Deploying Django on Render

I. Django Configuration with Environment Variables

Install python-dotenv

First, install the python-dotenv package:

shell
pip install python-dotenv

Configure settings.py

Add the following to your settings.py file:

python
from pathlib import Path
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
# Define the base directory
BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
# Load environment variables from .env file
load_dotenv(BASE_DIR / '.env')
# Retrieve the secret key from the environment variables
SECRET_KEY = os.getenv('SECRET_KEY')
# Set the debug mode based on environment variable
DEBUG = os.getenv('DEBUG') == 'True'
# Configure allowed hosts
ALLOWED_HOSTS = os.getenv('ALLOWED_HOSTS', '').split(' ')

Create an .env file

In the root directory of your project, create a file named .env with the following content:

env
SECRET_KEY=your_secret_key
DEBUG=True
ALLOWED_HOSTS=localhost 127.0.0.1
DATABASE_URL=your_database_url

II. Handling Static Files

Install whitenoise

Install whitenoise to serve static files efficiently:

shell
pip install whitenoise

Update settings.py

Modify your settings.py to include whitenoise:

python
MIDDLEWARE = [
    'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
    'whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware',
    # ...
]
if not DEBUG:
    STATICFILES_STORAGE = 'whitenoise.storage.CompressedManifestStaticFilesStorage'

III. Database Configuration

Set Up PostgreSQL on Render

1. In the Render dashboard, click "New" at the top right and select "PostgreSQL".
2. Configure the PostgreSQL instance with:
   • Name: Your custom name
   • Database: Leave empty
   • User: Leave empty
   • Region: Choose the closest region
   • PostgreSQL Version: 15
   • Datadog API Key: Leave empty
   • Plan Type: Choose according to your needs
3. In the "Connections" section, note the "Internal Database URL". //dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/0tiq0cnguiybjv2rq3mj.png)

Install Required Packages

Install the necessary packages for PostgreSQL integration:

shell
pip install psycopg2-binary
pip install dj-database-url
pip install gunicorn

Configure settings.py

Update your settings.py for database configuration:

python
import dj_database_url
if not DEBUG:
    DATABASES = {
        "default": dj_database_url.parse(os.getenv("DATABASE_URL"))
    }
else:
    DATABASES = {
        'default': {
            'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
            'NAME': BASE_DIR / 'db.sqlite3',
        }
    }

IV. Setting Up the Web Service

Configure Render Web Service

1. Name: Your custom name
2. Region: The same as your database
3. Branch: Your main branch (e.g., main)
4. Root Directory: Leave empty
5. Environment: Python 3
6. Build Command: sh build.sh
7. Start Command: gunicorn core.wsgi:application
8. Plan Type: Choose according to your needs

Add Environment Variables

Under the "Advanced" dropdown, add the following environment variables:

1. PYTHON_VERSION: 3.9.9
2. SECRET_KEY: Click "Generate" to create a new key
3. DEBUG: False
4. ALLOWED_HOSTS: *
5. DATABASE_URL: Your internal database URL from Render

V. Build Script

Create build.sh

In the root directory, create a file named build.sh with the following content:

shell
#/usr/bin/env bash
set -o errexit  # exit on error
pip install -r requirements.txt
python manage.py collectstatic --no-input
python manage.py migrate

This script installs the required packages, collects static files, and applies database migrations.