I have created a Dockerized environment for an existing Django app, using MySQL for persistence and NGINX as a reverse proxy. It demonstrates how I isolated services into containers, wired them together with Docker Compose, and managed startup order and health checks.

• Project Overview
• Architecture
• Technology Stack
• Setup & Installation
• Docker Breakdown
• Common Commands
• Troubleshooting

I’ve taken an existing Django application; in this repo I demonstrate how I:

• Containerize Django (with Gunicorn)

• Connect it to a MySQL database container

• Front it with an NGINX reverse proxy

• Orchestrate everything via Docker Compose

graph LR
  Browser[Browser]
  NGINX["NGINX Reverse Proxy: 80"]
  Django["Gunicorn + Django: 8000"]
  MySQL[(MySQL Database: 3306)]

  Browser -->|HTTP 80| NGINX
  NGINX -->|proxy_pass| Django
  Django -->|SQL| MySQL 

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/DevDetroja10/dockerized-django-infra

2. Build and start all services

   docker-compose up --build

3. Access the application Open your browser to http://localhost.

• Django container

  • Built from DJANGO-NOTES-APP/Dockerfile
  • Runs a startup command that applies migrations and launches Gunicorn directly via docker-compose.

• MySQL container

  • Uses the official mysql image
  • Configured via environment variables:
    • MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=root
    • MYSQL_DATABASE=test_db
  • Persists data using a bind mount: ./data/mysql/db:/var/lib/mysql

• NGINX container

  • Based on nginx:1.23.3-alpine
  • Uses default.conf (copied to /etc/nginx/conf.d/) to route incoming HTTP traffic to the Django container
  • Acts as a reverse proxy, forwarding requests from port 80 to the Django app running on port 8000

• Docker Compose

  • Defines all three services
  • Sets up a private network for inter-container communication
  • Uses depends_on and optional healthchecks to manage startup order.

• “Could not connect to MySQL”

  • Make sure your .env file contains the correct DB_HOST value — it should match the container name specified in docker-compose.yml.
  • Verify the MySQL container is healthy: docker compose ps.

• Port 80 already in use

  • Either stop the conflicting service or update the ports: mapping under the nginx service in docker-compose.yml.

• Data lost after restart

  • Ensure that your bind mount is correctly configured to persist MySQL data.