Migrate AWS EC2 app: Django

Summary

Move Django compute from AWS EC2 app to Ample, one component at a time. Destination verified on Ample: the app built, started and answered on its public HTTPS URL with encrypted configuration delivered. Source procedure: Collect the process environment from the instance (systemd unit or process manager config) into an env file kept out of the repository. Not migrated automatically: Cron jobs, local files on the instance disk, security-group networking and IAM instance roles are not migrated; use managed databases, buckets and encrypted env instead. Cutover: Add the custom domain with ample domain add, update DNS from the instance or load balancer, keep the instance until verified, then stop it. Rollback: keep the source untouched until you confirm; nothing at the source is changed or deleted by this guide.

Resource Requirements

• Compute: Apps run in isolated x86_64 Firecracker microVMs that auto-pause when idle and wake on request; sizes are the priced VM sizes.
• Postgres: Managed PostgreSQL 16 runs in its own microVM and is auto-provisioned when an app needs a database and no DATABASE_URL is supplied.

Workload

Django

Prerequisites

• Authorized access to the AWS EC2 app source and its export tooling
• An inventory of every component in scope and out of scope
• A validated backup or copy before any cutover
• An Ample account token with servers:write, databases:read

Workflow Steps

1. Inventory the source: List what AWS EC2 app provides beyond the component you are moving. Out of scope here: Cron jobs, local files on the instance disk, security-group networking and IAM instance roles are not migrated; use managed databases, buckets and encrypted env instead.
2. Source step 1: Collect the process environment from the instance (systemd unit or process manager config) into an env file kept out of the repository.
3. Source step 2: Replace the instance's process manager with the repository's start command; Ample supervises the process and restarts it.
4. Source step 3: Inventory what else runs on the instance: databases, cron, reverse proxy rules, local files.
5. Deploy on Ample in parallel: pip install into .ample/python from requirements.txt, then waitress serving project.wsgi from run.py reading PORT on the python-3.12 template. Pass the exported variables with --env; keep the source running. Command: ample deploy . --name --public --start "python3 run.py" --env-file .env.production
6. Validate before cutover: Run the app's own checks and, for data, compare counts and checksums; the example checks are the pattern self-tests (/p/configuration-secrets, /p/relational-records).
7. Cut over: Add the custom domain with ample domain add, update DNS from the instance or load balancer, keep the instance until verified, then stop it.
8. Rollback: Point DNS or configuration back to the source. The source was never modified; deletion is a separate, user-executed step after validation.

Success Checks

• Destination app responds on its public URL
• Configuration-secrets check from the destination example
• Relational-records check from the destination example
• Data or object counts and checksums match the source

Limitations

• Documentation only: nothing is executed automatically and no execution binding is offered.
• The source-side procedure is documented from AWS EC2 app's standard tooling.
• No full source-product parity is claimed: Cron jobs, local files on the instance disk, security-group networking and IAM instance roles are not migrated.
• Verified on the python-3.12 template at s-1vcpu-1gb; region, compliance and request-duration limits are unknown.
• Managed PostgreSQL 16 only; extensions, connection limits and backup or restore procedures on the managed side are not fully verified.

Cost Estimate

• Monthly Amount: 10.0 USD
  • App server: 5.0 USD (s-1vcpu-1gb, quantity: 1.0)
  • Managed PostgreSQL database: 5.0 USD (s-1vcpu-1gb, quantity: 1.0)
  • Note: Destination always-on monthly price of the tested sizes; apps auto-pause when idle.

Evidence Summary

• Destination side verified: the Django pattern fixture deployed on Ample and its checks passed (the app built, started and answered on its public HTTPS URL).
• Last Verified At: 2026-09-20T03:31:44Z

Next Actions

• Browse the catalog index
• Search published recipes by intent, stack and constraints
• Prepare a side-effect-free deployment plan for an authorized project
• Read the existing agent authentication setup
• Browse AWS EC2 app
• Browse Django
• Browse Migrate compute

Examples

• Django pattern fixture (destination): Verified destination basis: Django compute.