Setting the file. One moment.
Chapter 20 · Azure Kubernetes App Deploy
Subchapter 20.27
knowledge-packs/frameworks/django.mdMarkdown6 KBView on GitHub
Applies to: Projects detected with
requirements.txt,pyproject.toml, orPipfilecontainingdjango, or presence of
manage.py| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Signal files | requirements.txt/pyproject.toml/Pipfile containing django, or manage.py |
| Default port | 8000 (gunicorn) |
| Health path | /health/ (django-health-check) |
| Base template | templates/dockerfiles/python.Dockerfile (+ references/base-images.md) |
Django does not provide health endpoints out of the box. Use the django-health-check package:
pip install django-health-checkINSTALLED_APPS = [
# ...existing apps...
"health_check",
"health_check.db",
"health_check.cache",
"health_check.storage",
"health_check.contrib.migrations",
]from django.urls import include, path
urlpatterns = [
# ...existing urls...
path("health/", include("health_check.urls")),
]The /health/ endpoint returns HTTP 200 when all checks pass and HTTP 500 with details when any check fails.
livenessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /health/
port: 8000
initialDelaySeconds: 10
periodSeconds: 15
timeoutSeconds: 3
failureThreshold: 3
readinessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /health/
port: 8000
initialDelaySeconds: 10
periodSeconds: 10
timeoutSeconds: 3
failureThreshold: 3Note: initialDelaySeconds: 10 is sufficient for most Django apps.
Django does not have a built-in profile system like Spring Boot. Database configuration is driven by settings.py with environment variables:
| Pattern | How it works |
|---|---|
dj-database-url | Parse DATABASE_URL env var (recommended for 12-factor apps) |
env:
- name: DATABASE_URL
value: "postgres://{{IDENTITY_NAME}}@{{PG_SERVER_NAME}}.postgres.database.azure.com:5432/{{DB_NAME}}?sslmode=require"
- name: SECRET_KEY
valueFrom:
secretKeyRef:
name: {{APP_NAME}}-secrets
key: secret-keyImportant: SECRET_KEY must never be in a ConfigMap or hardcoded. Always store it in a Kubernetes Secret (or Key Vault via Workload Identity).
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
name: {{APP_NAME}}-config
data:
DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE: "config.settings.production"
DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS: "{{INGRESS_HOSTNAME}}"
DATABASE_URL: "postgres://{{IDENTITY_NAME}}@{{PG_SERVER_NAME}}.postgres.database.azure.com:5432/{{DB_NAME}}?sslmode=require"When readOnlyRootFilesystem: true is set, Django apps need /tmp writable and optionally /app/staticfiles:
/tmp — required for file uploads (FILE_UPLOAD_TEMP_DIR defaults to /tmp), session data when using file-based sessions, and temporary processing/app/staticfiles — optional, only needed if serving collected static files at runtime from the local filesystem (when not using WhiteNoise or a CDN)volumes:
- name: tmp
emptyDir: {}
- name: staticfiles
emptyDir: {}
containers:
- name: app
volumeMounts:
- name: tmp
mountPath: /tmp
- name: staticfiles
mountPath: /app/staticfilesIf static files are baked into the image at build time via collectstatic and served by WhiteNoise, the staticfiles volume can be omitted — only /tmp is required.
Django with Gunicorn runs multiple worker processes. Size for the number of workers (default: 2-4).
| Resource | Request | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 200m | 500m |
| Memory | 256Mi | 512Mi |
--bind 0.0.0.0:8000 passed to gunicornPORT (read via gunicorn --bind 0.0.0.0:$PORT or int(os.environ.get("PORT", 8000)))2 * CPU_CORES + 1 (e.g. --workers 3 for a 1-vCPU container)config.wsgi:application, myproject.wsgi:application, or app.wsgi:application — check wsgi.py locationGunicorn logs the port on startup: Listening at: http://0.0.0.0:8000
| Command | Purpose | When to run |
|---|---|---|
python manage.py collectstatic --noinput | Gathers static files into STATIC_ROOT | In Dockerfile build stage (with SECRET_KEY=build-placeholder) |
python manage.py migrate --noinput | Applies database migrations | As a Kubernetes init container — never in the Dockerfile |
Important: Database migrations must run as an init container, not during the Docker build. The build stage has no access to the production database, and running migrations in the entrypoint creates race conditions when multiple replicas start simultaneously.
initContainers:
- name: migrate
image: {{ACR_NAME}}.azurecr.io/{{APP_NAME}}:{{TAG}}
command: ["python", "manage.py", "migrate", "--noinput"]
envFrom:
- configMapRef:
name: {{APP_NAME}}-config
- secretRef:
name: {{APP_NAME}}-secrets| Issue | Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|---|
collectstatic not run | Static files 404 | Run python manage.py collectstatic --noinput in Dockerfile build stage |
ALLOWED_HOSTS not set | DisallowedHost error | Set DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS env var |
| Dev server in production | Single-threaded, no security | Use gunicorn in ENTRYPOINT |
| Migrations not applied | relation "..." does not exist | Run manage.py migrate as init container |
SECRET_KEY not set | ImproperlyConfigured error | Store in Kubernetes Secret |
| Static files 404 in production | CSS/JS/images not loading | Use WhiteNoise or CDN for static files |