Deploy Django and Nginx under subpath

Question

I'm trying to deploy a Django app with Gunicorn and Nginx under a subpath, I'm inside a corporate network, and the path www.example.com/myapp points to the IP 192.168.192.77:8080 of my PC on the local network (I have no control over the pathing nor the corporate network, just that port exposed to the internet through /myapp). I tried many things including this: How to host a Django project in a subpath? , but it doesn't show the Django welcome page, just the Nginx welcome page. I also can't access to the Django admin page that should be on the path /myapp/admin, just a 404 page. This is the config of my site on the folder sites-available for Nginx:

server {
    listen 8080;

    server_name 192.168.192.77;

    location /myapp/static/ {
        root /home/user/myapp;
    }

    location /myapp/ {

        include proxy_params;
        proxy_pass http://unix:/run/gunicorn.sock;
    }
}

I tried proxy_set_header SCRIPT_NAME /myapp; but it didn't work. If I don't configure any paths, it shows the django welcome page at /myapp but then I can't acces /myapp/admin, also a 404.

Curiously, if I start the Django development server using python manage.py runserver without nginx it works, the django welcome page shows at /myapp and I can access /myapp/admin with the only problem that the CSS files don't load.

I already have FORCE_SCRIPT_NAME = '/myapp' and STATIC_URL = '/myapp/static'in settings.py for Django.

In conclusion, how do I deploy this Django app to a subpath?

@furas I can't belive I didn't thought of that. It's working at www.example.com/myapp/myapp/. If I delete the last / it doesn't load at all, why?. On the other hand I need to delete one of the /myapp in the sub path so it shows just www.example.com/myapp — csong
– csong, Commented Oct 30 at 6:37
probably Django is configured to expect only urls with / at the end. And built-in server can redirect myapp to myapp/, but when you use external server then you have to do it on your own - probably using command rewrite (like in regex - Add slash to the end of every url (need rewrite rule for nginx) - Stack Overflow) — furas
– furas, Commented Oct 30 at 13:16
I think you should use some more universal formula like rewrite [^/]$ $uri/ because this missing / can make problem with any URL which you have in Django - i.e. /myapp/admin — furas
– furas, Commented Oct 30 at 14:39
I can't test it but I think you do it in wrong direction. If you want to remove duplicate myapp then you should remove one myapp from django (ie. FORCE_SCRIPT_NAME = '/myapp') or from location /myapp/. As for me you could use rewrite rather to convert /myapp to /myapp/myapp - so when client will try to connect to /myapp then it will redirect it to current working /myapp/myapp — furas
– furas, Commented Nov 1 at 1:12

Ferhat Mousavi · Accepted Answer · 2025-11-05 00:19:19Z

Best way (the method I usually use): Define a dedicated upstream block (a variable-like path) for each application you want to run behind Nginx. This makes your configuration cleaner and easier to scale — you can manage connection limits, failover settings, and keepalive behavior separately for each app. By defining reusable upstream names such as path_to_app_1 or path_to_app_2, you can later reference them in multiple location blocks using proxy_pass, which keeps the server section simple and consistent.

Add proxy_set_header X-Script-Name /myapp; to your Nginx location block. This tells Django it's running under a subpath, fixing /myapp/admin and other URL resolution issues. For root path you dont need to add it.

BTW I copied an example from my own nginx config that I use, but I changed the paths.

upstream path_to_app_1 {
    least_conn;
    server 127.0.0.1:8000 max_fails=3 fail_timeout=30s;
    keepalive 100;
}

upstream path_to_app_2 {
    least_conn;
    server 127.0.0.1:9000 max_fails=3 fail_timeout=30s;
    keepalive 100;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name _;

    ssl_certificate /opt/app/ssl/web.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /opt/app/ssl/web.key;
    
    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
    ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
    ssl_ciphers "EECDH+AESGCM:EDH+AESGCM:AES256+EECDH:AES256+EDH";
    ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m;
    ssl_session_timeout 10m;

    location /static/ {
        alias /opt/app/static/;
        expires 1y;
        add_header Cache-Control "public";
    }

    location /media/ {
        alias /opt/app/media/;
        expires 1y;
        add_header Cache-Control "public";
    }

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://path_to_app_1;
        proxy_set_header Host              $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For   $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    }

    location /sub1/ {
        proxy_pass http://path_to_app_2/;
        proxy_set_header Host              $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For   $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Script-Name     /sub1;
    }

    location /sub2/ {
        proxy_pass http://path_to_app_1/sub/;
        proxy_redirect off;
        proxy_set_header Host              $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For   $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Script-Name     /sub2;
    }

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