How to Deploy Django on Microsoft Azure

Django is a powerful Python web framework that allows developers to quickly create and deploy web applications. Deploying Django on Microsoft Azure is a great way to get your application up and running quickly. In this tutorial, we will walk through the steps of deploying a Django application on Microsoft Azure.

Step 1: Create an Azure Account

The first step in deploying your Django application on Microsoft Azure is to create an Azure account. To do this, go to https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/ and sign up for an account. Once you have created your account, you will be able to access the Azure portal.

Step 2: Create a Virtual Machine

Once you have created your Azure account, the next step is to create a virtual machine (VM). A VM is a computer that runs in the cloud and can be used to host your Django application. To create a VM, go to the Azure portal and click on "Virtual Machines" in the left-hand menu.

On the Virtual Machines page, click on "Create Virtual Machine". This will open up a wizard that will guide you through the process of creating your VM. You will need to provide information such as the size of the VM, the operating system you want to use, and any additional settings you may need.

Step 3: Install Python and Django

Once you have created your VM, you will need to install Python and Django. To do this, open up an SSH connection to your VM using an SSH client such as PuTTY or MobaXterm. Once connected, run the following commands:


sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python3
sudo apt-get install python3-pip
sudo pip3 install django

This will install Python 3 and Django on your VM.

Step 4: Configure Your Application

Now that you have installed Python and Django on your VM, you need to configure your application. To do this, open up a text editor such as nano or vim and edit the settings.py file located in your project directory.



DEBUG = True
ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['*']
STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static')
STATICFILES_DIRS = [os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static')]

This will enable debugging mode and allow all hosts to access your application.


Next, run the following command from within your project directory:



python manage.py collectstatic --noinput

This will collect all of the static files used by your application into one directory.


Step 5: Deploy Your Application

Now that you have configured your application, it's time to deploy it on Microsoft Azure. To do this, go back to the Azure portal and click on "Web Apps" in the left-hand menu.


On the Web Apps page, click on "Create Web App". This will open up a wizard that will guide you through the process of deploying your application. You will need to provide information such as the name of your web app and which region it should be deployed in.


Once you have completed the wizard, click "Create" and wait for your web app to be deployed.


Conclusion


In this tutorial we have walked through how to deploy a Django application on Microsoft Azure. We have covered how to create an Azure account, create a virtual machine, install Python and Django, configure our application, and deploy our application.


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