Deploy Python Web Apps with Nginx, Gunicorn, and Supervisor – A Complete Guide

Overview

Web development often uses Nginx as a front‑end proxy and a web service script for deployment. A common stack is nginx + webservice + script , where Nginx can act as both forward and reverse proxy.

Proxy Basics

Forward proxy: client → proxy server → target server. Reverse proxy: client → proxy server → internal server. Nginx supports both modes.

Deployment Stack

We use Gunicorn as the WSGI container, Flask as the Python web framework, and Supervisor to manage processes, resulting in the stack:

nginx + gunicorn + flask + supervisor

Create a Project

Create a Python Virtual Environment

Use virtualenv to isolate Python packages. Example path: /home/rsj217/rsj217. After creating the venv, activate it.

Install Flask

Flask is a lightweight Python web micro‑framework that depends on werkzeug and jinja2. Install with pip install flask.

Test the installation by writing a simple Flask app and running it.

Install Gunicorn

Gunicorn serves as the production‑grade WSGI server. Install with pip install gunicorn and record the dependency in a requirements.txt file using pip freeze > requirements.txt.

Run the app with Gunicorn, e.g., gunicorn -w 4 -b 0.0.0.0:8000 myapp:app. The -w flag sets worker count, -b sets the bind address.

Manage Processes with Supervisor

Install Supervisor ( pip install supervisor) and create a supervisor.conf for the Gunicorn process (example path: /home/rsj217/rsj217/).

Basic Supervisor commands are shown below:

Supervisor also provides a web UI (enabled via configuration). Access it at http://127.0.0.1:9001 and view the Gunicorn‑served app at http://127.0.0.1:2170.

Install and Configure Nginx

Install via sudo apt-get install nginx. Binary resides in /usr/sbin, configuration in /etc/nginx. Use Supervisor to manage Nginx, remembering that Nginx runs as root, so Supervisor must also run as root.

Automation (Optional)

For batch deployments, tools like Fabric can automate copying code to remote servers. The project repository includes a Fabric script; adjust username and secret before use.

Project source: https://coding.net/u/rsj217/p/myproject/git