=================================
How to use Django with mod_python
=================================

Apache/mod_python currently is the preferred setup for using Django on a
production server.

mod_python, available at http://www.modpython.org/ , is similar to
`mod_perl`_ : It embeds Python within Apache and loads Python code into memory
when the server starts. Code stays in memory throughout the life of an Apache
process, which leads to significant performance gains over other server
arrangements.

Basic configuration
===================

To configure Django with mod_python, first make sure you have Apache installed,
with the mod_python module activated.

Then edit your ``httpd.conf`` file and add the following::

    <Location "/mysite/">
        SetHandler python-program
        PythonHandler django.core.handlers.modpython
        SetEnv DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE myproject.settings.main
        PythonDebug On
    </Location>

...and replace ``myproject.settings.main`` with the path to your settings file,
in dotted-package syntax.

This tells Apache: "Use mod_python for any URL at or under '/mysite/', using the
Django mod_python handler." It passes the value of ``DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE``
so mod_python knows which settings to use.

Also, if you've manually altered your ``PYTHONPATH`` to put your Django project
on it, you'll need to tell mod_python::

    PythonPath "['/path/to/project'] + sys.path"

You can also add directives such as ``PythonAutoReload Off`` for performance.
See the `mod_python documentation`_ for a full list of options.

Note that you should set ``PythonDebug Off`` on a production server. If you
leave ``PythonDebug On``, your users would see ugly (and revealing) Python
tracebacks if something goes wrong within mod_python.

Restart Apache, and any request to /mysite/ or below will be served by Django.
Note that Django's URLconfs won't trim the "/mysite/" -- they get passed the
full URL.

When deploying Django sites on mod_python, you'll need to restart Apache each
time you make changes to your Python code.

Here's a template for an admin configuration::

    <Location "/admin/">
        SetHandler python-program
        PythonHandler django.core.handlers.modpython
        SetEnv DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE myproject.settings.admin
        PythonDebug On
    </Location>

The only thing different here is the ``DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE``.

Running a development server with mod_python
============================================

If you use mod_python for your development server, you can avoid the hassle of
having to restart the server each time you make code changes. Just set
``MaxRequestsPerChild 1`` in your ``httpd.conf`` file to force Apache to reload
everything for each request. But don't do that on a production server, or we'll
revoke your Django privileges.

.. _mod_perl: http://perl.apache.org/
.. _mod_python documentation: http://modpython.org/live/current/doc-html/directives.html

Serving media files
===================

Django doesn't serve media files itself. It'd be inefficient to flow media
files through a (relatively) complex framework when much, much more well-tuned
solutions are better.

We recommend using a separate Web server for serving media. Here are some good
choices:

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

If, however, you have no option but to serve media files on the same Apache
``VirtualHost`` as Django, here's how you can turn off mod_python for a
particular part of the site::

    <Location "/media/">
        SetHandler None
    </Location>

Just change ``Location`` to the root URL of your media files.

.. _lighttpd: http://www.lighttpd.net/
.. _TUX: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TUX_web_server
.. _Apache: http://httpd.apache.org/