======================
Deploying static files
======================

.. seealso::

    For an introduction to the use of :mod:`django.contrib.staticfiles`, see
    :doc:`/howto/static-files/index`.

.. _staticfiles-production:

Serving static files in production
==================================

The basic outline of putting static files into production is simple: run the
:djadmin:`collectstatic` command when static files change, then arrange for
the collected static files directory (:setting:`STATIC_ROOT`) to be moved to
the static file server and served. Depending on :setting:`STATICFILES_STORAGE`,
files may need to be moved to a new location manually or the :func:`post_process
<django.contrib.staticfiles.storage.StaticFilesStorage.post_process>` method
of the ``Storage`` class might take care of that.

Of course, as with all deployment tasks, the devil's in the details. Every
production setup will be a bit different, so you'll need to adapt the basic
outline to fit your needs. Below are a few common patterns that might help.

Serving the site and your static files from the same server
-----------------------------------------------------------

If you want to serve your static files from the same server that's already
serving your site, the process may look something like:

* Push your code up to the deployment server.
* On the server, run :djadmin:`collectstatic` to copy all the static files
  into :setting:`STATIC_ROOT`.
* Configure your web server to serve the files in :setting:`STATIC_ROOT`
  under the URL :setting:`STATIC_URL`. For example, here's
  :ref:`how to do this with Apache and mod_wsgi <serving-files>`.

You'll probably want to automate this process, especially if you've got
multiple web servers. There's any number of ways to do this automation, but
one option that many Django developers enjoy is `Fabric
<http://fabfile.org/>`_.

Below, and in the following sections, we'll show off a few example fabfiles
(i.e. Fabric scripts) that automate these file deployment options. The syntax
of a fabfile is fairly straightforward but won't be covered here; consult
`Fabric's documentation <http://docs.fabfile.org/>`_, for a complete
explanation of the syntax.

So, a fabfile to deploy static files to a couple of web servers might look
something like::

    from fabric.api import *

    # Hosts to deploy onto
    env.hosts = ['www1.example.com', 'www2.example.com']

    # Where your project code lives on the server
    env.project_root = '/home/www/myproject'

    def deploy_static():
        with cd(env.project_root):
            run('./manage.py collectstatic -v0 --noinput')

Serving static files from a dedicated server
--------------------------------------------

Most larger Django sites use a separate Web server -- i.e., one that's not also
running Django -- for serving static files. This server often runs a different
type of web server -- faster but less full-featured. Some common choices are:

* lighttpd_
* Nginx_
* TUX_
* Cherokee_
* A stripped-down version of Apache_

.. _lighttpd: http://www.lighttpd.net/
.. _Nginx: http://wiki.nginx.org/Main
.. _TUX: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TUX_web_server
.. _Apache: http://httpd.apache.org/
.. _Cherokee: http://www.cherokee-project.com/

Configuring these servers is out of scope of this document; check each
server's respective documentation for instructions.

Since your static file server won't be running Django, you'll need to modify
the deployment strategy to look something like:

* When your static files change, run :djadmin:`collectstatic` locally.

* Push your local :setting:`STATIC_ROOT` up to the static file server into the
  directory that's being served. `rsync <https://rsync.samba.org/>`_ is a
  common choice for this step since it only needs to transfer the bits of
  static files that have changed.

Here's how this might look in a fabfile::

    from fabric.api import *
    from fabric.contrib import project

    # Where the static files get collected locally. Your STATIC_ROOT setting.
    env.local_static_root = '/tmp/static'

    # Where the static files should go remotely
    env.remote_static_root = '/home/www/static.example.com'

    @roles('static')
    def deploy_static():
        local('./manage.py collectstatic')
        project.rsync_project(
            remote_dir = env.remote_static_root,
            local_dir = env.local_static_root,
            delete = True
        )

.. _staticfiles-from-cdn:

Serving static files from a cloud service or CDN
------------------------------------------------

Another common tactic is to serve static files from a cloud storage provider
like Amazon's S3 and/or a CDN (content delivery network). This lets you
ignore the problems of serving static files and can often make for
faster-loading webpages (especially when using a CDN).

When using these services, the basic workflow would look a bit like the above,
except that instead of using ``rsync`` to transfer your static files to the
server you'd need to transfer the static files to the storage provider or CDN.

There's any number of ways you might do this, but if the provider has an API a
:doc:`custom file storage backend </howto/custom-file-storage>` will make the
process incredibly simple. If you've written or are using a 3rd party custom
storage backend, you can tell :djadmin:`collectstatic` to use it by setting
:setting:`STATICFILES_STORAGE` to the storage engine.

For example, if you've written an S3 storage backend in
``myproject.storage.S3Storage`` you could use it with::

    STATICFILES_STORAGE = 'myproject.storage.S3Storage'

Once that's done, all you have to do is run :djadmin:`collectstatic` and your
static files would be pushed through your storage package up to S3. If you
later needed to switch to a different storage provider, it could be as simple
as changing your :setting:`STATICFILES_STORAGE` setting.

For details on how you'd write one of these backends, see
:doc:`/howto/custom-file-storage`. There are 3rd party apps available that
provide storage backends for many common file storage APIs. A good starting
point is the `overview at djangopackages.com
<https://www.djangopackages.com/grids/g/storage-backends/>`_.

Learn more
==========

For complete details on all the settings, commands, template tags, and other
pieces included in :mod:`django.contrib.staticfiles`, see :doc:`the
staticfiles reference </ref/contrib/staticfiles>`.
