How to configure Droplet to run python application on custom domain

Heya @jaycb3,

First, you’ll need to configure Nginx and make it work as a reverse proxy.

Step 1: Install Nginx

If you haven’t already installed Nginx, you can do so using your system’s package manager. For most Linux distributions, the command is:

• On Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

• On CentOS/RHEL:

sudo yum install epel-release
sudo yum install nginx

Step 2: Configure Nginx as a Reverse Proxy

1. Create a new configuration file for your domain in the /etc/nginx/sites-available/ directory (you can name the file after your domain for clarity, like doomain.com.conf):

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/doomain.com.conf

where doomain.com would be the real domain that you have purchased.

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/doomain.com.conf

Add the following configuration to the file. This configuration tells Nginx to listen on the default HTTP port (80) and proxy the requests to your application running on localhost, port 3000:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com; # Replace with your domain name or IP address

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000; # Proxy pass to the app on port 3000
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

Since I do not know on which port your application runs, I’ve set it to 3000 however you can set it to any port you wish.

Replace example.com with your domain name or IP address.

Symlink this file to the /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ directory to enable it:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/doomain.com.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Step 3: Test and Restart Nginx

1. Test the Nginx configuration for syntax errors:

sudo nginx -t

2. If you get a message that says the syntax is OK, restart Nginx to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 4: Adjust Firewall Settings (If Applicable)

If you have a firewall running, such as ufw, you need to allow HTTP traffic:

• On Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'

Step 5: Access Your Application

You should now be able to access your application via your server’s domain name or IP address (on port 80) in a web browser.