Deploy a Django Application Using Jenkins, Docker, and Kubernetes

Deploying your Django app to Kubernetes might seem intimidating — but with Jenkins, Docker, and Kubernetes, you can automate the entire process easily!

🔧 Prerequisites

Before you start, ensure you have:

• A Django app hosted on GitHub

• Jenkins installed and running (Dockerized or standalone)

• Docker Hub account to push your Docker images

• A Kubernetes cluster running (like Minikube, MicroK8s, or any cloud provider)

• kubectl CLI configured to manage your Kubernetes cluster

📂 Step 1: Prepare Your Django Application

Make sure your Django project contains:

• A Dockerfile to build your app container

• A Kubernetes manifest file (e.g., k8s-deploy.yaml) describing your deployment and service

• Your code pushed to a GitHub repository

Example Dockerfile

FROM python:3.11-slim

WORKDIR /app

COPY requirements.txt .
RUN pip install -r requirements.txt

COPY . .

CMD ["gunicorn", "blog.wsgi:application", "--bind", "0.0.0.0:8000"]

Example k8s-deploy.yaml

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: django-deployment
spec:
  replicas: 2
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: django-blog
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: django-blog
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: django-container
        image: yourdockerhubusername/django-blog:latest
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8000

---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: django-service
spec:
  selector:
    app: django-blog
  ports:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 80
      targetPort: 8000
  type: NodePort

🤖 Step 2: Setup Jenkins Pipeline for CI/CD

1. Run Jenkins (Docker example)

docker run -d --name jenkins -p 8080:8080 -p 50000:50000 -v jenkins_home:/var/jenkins_home jenkins/jenkins:lts

2. Install Jenkins Plugins:

• Git Plugin

• Docker Pipeline

• Kubernetes CLI Plugin

• Credentials Binding Plugin

3. Add Credentials:

• Add your Docker Hub credentials in Jenkins (Manage Jenkins → Credentials)

• Add your GitHub credentials if your repo is private

4. Create a Jenkins Pipeline Job:

• Link it to your GitHub repo URL

• Use the following Jenkinsfile (explained next)

🧪 Step 3: Jenkinsfile (Pipeline Script)

pipeline {
    agent any

    environment {
        IMAGE_NAME = "yourdockerhubusername/django-blog:latest"
        DOCKERHUB_CREDENTIALS = credentials('dockerhub')
    }

    stages {
        stage('Clean Workspace') {
            steps {
                deleteDir()
            }
        }

        stage('Checkout Code') {
            steps {
                git url: 'https://github.com/yourusername/your-django-repo.git', branch: 'master'
            }
        }

        stage('Build Docker Image') {
            steps {
                sh "docker build -t ${IMAGE_NAME} ."
            }
        }

        stage('Docker Login') {
            steps {
                sh "echo ${DOCKERHUB_CREDENTIALS_PSW} | docker login -u ${DOCKERHUB_CREDENTIALS_USR} --password-stdin"
            }
        }

        stage('Push Docker Image') {
            steps {
                sh "docker push ${IMAGE_NAME}"
            }
        }

        stage('Deploy to Kubernetes') {
            steps {
                sh "kubectl apply -f k8s-deploy.yaml"
                sh "kubectl set image deployment/django-deployment django-container=${IMAGE_NAME} --record"
            }
        }
    }
}

---

🌟 Step 4: Run Your Pipeline and Access Your App!

• Trigger your Jenkins pipeline

• Jenkins will build the Docker image, push it to Docker Hub, and update your Kubernetes deployment

• Access your app on your Kubernetes NodePort IP and port

💡 Tips & Tricks

• Make sure your Jenkins user has permissions to access Docker daemon (check Docker socket permissions)

• Configure your kubeconfig inside Jenkins if needed

• Use Kubernetes Dashboard or kubectl get pods to check deployment status

🙌 Final Thoughts

Using Jenkins + Docker + Kubernetes gives you an automated, professional way to deploy your Django apps — perfect for real-world production workflows! 🚀

If you want me to help you with the exact repo, Dockerfile, Kubernetes manifests, or Jenkinsfile, just ask! 😊