# Static served using nginx couldn't work Error 404 **URL:** \ **Category:** Deployment\ **Created:** [February 1, 2024, 7:13am UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/static-served-using-nginx-couldnt-work-error-404/27641 "2024-02-01T07:13:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nuna7](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.djangoproject.com/nuna7/32/18882_2.png) [@Nuna7](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/Nuna7)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 7:13am UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/static-served-using-nginx-couldnt-work-error-404/27641/1 "2024-02-01T07:13:53Z")
I am using homebrew to start the nginx services. **Django project directory :** core (app) main\_app(app) maps(app) static → css folder, js folder etc templates manage.py **Steps :** 1. I add static url : ```auto STATIC_URL = "/static/" STATICFILES_DIRS = [ os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "static"), ] STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "staticfiles") MEDIA_URL = "media/" MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "media") ``` 1. I then collect the static ```auto nuntea@Zonunmawias-MacBook-Air vgt-bitmapper-portal-app % python3 manage.py collectstatic 184 static files copied to '/Users/nuntea/Documents/Vasundhara Geo technology/vgt-bitmapper-portal-app/staticfiles'. ``` 1. I add the following server to ```auto server { listen 80; server_name _; location /static/ { alias '/Users/nuntea/Documents/Vasundhara Geo technology/vgt-bitmapper-portal-app/staticfiles/'; } location / { proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8000; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme; } } ``` Here are some further information : ```auto nuntea@Zonunmawias-MacBook-Air vgt-bitmapper-portal-app % brew services list Name Status User File nginx started nuntea ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.nginx.plist nginx -t nginx: the configuration file /opt/homebrew/etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok nginx: configuration file /opt/homebrew/etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful nuntea@Zonunmawias-MacBook-Air vgt-bitmapper-portal-app % cat /opt/homebrew/var/log/nginx/error.log No error printed sudo lsof -i :8080 COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME nginx 3926 nuntea 7u IPv4 0xb41b860f0985e595 0t0 TCP *:http-alt (LISTEN) nginx 3933 nuntea 7u IPv4 0xb41b860f0985e595 0t0 TCP *:http-alt (LISTEN) ``` When I run the server : ```auto python3 manage.py runserver [01/Feb/2024 12:43:05] "GET /core/login-user/?next=/ HTTP/1.1" 200 1801 [01/Feb/2024 12:43:05] "GET /static/bootstrap_css/bootstrap.min.css HTTP/1.1" 404 179 [01/Feb/2024 12:43:05] "GET /static/custom_css/base.css HTTP/1.1" 404 179 [01/Feb/2024 12:43:05] "GET /static/jquery_js/jquery-3.6.4.min.js HTTP/1.1" 404 179 [01/Feb/2024 12:43:05] "GET /static/bootstrap_js/bootstrap.min.js HTTP/1.1" 404 179 ``` It couldn’t find the css etc ---
**Author:** ![ryand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e95f7d/32.png) [@ryand](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/ryand)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 3:06am UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/static-served-using-nginx-couldnt-work-error-404/27641/2 "2024-02-02T03:06:01Z")
May we take a look at the nginx access log? My best guess at the moment is that runserver is handling the requests to the static files and not nginx. Do you have DEBUG on? ---
**Author:** ![KenWhitesell](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.djangoproject.com/kenwhitesell/32/280_2.png) [@KenWhitesell](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/KenWhitesell)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 3:24am UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/static-served-using-nginx-couldnt-work-error-404/27641/3 "2024-02-02T03:24:35Z")
Couple different things here. - Don’t use runserver in production. See [django-admin and manage.py | Django documentation | Django](https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.0/ref/django-admin/#runserver) Use something like gunicorn or uwsgi. - Change your MEDIA\_ROOT and STATIC\_ROOT to refer to directories outside your project - specifically, directories that nginx will have access to. - Change your server configuration to refer to those directories. - Review the docs at - Read your log files for more detailed information. - Search for other topics in the forum for similar cases to see examples of how they were resolved. ---
**Author:** ![Nuna7](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.djangoproject.com/nuna7/32/18882_2.png) [@Nuna7](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/Nuna7)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 11:12am UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/static-served-using-nginx-couldnt-work-error-404/27641/4 "2024-02-06T11:12:57Z")
I set DEBUG = False. I delete the nginx and start from scratch. The nginx listen in 8080 port. I run nginx and python3 manage.py runserver. When I go to the url, the static file couldn’t be seen : [http://127.0.0.1:8000/](http://127.0.0.1:8000/) ```auto 06/Feb/2024 16:29:18] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 302 0 [06/Feb/2024 16:29:18] "GET /core/login-user/?next=/ HTTP/1.1" 200 1801 [06/Feb/2024 16:29:18] "GET /static/custom_css/base.css HTTP/1.1" 404 179 [06/Feb/2024 16:29:18] "GET /static/bootstrap_css/bootstrap.min.css HTTP/1.1" 404 179 [06/Feb/2024 16:29:18] "GET /static/jquery_js/jquery-3.6.4.min.js HTTP/1.1" 404 179 [06/Feb/2024 16:29:18] "GET /static/bootstrap_js/bootstrap.min.js HTTP/1.1" 404 179 [06/Feb/2024 16:29:25] "GET /static/custom_css/base.css HTTP/1.1" 404 179 [06/Feb/2024 16:29:25] "GET /static/bootstrap_css/bootstrap.min.css HTTP/1.1" 404 179 ``` When I go to the url, the static file couldn’t be seen : [http://127.0.0.1:8080/](http://127.0.0.1:8080/). The application works and could see the static files. I investigate the resources request when going to different port 8000 and 8080 : In port 8000, where the static files couldn’t be see : ```auto Request URL: http://127.0.0.1:8000/static/custom_css/base.css ``` As django didn’t serve the static files anymore, it couldn’t find. In port 8080, where the static files could be see : ```auto Request URL: http://127.0.0.1:8080/static/custom_css/base.css ``` As nginx listen here, it could find and use the css etc. The access.log is as the following : ```auto nuntea@Zonunmawias-MacBook-Air vgt-bitmapper-portal-app % cat /opt/homebrew/var/log/nginx/access.log 127.0.0.1 - - [06/Feb/2024:16:13:16 +0530] "GET /static/bootstrap_js/bootstrap.min.js HTTP/1.1" 304 0 "http://127.0.0.1:8080/core/login-user/?next=/" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/121.0.0.0 Safari/537.36" 127.0.0.1 - - [06/Feb/2024:16:13:16 +0530] "GET /static/bootstrap_css/bootstrap.min.css.map HTTP/1.1" 304 0 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/121.0.0.0 Safari/537.36" 127.0.0.1 - - [06/Feb/2024:16:13:16 +0530] "GET /static/bootstrap_js/bootstrap.min.js.map HTTP/1.1" 304 0 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/121.0.0.0 Safari/537.36" 127.0.0.1 - - [06/Feb/2024:16:31:56 +0530] "GET /core/login-user/?next=/ HTTP/1.1" 200 1801 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/121.0.0.0 Safari/537.36" 127.0.0.1 - - [06/Feb/2024:16:32:45 +0530] "GET /core/login-user/?next=/ HTTP/1.1" 200 1801 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/121.0.0.0 Safari/537.36" ``` I don’t think this is how it should run (thinking that port 8000 should also see the static). What is wrong ? ---
**Author:** ![ryand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e95f7d/32.png) [@ryand](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/ryand)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2024, 10:30am UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/static-served-using-nginx-couldnt-work-error-404/27641/5 "2024-02-07T10:30:33Z")
I don’t see anything wrong! Looks like you got it working! Your access log confirms what you observed that Nginx is handling the staticfiles request _when you make the request on port 8080_. With DEBUG = False Django won’t serve staticfiles and hence Django 404s. There’s [some more info in the docs](https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.0/ref/contrib/staticfiles/#static-file-development-view). Since you wouldn’t use DEBUG turned on in production you need some other way of serving the staticfiles. Some use solutions like Whitenoise or do what you’ve done and configure the HTTP server to handle these requests. When making requests on port 8080: Nginx is ‘in front’ of Django and Nginx serves the static files itself and for everything else calls Django on port 8000. When you make a request straight to Django on port 8000 and with DEBUG turned off, Django can’t find the static files as it is not serving them. To move closer to production you might have Nginx listen on port 80 instead of 8080 and then you could perform your requests like [http://127.0.0.1/](http://127.0.0.1/) (note http not https). For a more realistic situation you’d probably have Nginx listen on 443 (perhaps also routing all non-https requests to https). This is harder to do on a local machine as it generally requires SSL certificates with LetsEncrypt or something similar.