Django Config File

Config File Components

🔹 Basic django.config Structure

Create a basic configuration file for deploying Django to Elastic Beanstalk. This file should be placed in the .ebextensions folder at your project root.

# .ebextensions/django.config
option_settings:
  aws:elasticbeanstalk:container:python:
    WSGIPath: myproject.wsgi:application
  aws:elasticbeanstalk:application:environment:
    DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE: myproject.settings
    PYTHONPATH: /var/app/current:$PYTHONPATH
  aws:elasticbeanstalk:container:python:staticfiles:
    /static/: staticfiles/

🔹 Complete django.config Example

A comprehensive configuration file that handles static files, runs migrations, collects static files, and sets up environment variables for a production-ready Django deployment.

# .ebextensions/django.config
option_settings:
  # WSGI Configuration
  aws:elasticbeanstalk:container:python:
    WSGIPath: myproject.wsgi:application
  
  # Environment Variables
  aws:elasticbeanstalk:application:environment:
    DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE: myproject.settings
    PYTHONPATH: /var/app/current:$PYTHONPATH
    DEBUG: False
  
  # Static Files Mapping
  aws:elasticbeanstalk:container:python:staticfiles:
    /static/: staticfiles/
    /media/: media/

# Container Commands (run after app deployment)
container_commands:
  01_migrate:
    command: "source /var/app/venv/*/bin/activate && python manage.py migrate --noinput"
    leader_only: true
  02_collectstatic:
    command: "source /var/app/venv/*/bin/activate && python manage.py collectstatic --noinput"
    leader_only: true
  03_createsu:
    command: "source /var/app/venv/*/bin/activate && python manage.py createsu"
    leader_only: true

🔹 Static Files Configuration

Configure how Elastic Beanstalk serves your static files (CSS, JavaScript, images). This maps URL paths to filesystem directories.

# Static files configuration
option_settings:
  aws:elasticbeanstalk:container:python:staticfiles:
    /static/: staticfiles/
    /media/: media/
    /static/admin/: staticfiles/admin/
    /static/rest_framework/: staticfiles/rest_framework/

🔹 Container Commands

Container commands run after your application is deployed but before it starts serving traffic. Use them for database migrations, static file collection, and other setup tasks.

container_commands:
  01_migrate:
    command: "source /var/app/venv/*/bin/activate && python manage.py migrate --noinput"
    leader_only: true
  02_collectstatic:
    command: "source /var/app/venv/*/bin/activate && python manage.py collectstatic --noinput"
    leader_only: true
  03_create_superuser:
    command: "source /var/app/venv/*/bin/activate && python manage.py shell -c \"from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model; User = get_user_model(); User.objects.filter(username='admin').exists() or User.objects.create_superuser('admin', '[email protected]', 'password')\""
    leader_only: true

🔹 Environment Variables

Set environment variables directly in the config file or use EB CLI for sensitive data:

# In django.config
option_settings:
  aws:elasticbeanstalk:application:environment:
    DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE: myproject.settings
    DEBUG: False
    ALLOWED_HOSTS: .elasticbeanstalk.com
    DATABASE_URL: postgres://user:pass@host:5432/db

# Or use EB CLI (recommended for secrets)
eb setenv SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key
eb setenv DEBUG=False
eb setenv DATABASE_URL=postgres://...

🔹 Database Configuration

Configure RDS database connection for your Django app:

# django.config
option_settings:
  aws:elasticbeanstalk:application:environment:
    RDS_DB_NAME: mydatabase
    RDS_USERNAME: myuser
    RDS_PASSWORD: mypassword
    RDS_HOSTNAME: mydb.xxxxx.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com
    RDS_PORT: 5432

# settings.py - Use these environment variables
import os

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
        'NAME': os.environ.get('RDS_DB_NAME'),
        'USER': os.environ.get('RDS_USERNAME'),
        'PASSWORD': os.environ.get('RDS_PASSWORD'),
        'HOST': os.environ.get('RDS_HOSTNAME'),
        'PORT': os.environ.get('RDS_PORT'),
    }
}

🔹 Complete Project Structure

Your project should have this structure for Elastic Beanstalk deployment:

myproject/
├── .ebextensions/
│   └── django.config
├── myproject/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── settings.py
│   ├── urls.py
│   └── wsgi.py
├── myapp/
│   ├── migrations/
│   ├── models.py
│   └── views.py
├── staticfiles/
├── media/
├── requirements.txt
├── manage.py
└── .gitignore

🔹 Common Issues & Solutions