Deploy Django on a Linux VPS — Nginx, Gunicorn, HTTPS, CI/CD, PostgreSQL

This is a REAL-WORLD Django production deployment tutorial. No Render. No Heroku. No one-click platforms. In this video, I deploy a Django application on a Linux VPS using a DigitalOcean Droplet running Ubuntu — the same setup used in real production environments. You’ll learn how to: • Create and secure a Linux server (DigitalOcean Droplet) • Connect to your server using SSH • Set up PostgreSQL for production • Deploy Django with Gunicorn • Configure Nginx as a reverse proxy • Automate deployments using CI/CD (GitHub Actions) • Add a custom domain name • Secure your application with HTTPS (SSL via Let’s Encrypt) Although this tutorial uses DigitalOcean, the concepts apply to any Linux VPS (AWS EC2, Linode, Hetzner, Vultr, etc.). This video is ideal if you: ✔ Want to understand Django deployment properly ✔ Are tired of one-click hosting platforms ✔ Want real backend production skills Source Code: https://github.com/CodeWithClinton/ai-review-summarizer 🕒 TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:00:30 – Creating a DigitalOcean Droplet 00:03:11 – Generating an SSH key 00:06:10 – Completing droplet creation 00:07:07 – SSH into the server 00:09:42 – Initial server setup 00:18:07 – Setting up PostgreSQL 00:21:04 – Cloning the Django project 00:27:44 – Preparing Django for deployment 00:34:24 – Running & testing Django 00:39:41 – Configuring Gunicorn with systemd 00:48:16 – Configuring Nginx as a reverse proxy 00:54:15 – Manually pulling code updates 01:00:22 – CI/CD with GitHub Actions 01:19:01 – Adding a custom domain name 01:28:13 – Adding HTTPS (SSL with Let’s Encrypt) 01:35:30 – End --- If this video helps you understand real-world Django deployment, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share it with another developer.