AI Built This

Getting Started with EC2

First things first: get yourself a server. I use AWS EC2 because it's free for a year and simple to set up. Launch an Ubuntu instance (t2.micro is fine for small projects), and make sure you can SSH into it (if you're not familiar with SSH, you can also just use the EC2 console by clicking on the instance).

Once you're in, update your system:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Project Setup

Now let's get your project running. Create a directory for your code:

mkdir ~/code && cd ~/code
git clone your-project-url cool_project
cd cool_project

Set up a virtual environment and install what you need:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install gunicorn

Gunicorn Configuration

Next up is Gunicorn. It's what will run your Django app in production. Create a service file:

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

Add this content (adjust the paths to match your setup):

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

[Service]
User=ubuntu
Group=www-data
WorkingDirectory=/home/ubuntu/code/cool_project
ExecStart=/home/ubuntu/code/cool_project/venv/bin/gunicorn --access-logfile - --workers 3 --bind unix:/home/ubuntu/code/cool_project/gunicorn.sock cool_project.wsgi:application

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Start it up:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start cool_project
sudo systemctl enable cool_project

Nginx Setup

Now for Nginx. Install it:

sudo apt install nginx

Create a new config:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/cool_project

Add this (change the server_name to your domain or IP):

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your-domain.com;

    location = /favicon.ico {
        access_log off;
        log_not_found off;
    }

    location /static/ {
        alias /home/ubuntu/code/cool_project/static/;
    }

    location / {
        include proxy_params;
        proxy_pass http://unix:/home/ubuntu/code/cool_project/gunicorn.sock;
    }
}

Enable the site:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/cool_project /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Django Settings

Don't forget your static files. In your Django settings:

STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static')
DEBUG = False
ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['your-domain.com', 'your-server-ip']

Then run:

python manage.py collectstatic

Final Steps

1. Update your EC2 security group to allow HTTP (80) and HTTPS (443)
2. Point your domain's A record to your EC2's public IP
3. Optional but recommended: Set up SSL with:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com

Troubleshooting

If something's wrong, check the logs:

sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log
sudo journalctl -u cool_project
# For real-time logging of the last 100 lines (replace cool_project with your service name):
sudo journalctl -u cool_project -n 100 -f

The -n flag specifies the number of lines to show, and -f enables following (real-time updates). Remember that the service name (cool_project) should match what you defined in your systemd service file.

Keep your system updated, backup your database, and use strong passwords. Good luck with shipping.