Deploying Apache with Django on Ubuntu Linux

So, the other day I was trying to start of my Django on a production server on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.

Prelims: What is Django and the difference between production and development server?

You know what is Django. Otherwise you shouldn't be here. Now, Django comes packed with a development server. This means you can start off with Django without any server installed (e.g. Apache). Django has its own mini-server. However, if you're deploying the site online, you need a production server e.g. Apache. So, our problem statement is to allow Django to use Apache.

Let's Roll

You should have your Django already installed. Now, you need to install mod_wsgi. This will be used as a connector for Django to Apache. Also, install python-mysqldb if you will be using mysql database. 

Open your terminal:

    $ cd  /var/www/

    $ django-admin.py startproject mysite

(Note that if you don't have the permission, then do it as root i.e. using sudo)

Now, you have created your Django project.

Now, open /etc/apache2/apache2.conf. Add the following lines at the end:

WSGIScriptAlias /django /var/www/mysite/mysite/wsgi.py
WSGIPythonPath /var/www/mysite

<Directory /var/www/mysite/mysite>
<Files wsgi.py>
Order deny,allow
Allow from all
</Files>
</Directory> 

Now, restart apache.

Now, open up firefox and fire: http://localhost/django. That's it.

 Now, let me explain a bit. 

/django : this is the alias for your site i.e. how you access it through the client (your browser). If you left it as "/", then you could have accessed your site simply as localhost.

/var/www/mysite/mysite/wsgi.py : this is where your wsgi file resides

/var/www/mysite : this is where you started your project

/var/www/mysite/mysite : this is the directory of the project

You could have started your project elsewhere. Correspondingly, above destinations will change.