Host member portal with Django: public profile assets

Deploy a member portal built with Django on Ample using the public image delivery pattern. Compute runs the app in an isolated microVM behind a public HTTPS URL, a managed PostgreSQL 16 database is auto-provisioned and injected as DATABASE_URL, a private S3-compatible bucket holds objects with credentials delivered as encrypted environment variables, and a published bucket serves public assets from the CDN host. Verified on Django: public objects in a published bucket served from the CDN URL, kept separate from private objects in an unpublished bucket that require authorization (private=ok only for the allowed role). Not separately tested: your image processing and profile-media rules; treat the member portal-specific behavior as your application code.

Representative Queries

• Host member portal with Django: public profile assets
• Where can I host Member portal built with Django?
• I need separate public profile media from private data, with CDN cache rules.

Resource Requirements

• Compute
• Postgres
• S3-compatible object storage
• CDN

Infrastructure Requirements

1. Compute
   Status: verified
   Summary: Apps run in isolated x86_64 Firecracker microVMs that auto-pause when idle and wake on request; sizes are the priced VM sizes.

2. Postgres
   Status: verified
   Summary: Managed PostgreSQL 16 runs in its own microVM and is auto-provisioned when an app needs a database and no DATABASE_URL is supplied.

3. S3-compatible object storage
   Status: verified
   Summary: Buckets are S3-compatible with issued credentials; PutObject and GetObject are verified by canary. Other S3 operations are not verified.

4. CDN
   Status: verified
   Summary: The CDN host serves objects from published buckets. It does not front app compute and is not a cache or key-value store.

Prerequisites

• A Django project that builds and starts with the documented commands (pip install into .ample/python from requirements.txt, then waitress serving project.wsgi from run.py reading PORT on the python-3.12 template)
• A PostgreSQL driver reading DATABASE_URL at runtime (auto-provisioned when omitted, or supplied with --env)
• A bucket from ample bucket create with its credentials passed as encrypted S3_* environment variables and a second, published bucket for public assets (CDN_*)
• An Ample account token with servers:write, databases:read, buckets:read

Tested Configuration

• Template: python-3.12
• Runtime: python
• Size: s-1vcpu-1gb
• Install: python3 -m pip install --target .ample/python -r requirements.txt
• Start: PYTHONPATH=.ample/python:${PYTHONPATH:-} python3 run.py

Workflow Steps

1. Build and start
   pip install into .ample/python from requirements.txt, then waitress serving project.wsgi from run.py reading PORT on the python-3.12 template. The server must bind 0.0.0.0 on PORT.

2. Implement the pattern on PostgreSQL
   The fixture's module implements public image delivery: public objects in a published bucket served from the CDN URL, kept separate from private objects in an unpublished bucket that require authorization (private=ok only for the allowed role). Copy the approach into your schema; keep migrations idempotent and run them with --release-command.

3. Wire object storage
   Create the bucket(s), then pass endpoint, region, bucket and keys as --env values. Use path-style addressing. Keep private data in an unpublished bucket. Publish only the bucket that serves public assets and reference its CDN URL.

4. Deploy
   Run the synchronous deploy once and read the result (exit 0 live, 1 failed, 2 blocked). Re-running with no change is a no-op. Command: ample deploy . --name --public --start "python3 run.py" --env S3_ENDPOINT=... --env S3_REGION=... --env S3_BUCKET=... --env S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID=... --env S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=... --env CDN_PUBLIC_URL=...

5. Verify
   Fetch the live URL and the pattern self-test route(s) (/p/public-media-library, /p/private-document-library) from the example; then run your own checks. On failure read ample logs --kind build then --kind runtime. Command: ample logs --kind build

Limitations

• Verified on the python-3.12 template at s-1vcpu-1gb with the example fixture; other sizes, templates and Django major versions are not verified.
• The member portal itself (your image processing and profile-media rules) is application code and was not separately tested; the pattern checks are what was verified.
• Apps auto-pause when idle and wake on the next request; always-on is an operator setting, not a plan feature.

Cost Estimate

• Currency: USD
• Monthly Amount: 10.0
• Basis: size prices from pricing.toml (loaded by the API)
• Components:
  • App server:
    • Size: s-1vcpu-1gb
    • Quantity: 1.0
    • Monthly Amount: 5.0
  • Managed PostgreSQL database:
    • Size: s-1vcpu-1gb
    • Quantity: 1.0
    • Monthly Amount: 5.0
• Note: Always-on monthly price of the tested sizes; apps and databases auto-pause when idle. Buckets are allocation-priced per quota and not included.