Introduction

In this tutorial, our main goal is to learn how to secure a Django application with HTTPS. By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to set up an SSL certificate in your Django app effectively. This is a crucial step in protecting the data of your users and ensuring secure communication between your app server and the users' browsers.

Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of Django and Python is required.

Step-by-Step Guide

Concept of HTTPS and SSL

HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is an internet communication protocol that protects the integrity and confidentiality of your users' data between the user's computer and the site. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a server and a client.

Setting Up SSL in Django

Django does not support HTTPS directly. Instead, we use a web server like Nginx or Apache that can accept HTTPS connections, decrypt the SSL, and pass the plain HTTP to Django.

Code Examples

Setting Up SSL with Nginx

1. Install Nginx

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nginx

1. Create a new Nginx server block file:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/myproject

1. Add the following content to the file:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name mydomain.com www.mydomain.com;

    location = /favicon.ico { access_log off; log_not_found off; }
    location /static/ {
        root /home/myuser/myproject;
    }

    location / {
        include proxy_params;
        proxy_pass http://unix:/home/myuser/myproject/myproject.sock;
    }
}

This code configures Nginx to pass web requests to the underlying Django app running on Gunicorn.

1. Enable the Nginx server block:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/myproject /etc/nginx/sites-enabled

1. Install Certbot to manage Let’s Encrypt certificates:

sudo apt-get install python3-certbot-nginx

1. Obtain the SSL certificate:

sudo certbot --nginx -d mydomain.com -d www.mydomain.com

This command will get a certificate for you and have Certbot edit your Nginx configuration automatically to serve it.

Summary

In this tutorial, you've learned how to secure your Django app with HTTPS by setting up an SSL certificate using Nginx. The next steps would be to learn how to renew your SSL certificates and how to enforce HTTPS in Django.

For more learning resources, check out the Django documentation and Nginx documentation.

Practice Exercises

1. Set up an SSL certificate for a Django app running on Apache.
2. Set up an SSL certificate for a Django app running on a different server, like AWS or DigitalOcean.
3. Research and implement automatic renewal for your SSL certificates.

Remember, the key to learning is practice. Try these exercises on different servers and with different web apps to get a grasp of the process. Good luck!