Getting Started with Gunicorn: A Powerful WSGI Server for Your Django Apps

Learn what Gunicorn is, how it works, and how to use it to serve your Django applications efficiently in production.

What is Gunicorn?

Gunicorn (Green Unicorn) is a WSGI HTTP server for running Python web applications. It's a lightweight and highly efficient way to serve Django applications in production.

Why Use Gunicorn?

• Performance: Handles multiple requests efficiently.
• Compatibility: Works with most Python web frameworks.
• Simplicity: Easy to configure and deploy.

Installing Gunicorn

pip install gunicorn

Running Gunicorn

To serve a Django project, navigate to your project root and run:

gunicorn myproject.wsgi:application --bind 0.0.0.0:8000

Using Gunicorn with Systemd

For a more robust setup, create a systemd service:

[Unit]
Description=Gunicorn daemon for Django project
After=network.target

[Service]
User=www-data
Group=www-data
WorkingDirectory=/path/to/your/project
ExecStart=/path/to/venv/bin/gunicorn --workers 3 --bind unix:/run/gunicorn.sock myproject.wsgi:application

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Then enable and start the service:

sudo systemctl start gunicorn
sudo systemctl enable gunicorn

Integrating Gunicorn with Nginx

Gunicorn works best when combined with Nginx for handling client requests efficiently.

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://unix:/run/gunicorn.sock;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    }
}

Final Thoughts

Gunicorn is a powerful and efficient WSGI server for serving Django applications in production. By combining it with Nginx and systemd, you can ensure your application runs smoothly and securely.