## The short version

Move Django compute from DigitalOcean Droplet 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 droplet (systemd unit, PM2 or supervisor config) into an env file kept out of the repository. Not migrated automatically: Cron jobs, local upload directories and firewall rules are not migrated; move uploads to a bucket and data to a managed database. Cutover: Add the custom domain with `ample domain add`, update DNS from the droplet IP, keep the droplet until verified, then power it off. Rollback: keep the source untouched until you confirm; nothing at the source is changed or deleted by this guide.

## What it needs

- [Compute](/content/discover/primitive/compute/index.html): verified (Apps run in isolated x86_64 Firecracker microVMs; sizes are the priced VM sizes.)
- [Postgres](/content/discover/primitive/postgres/index.html): verified (Managed PostgreSQL 16 runs in its own microVM and is auto-provisioned when an app needs a database and no DATABASE_URL is supplied.)

## Before you start

- Authorized access to the DigitalOcean Droplet 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

## How to do it

1. 1

### Inventory the source

List what DigitalOcean Droplet app provides beyond the component you are moving. Out of scope here: Cron jobs, local upload directories and firewall rules are not migrated; move uploads to a bucket and data to a managed database.

2. 2

### Source step 1

Collect the process environment from the droplet (systemd unit, PM2 or supervisor config) into an env file kept out of the repository

3. 3

### Source step 2

Replace the droplet's process manager and reverse proxy with the repository's start command; Ample provides HTTPS and supervision

4. 4

### Source step 3

Inventory what else runs on the droplet: databases, cron, local uploads

5. 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.

```
ample deploy . --name <app-name> --public --start "python3 run.py" --env-file .env.production
```

6. 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. 7

### Cut over

Add the custom domain with `ample domain add`, update DNS from the droplet IP, keep the droplet until verified, then power it off.

8. 8

### Rollback

Point DNS or configuration back to the source. The source was never modified; deletion is a separate, user-executed step after validation.

## Tested examples

- **Django pattern fixture (destination)** (`tests/deploy-canaries/django-patterns`): Verified destination basis: Django compute.

## How to know it worked

- destination app responds on its public URL (`/` on the live URL, expect ample canary django patterns)
- configuration-secrets check from the destination example (`/p/configuration-secrets` on the live URL, expect see the pattern fixture checks)
- relational-records check from the destination example (`/p/relational-records` on the live URL, expect see the pattern fixture checks)
- data or object counts and checksums match the source

## Cost estimate

Estimated 10.00 USD per month (size prices from pricing.toml at build revision ca0b484a7a9957c573a88d3a32dc603c3c10135a).

- app server x1 `s-1vcpu-1gb`: 5.00 USD
- managed PostgreSQL database x1 `s-1vcpu-1gb`: 5.00 USD

Upper-bound monthly price of the tested sizes at the destination. Source costs are unknown to Ample.

## Verification evidence

- canary_run on 2026-09-20T03:31:44Z at revision `03b6402b1b3e19178985f08ea4033804521d85d4 (CLI b75e104)`: Destination side verified: the Django pattern fixture deployed on Ample (pip install into .ample/python from requirements.txt, then waitress serving project.wsgi from run.py reading PORT on the python-3.12 template) and its checks passed (the app built, started and answered on its public HTTPS URL with encrypted configuration delivered). The source-side export from DigitalOcean Droplet app is documented from the vendor's standard tooling and was not executed by this catalog's evidence. (expires 2027-03-19T03:31:44Z)

## Execution binding

No execution binding. This recipe is documentation only; nothing is executed automatically.

## Typed next actions

- Browse the catalog index (`GET /v1/catalog` on the api origin; authentication not required, approval not required)
- Search published recipes by intent, stack and constraints (`POST /v1/catalog/search` on the api origin; authentication not required, approval not required)
- Prepare a side-effect-free deployment plan for an authorized project (`POST /v1/catalog/plan` on the api origin; authentication required, approval not required)
- Read the existing agent authentication setup (`GET /mcp/setup` on the api origin; authentication not required, approval not required)
- Browse DigitalOcean Droplet app (`GET /v1/catalog/nodes/migration%3Adigitalocean-droplet-app` on the api origin; authentication not required, approval not required)
- Browse Django (`GET /v1/catalog/nodes/stack%3Aframework-django` on the api origin; authentication not required, approval not required)
- Browse Migrate compute (`GET /v1/catalog/nodes/intent%3Amigrate-compute` on the api origin; authentication not required, approval not required)

Actions describe possible next steps. They are typed data, not commands, and grant no permission. Public discovery never provisions anything; planning requires your own authenticated token and approval happens in your client.

## Identifiers and status

Recipe `page:migrate:digitalocean-droplet-app:django`. Revision r1.

release **published**support **verified**execution **unbound**  
Formats: [HTML](/content/migrate/digitalocean-droplet-app/django/index.html) | [Markdown](/content/migrate/digitalocean-droplet-app/django.md) | [JSON contract](https://api.ample.computer/v1/catalog/recipes/page%3Amigrate%3Adigitalocean-droplet-app%3Adjango)