A step-by-step guide to setting up Django web development environment on a Raspberry Pi

Learn how to install Django on Raspberry Pi, a popular single board computer used for all kinds of IoT and embedded systems projects. This article will help you set up the Python web framework and con …


Updated October 10, 2023

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Learn how to install Django on Raspberry Pi, a popular single board computer used for all kinds of IoT and embedded systems projects. This article will help you set up the Python web framework and configure it for effective web development on your Raspberry Pi device.

Django is a high-level Python web framework that enables rapid development of secure and maintainable websites. It provides various built-in features such as an ORM, forms handling, authentication, and URL routing. Django is one of the most popular frameworks used for web development in Python, and it works great on Raspberry Pi, a powerful single board computer that can run complex applications.

In this article, we will walk through the steps to install Django on your Raspberry Pi device. Before proceeding, make sure you have already set up your Raspberry Pi with the latest version of Raspbian OS and Python 3 installed.

  1. Update System Packages: To ensure that you have all the latest system packages, run the following command in the terminal:
sudo apt-get update
  1. Install pip: pip is a package manager for Python that allows you to install and manage third-party libraries and frameworks like Django. If you haven’t already installed pip on your Raspberry Pi, use the following commands to download and install it:
sudo apt-get install python3-pip
  1. Install Django using pip: After installing pip, you can now install Django using the following command:
sudo pip3 install django
  1. Verify Django installation: To verify that Django has been installed correctly, run the following command in the terminal:
django-admin --version

If Django is successfully installed, you should see the version number displayed in the output.

  1. Create a new Django project: Now that Django is installed, you can create your first Django project using the following command:
django-admin startproject myproject

Replace myproject with the name of your choice for your project folder. This command will create a new directory named after your project and set up the basic structure for your Django web application.

  1. Create a new Django app: Next, navigate to your project folder using the cd command:
cd myproject

Then, create a new Django app within your project using this command:

python3 manage.py startapp myapp

Replace myapp with the name of your choice for your app folder. This will generate a new directory inside your project folder with the basic structure for your Django application.

  1. Configure settings.py: Open the settings.py file in your project folder using your favorite text editor, and add 'myapp' to the INSTALLED_APPS list:
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ...
    'myapp',
]
  1. Run the development server: To start the Django development server and test your web application, navigate back to your project folder in the terminal and run the following command:
python3 manage.py runserver

Open a web browser on your computer and go to http://<raspberry-pi-ip>:80000. Replace <raspberry-pi-ip> with the IP address of your Raspberry Pi device. You should see the default Django welcome page.

That’s it! You have successfully installed and set up Django on your Raspberry Pi device. Now you can start building web applications using this powerful Python framework.