[[!meta title="How can I import an outside Django project?"]]
Configuring an outside Django project to run on scripts can be a
bit tricky if you’ve only before had experience with “./manage.py
runserver”. Here’s one way to get a Django project running on
scripts.mit.edu:

1.  Start with the [regular scripts Django autoinstaller](/start/)
2.  Move the created
    /mit/lockername/Scripts/django/projname^[1](#fn7483266754e7f7937783a8)^
    aside to /mit/lockername/Scripts/django/projname.auto
3.  Copy in *your* application’s code to
    /mit/lockername/Scripts/django/projname
4.  Update the paths in
    /mit/lockername/web\_scripts/progname/index.fcgi
    1.  Make sure that the sys.path.insert line points to the directory
        *containing* projname (likely /mit/lockername/Scripts/django/)
    2.  Possibly add a sys.path.insert line that points to
        /mit/lockername/Scripts/django/projname, if your includes are
        appname.models, not projname.appname.models (or similar)
    3.  Make sure the chdir line is right —- it should point to the
        directory containing your project code

5.  Add a symbolic link from
    /mit/lockername/web\_scripts/projname/media/ to
    /mit/lockername/Scripts/django/projname/media/
6.  Merge the autoinstalled settings.py (that is,
    /mit/lockername/Scripts/django/projname.auto/settings.py) into your
    settings.py
    1.  Copy the database information
    2.  Copy the SECRET\_KEY, or make your own new one
    3.  Copy the ADMIN\_MEDIA\_PREFIX —- for scripts.mit.edu, this
        should be “/\_\_scripts/django/media/”
    4.  Make sure the value of MEDIA\_URL is reasonable (generally
        “/projname/media/”)

7.  Set up your database appropriately, either by running
    “./manage.py syncdb” or by installing a database dump from a
    running copy of your project
8.  Once you’ve confirmed that your Django project works, delete
    /mit/lockername/Scripts/django/projname.auto/

^1^ On Athena 9 or the Sun dialups, you may need to do “attach
lockername” first.