gunicorn Django Server
After=network.target

[Service]
User=www-data
Group=www-data
WorkingDirectory=/var/www/myproject
EnvironmentFile=/var/www/myproject/.env
ExecStart=/var/www/myproject/venv/bin/gunicorn \
    --access-logfile /var/log/gunicorn/access.log \
    --error-logfile /var/log/gunicorn/error.log \
    --workers 3 \
    --bind unix:/run/gunicorn.sock \
    myproject.wsgi:application

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Workers formula: 2 × CPU cores + 1. For a 2-core VPS: 5 workers.

Nginx Configuration

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;  # Force HTTPS
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name yourdomain.com;
    
    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;
    
    # Serve Django static files directly (bypass Gunicorn)
    location /static/ {
        alias /var/www/myproject/staticfiles/;
    }
    
    location /media/ {
        alias /var/www/myproject/media/;
    }
    
    # Proxy everything else to Gunicorn
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://unix:/run/gunicorn.sock;
        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;
    }
}

Environment Variables

Never hardcode secrets. Use a .env file not tracked by git:

# /var/www/myproject/.env
SECRET_KEY=your_production_secret_key
DEBUG=False
ALLOWED_HOSTS=yourdomain.com
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@localhost/dbname

Deploy Django applications on Space-Node VPS