Nginx

high performance web server and a reverse proxy server
Author

Benedict Thekkel

Features

  • Admin site
  • Object-relational mapper
  • Authentication
  • Caching

HTTP : Hypertext Transfer Protocol

Why Use Nginx with Django?

  • Reverse Proxy: Nginx can serve as a reverse proxy, forwarding client requests to a Django application server and serving responses back to the client.
  • Static and Media File Handling: Nginx can serve static and media files more efficiently than Django’s built-in server.
  • Load Balancing: Nginx can distribute incoming traffic across multiple instances of your Django application.
  • Security and Performance: Nginx can handle SSL/TLS termination, provide rate limiting, and improve overall performance through caching and compression.

Installation

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

Start

sudo systemctl start nginx

Status

sudo systemctl status nginx

Stop

sudo systemctl stop nginx

Reload

sudo nginx -s reload

Default html file in

cd /var/www/html

Nginx

cd /etc/nginx/sites-enables

Create a new configuration file for your Django project in /etc/nginx/sites-available/

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

Add the following basic configuration

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;  # Replace with your domain

    location = /favicon.ico { access_log off; log_not_found off; }
    location /static/ {
        root /path/to/your/static/files;  # Replace with your static files path
    }

    location /media/ {
        root /path/to/your/media/files;  # Replace with your media files path
    }

    location / {
        include proxy_params;
        proxy_pass http://unix:/path/to/your/project.sock;  # Replace with your socket file path
    }
}
  • server_name: Replace with your domain name.
  • root: Set the paths to your static and media files.
  • proxy_pass: This should point to your application server (e.g., Gunicorn) using a Unix socket or an IP address and port.

Allow http port to device

Oracle

sudo iptables -I INPUT 6 -m state --state NEW -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT

Test the Nginx configuration for syntax errors

sudo nginx -t

If the test is successful, reload Nginx

sudo systemctl reload nginx

Serving Static and Media Files

For production, Django doesn’t serve static files; Nginx handles them. Set up Django to collect all static files into a single directory

In settings.py

STATIC_URL = '/static/'
STATIC_ROOT = '/path/to/your/static/files'

MEDIA_URL = '/media/'
MEDIA_ROOT = '/path/to/your/media/files'

Run the command to collect static files

python manage.py collectstatic

Django: Using Gunicorn with Nginx

Gunicorn is a WSGI HTTP server for Python applications. To use Gunicorn with Nginx

Securing Your Django Project with Nginx

  • SSL/TLS: Use Let’s Encrypt to obtain a free SSL/TLS certificate and configure Nginx to use HTTPS.

  • Security Headers: Add security headers like Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection to enhance security.

  • Rate Limiting: Implement rate limiting to protect your site from brute force attacks.

Optimizing Performance

  • Caching: Use Nginx to cache static files and other resources.
  • Compression: Enable gzip compression in Nginx to reduce the size of responses.

Monitoring and Logging

Nginx provides extensive logging capabilities. Configure access and error logs for monitoring

access_log /var/log/nginx/myproject_access.log;
error_log /var/log/nginx/myproject_error.log;

Using Nginx with Django can significantly improve your project’s performance, scalability, and security. Make sure to test your configuration thoroughly before deploying it to production.

Serving Static and Media Files

Gunicorn does not serve static or media files in production. Use a web server like Nginx to handle static files and reverse proxy requests to Gunicorn

Example Nginx configuration in /etc/nginx/sites-available/todo

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your_domain_or_IP;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://unix:/path/to/your/project/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;
    }

    location /static/ {
        alias /path/to/your/project/static/;
    }

    location /media/ {
        alias /path/to/your/project/media/;
    }
}

Example Django Project

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name 172.22.251.200;

    location /static/ {
        alias /home/ben-24/Example_project/django_todo_postgres/static/;
    }

    location / {
        # include proxy_params;
        proxy_pass http://unix:/home/ben-24/Example_project/django_todo_postgres/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;
    }
}

Allow http port to device

Oracle

sudo iptables -I INPUT 6 -m state --state NEW -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT

Edit nginx.conf

in `/etc/nginx/nginx.conf


user root;
worker_processes auto;
pid /run/nginx.pid;
error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log;
include /etc/nginx/modules-enabled/*.conf;
## main
worker_processes auto;

error_log /path/to/error error;


http {
    server {
        listen 80;
        server_name mydomain.com ww.mydomain.com;

        location / {
            root /path/to/folder;
            index index.html
        }
    
    }

}

```nginx http { server { listen 443 ssl; server_name mydomain.com www.mydomain.com;

    location / {
        root /path/to/folder;
        index index.html
    }

    ssl_sertification /path/to/certificate;
    ssl_certification_key /path/to/key;

server {


    listen 80;
    server_name mydomain.com www.mydomain.com;

    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;

}

}

```nginx ## main worker_processes auto;

error_log /path/to/error error;

http { server { listen 443 ssl; server_name mydomain.com www.mydomain.com;

    location /static {
        alias /path/to/root;
    }

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    }




    ssl_sertification /path/to/certificate;
    ssl_certification_key /path/to/key;


server {
    listen 80;
    server_name mydomain.com www.mydomain.com;

    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;

}

}

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