Django app getting server error 500 on local host when Debug = False

Question

My django app works properly (without any errors) when Debug = True in settings.py , but when I switch it to Debug = False I get Server Error (500) .

Plus I get:

• The character encoding of the HTML document was not declared. The document will render with garbled text in some browser configurations if the document contains characters from outside the US-ASCII range. The character encoding of the page must be declared in the document or in the transfer protocol.

• http://127.0.0.1:8000/favicon.ico 404 Not Found

My settings.py file:

"""
Django settings for zeynab_web project.

Generated by 'django-admin startproject' using Django 2.0.7.

For more information on this file, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.0/topics/settings/

For the full list of settings and their values, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.0/ref/settings/
"""

import os
import django_heroku
import dj_database_url
from decouple import config
import cloudinary_storage

# Build paths inside the project like this: os.path.join(BASE_DIR, ...)
BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR,'media')
STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static')


# Quick-start development settings - unsuitable for production
# See https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.0/howto/deployment/checklist/

# SECURITY WARNING: keep the secret key used in production secret!
SECRET_KEY = '---'

# SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
DEBUG = False

import logging
LOGGING = {
    'version': 1,
    'disable_existing_loggers': False,
    'formatters': {
        'verbose': {
            'format' : "[%(asctime)s] %(levelname)s [%(name)s:%(lineno)s] %(message)s",
            'datefmt' : "%d/%b/%Y %H:%M:%S"
        },
        'simple': {
            'format': '%(levelname)s %(message)s'
        },
    },
    'handlers': {
        'file': {
            'level': 'DEBUG',
            'class': 'logging.FileHandler',
            'filename': 'mysite.log',
            'formatter': 'verbose'
        },
    },
    'loggers': {
        'django': {
            'handlers':['file'],
            'propagate': True,
            'level':'DEBUG',
        },
        'MYAPP': {
            'handlers': ['file'],
            'level': 'DEBUG',
        },
    }
}

ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['*']


# Application definition

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'django.contrib.admin',
    'django.contrib.auth',
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.sessions',
    'django.contrib.messages',
    #'whitenoise.runserver_nostatic',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles',
    'cloudinary_storage',
    'cloudinary',

    # own apps
    'pages',
    'products',
]

MIDDLEWARE = [
    'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
    #'whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
]

ROOT_URLCONF = 'zeynab_web.urls'

TEMPLATES = [
    {
        'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',
        'DIRS': [os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'templates')],
        'APP_DIRS': True,
        'OPTIONS': {
            'context_processors': [
                'django.template.context_processors.debug',
                'django.template.context_processors.request',
                'django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth',
                'django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages',
            ],
        },
    },
]

WSGI_APPLICATION = 'zeynab_web.wsgi.application'


# Database
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.0/ref/settings/#databases

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
        'NAME': os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'db.sqlite3'),
    }
}


# Password validation
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.0/ref/settings/#auth-password-validators

AUTH_PASSWORD_VALIDATORS = [
    {
        'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.UserAttributeSimilarityValidator',
    },
    {
        'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.MinimumLengthValidator',
    },
    {
        'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.CommonPasswordValidator',
    },
    {
        'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.NumericPasswordValidator',
    },
]


# Internationalization
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.0/topics/i18n/

LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en-us'

TIME_ZONE = 'UTC'

USE_I18N = True

USE_L10N = True

USE_TZ = True


# Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.0/howto/static-files/

STATIC_URL = '/static/'
MEDIA_URL = '/media/'

STATICFILES_DIRS = [
    os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static')
]

DEFAULT_FILE_STORAGE = 'cloudinary_storage.storage.RawMediaCloudinaryStorage'

CLOUDINARY_STORAGE = {
    'CLOUD_NAME': '---',
    'API_KEY': '---',
    'API_SECRET': '---'
}

#STATICFILES_STORAGE = 'whitenoise.storageCompressedManifestStaticFilesStorage'

# Email settings
EMAIL_HOST = 'smtp.gmail.com'
EMAIL_PORT = 587
EMAIL_HOST_USER = '---'
EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = '---'
EMAIL_USE_TLS = True

django_heroku.settings(locals())

#update comment

My wsgi.py file:

"""
WSGI config for zeynab_web project.

It exposes the WSGI callable as a module-level variable named ``application``.

For more information on this file, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.0/howto/deployment/wsgi/
"""

import os

from django.core.wsgi import get_wsgi_application
#from whitenoise.django import DjangoWhiteNoise

os.environ.setdefault("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE", "zeynab_web.settings")

application = get_wsgi_application()
#application = DjangoWhiteNoise(application)

After reading forms

I tried ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['*'] , but nothing changed.

I tried inserting

import logging
LOGGING = {
    'version': 1,
    'disable_existing_loggers': False,
    'formatters': {
        'verbose': {
            'format' : "[%(asctime)s] %(levelname)s [%(name)s:%(lineno)s] %(message)s",
            'datefmt' : "%d/%b/%Y %H:%M:%S"
        },
        'simple': {
            'format': '%(levelname)s %(message)s'
        },
    },
    'handlers': {
        'file': {
            'level': 'DEBUG',
            'class': 'logging.FileHandler',
            'filename': 'mysite.log',
            'formatter': 'verbose'
        },
    },
    'loggers': {
        'django': {
            'handlers':['file'],
            'propagate': True,
            'level':'DEBUG',
        },
        'MYAPP': {
            'handlers': ['file'],
            'level': 'DEBUG',
        },
    }
}

to my settings.py file to see logs for solving error, but no logs appeared in my terminal.

Edit:

Implemented @Dos 's code and get same error.

Here is my new settings.py file

import os
import django_heroku
import dj_database_url
from decouple import config
import cloudinary_storage

BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
# and here the rest of your local settings

# SECURITY WARNING: keep the secret key used in production secret!
SECRET_KEY = '---'

WSGI_APPLICATION = 'zeynab_web.wsgi.application'

# Database
DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
        'NAME': os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'db.sqlite3'),
    }
}

# Application definition

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'django.contrib.admin',
    'django.contrib.auth',
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.sessions',
    'django.contrib.messages',
    'whitenoise.runserver_nostatic',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles',
    'cloudinary_storage',
    'cloudinary',

    # own apps
    'pages',
    'products',
]

MIDDLEWARE = [
    'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
    'whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
]

ROOT_URLCONF = 'zeynab_web.urls'

TEMPLATES = [
    {
        'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',
        'DIRS': [os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'templates')],
        'APP_DIRS': True,
        'OPTIONS': {
            'context_processors': [
                'django.template.context_processors.debug',
                'django.template.context_processors.request',
                'django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth',
                'django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages',
            ],
        },
    },
]

# Internationalization
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.0/topics/i18n/

LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en-us'

TIME_ZONE = 'UTC'

USE_I18N = True

USE_L10N = True

USE_TZ = True


# Password validation
AUTH_PASSWORD_VALIDATORS = [
    {
        'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.UserAttributeSimilarityValidator',
    },
    {
        'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.MinimumLengthValidator',
    },
    {
        'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.CommonPasswordValidator',
    },
    {
        'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.NumericPasswordValidator',
    },
]

# Static files configuration
STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'staticfiles')
STATIC_URL = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static/')
STATICFILES_DIRS = (
    os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static'),
)
#STATICFILES_STORAGE = 'whitenoise.storageCompressedManifestStaticFilesStorage'

# Media configuration
MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR,'media')
MEDIA_URL = '/media/'
DEFAULT_FILE_STORAGE = 'cloudinary_storage.storage.RawMediaCloudinaryStorage'
CLOUDINARY_STORAGE = {
    'CLOUD_NAME': '---',
    'API_KEY': '---',
    'API_SECRET': '---'
}

STATICFILES_FINDERS = (
    'django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.FileSystemFinder',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.AppDirectoriesFinder',
    #'sass_processor.finders.CssFinder',
)

django_heroku.settings(locals())

# Loading test/prod settings based on ENV settings
ENV = os.environ.get('ENV')

if ENV == 'prod':
    try:
        from .production_settings import *
        MIDDLEWARE.append('whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware',)
    except ImportError:
        pass

And production_settings.py file

import os

DEBUG = False

SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('SECRET_KEY')

#DATABASES = {
#    'default': {
#       'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
#        'NAME': os.environ.get('DB_NAME'),
#        'USER': os.environ.get('DB_USER'),
#        'PASSWORD': os.environ.get('DB_PASSWORD'),
#        'HOST': os.environ.get('DB_HOST'),
#        'PORT': '5432',
#    }
#}

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
        'NAME': os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'db.sqlite3'),
    }
}

# Password validation (I removed them in the local settings)
AUTH_PASSWORD_VALIDATORS = [
    {'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.UserAttributeSimilarityValidator'},
    {'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.MinimumLengthValidator'},
    {'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.CommonPasswordValidator'},
    {'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.NumericPasswordValidator'},
]

ALLOWED_HOSTS = (
    'ophrys.herokuapp.com',
    'localhost',
)

EMAIL_BACKEND = 'django.core.mail.backends.smtp.EmailBackend'

SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT = True
SECURE_PROXY_SSL_HEADER = ('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO', 'https')
CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE = True
SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = True

Answer 1

When you set DEBUG=False Django doesn't handle your static files anymore. The idea behind is that you need to setup a proper production system. I think you are using Heroku, so I attached here a (tested) configuration for your production settings file (I suggest you to create a dedicated file for prod settings, like in the example below).

settings.py :

BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
# and here the rest of your local settings
# ...

WSGI_APPLICATION = 'your-app-name.wsgi.application'

# Database
DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
        'NAME': os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'db.sqlite3'),
    }
}

# Password validation
AUTH_PASSWORD_VALIDATORS = []

# Static files configuration
STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'staticfiles')
STATIC_URL = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static/')
STATICFILES_DIRS = (
    os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static'),
)

STATICFILES_FINDERS = (
    'django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.FileSystemFinder',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.AppDirectoriesFinder',
)

# ...

# Loading test/prod settings based on ENV settings
ENV = os.environ.get('ENV')

if ENV == 'prod':
    try:
        from .production_settings import *
        MIDDLEWARE.append('whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware',)
    except ImportError:
        pass

production_settings.py (for Heroku):

import os

DEBUG = False

SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('SECRET_KEY')

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
        'NAME': os.environ.get('DB_NAME'),
        'USER': os.environ.get('DB_USER'),
        'PASSWORD': os.environ.get('DB_PASSWORD'),
        'HOST': os.environ.get('DB_HOST'),
        'PORT': '5432',
    }
}

# Password validation (I removed them in the local settings)
AUTH_PASSWORD_VALIDATORS = [
    {'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.UserAttributeSimilarityValidator'},
    {'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.MinimumLengthValidator'},
    {'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.CommonPasswordValidator'},
    {'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.NumericPasswordValidator'},
]

ALLOWED_HOSTS = (
    'your-app-name.herokuapp.com',
    'localhost',
)

EMAIL_BACKEND = 'django.core.mail.backends.smtp.EmailBackend'

SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT = True
SECURE_PROXY_SSL_HEADER = ('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO', 'https')
CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE = True
SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = True

Your wsgi.py file is already ok. Make sure you have the Procfile , the requirements.txt file and you set your env var under the "Config Vars" section on Heroku dashboar ( dashboard.heroku.com/your-app-name/axdos/settings ). Here you need to set SECRET_KEY , DB_NAME , DB_USER , DB_PASSWORD , DB_HOST and finally ENV (this env needs to be equal to prod ). You can find the db credentials under the dashboard.heroku.com/your-app-name/axdos/resources .

Answer 2

after adding add WhiteNoise to the MIDDLEWARE

MIDDLEWARE = [
  # 'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
  'whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware',
  # ...
]

execute this command

python manage.py collectstatic --noinput