How to Deploy Django Applications on Linode (Ubuntu 20.04 LTS)

I recently deployed a Django application to Linode and had quite some trouble getting everything to run smoothly. Below I offer a step-by-step manual to get things running on a Ubuntu 20.04 LTS image.

Photo by Domenico Loia on Unsplash

Before you start

• Make sure you have a functional Django app that you have tested with Django’s built-in development server.
• Execute python3 manage.py makemigrations locally. (We’ll do the follow-up withmigrate in the production environment).
• Push the complete project (e.g. mysite/)to a remote repository like GitHub or Bitbucket. Make sure you include the migrations folder in your repo (don’t put them in .gitignore !) and a requirements.txt file.

Setup Linode

Create a Linode account and create a new Linode (i.e. a Virtual Private Server):

• Choose Distribution image: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (which stands for “Long Term Support” and is more stable than 20.10)
• Choose region: [pick something close to you]
• Choose Linode Plan, Label and Root Password
• Choose Optional Add-ons
• Press “Create Linode”