Django is a powerful framework for building web applications, but deploying it effectively can be challenging without the right tools. AWS Elastic Beanstalk offers a streamlined way to deploy, manage, and scale Django applications, while integrating Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) ensures that updates roll out smoothly. In this blog post, we’ll guide you through deploying Django applications on AWS Elastic Beanstalk with CI/CD.

Introduction to Django Deployment on AWS

AWS Elastic Beanstalk is a Platform as a Service (PaaS) that simplifies deploying web applications. It supports multiple programming languages, including Python, making it an excellent choice for Django projects. By using Elastic Beanstalk, you can focus on your application while AWS handles the infrastructure, scaling, and load balancing.

Preparing Your Django Project for Elastic Beanstalk

  1. Install Dependencies: Ensure your Django project is equipped with necessary dependencies, including gunicorn as the WSGI server.
    pip install gunicorn
  2. Create a requirements.txt File: Generate a file that lists all Python dependencies.
    pip freeze > requirements.txt
  3. Set Up a .ebextensions Directory: Create a folder in your project’s root directory to hold configuration files for Elastic Beanstalk.
  4. Collect Static Files: Configure Django to collect static files for production.
    python manage.py collectstatic

Installing the AWS Elastic Beanstalk CLI

  1. Install the Elastic Beanstalk CLI on your local machine:

Linux/Mac:
brew install awsebcli

  1. Verify installation:
    eb –version
  2. Configure AWS CLI credentials:
    aws configure

Initializing Your Elastic Beanstalk Application

  1. Navigate to your Django project’s root directory.
  2. Run the following command to initialize an Elastic Beanstalk application:
    eb init
  3. Choose:
    • Region: Select your preferred AWS region.
    • Platform: Select Python as your platform.
    • Repository: Link to a Git repository for CI/CD integration.

Creating and Configuring Your Elastic Beanstalk Environment

  1. Create a new environment:

    eb create django-env

Elastic Beanstalk will set up an EC2 instance, a load balancer, and other resources.

  1. Configure the environment:

Update environment variables:
eb setenv DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=myproject.settings AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your_key AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your_secret_key

3.Test your environment:
eb status

Deploying Your Django Application

  1. Deploy your application to Elastic Beanstalk:
    eb deploy
  2. Access the application: After deployment, Elastic Beanstalk will provide a URL for your application.
  3. Monitor your application: Use the Elastic Beanstalk dashboard or the eb logs command to check logs and troubleshoot issues.

Updating Django Settings for AWS

  1. Database Configuration: Update settings.py to connect to an AWS RDS instance if required.
  2. Static and Media Files: Configure settings.py to use Amazon S3 for storing static and media files:
    AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME = ‘your-s3-bucket’

STATIC_URL = f’https://{AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME}.s3.amazonaws.com/static/’

MEDIA_URL = f’https://{AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME}.s3.amazonaws.com/media/’

  1. Security Settings:
    • Set ALLOWED_HOSTS to include the Elastic Beanstalk domain.
    • Enable HTTPS using Elastic Beanstalk’s load balancer.

Conclusion

Deploying Django applications on AWS Elastic Beanstalk simplifies the complexities of infrastructure management while enabling scalability and flexibility. Integrating CI/CD into this setup ensures seamless deployments and reduces downtime. Follow the steps outlined in this guide to get your Django project up and running on AWS.

References

Deploying a Django application to Elastic Beanstalk

Deploying Node.js applications with Elastic Beanstalk