media files aren't serving in django app on cpanel

Question

I have a django app running on cpanel (I'm not sure if is a problem of my django app or cpanel server), when the debug mode is set up True. I can see all the media files, like profiles pictures or pdf files, etc. But when the debug mode is set up False, you can't see the media files on the app. This is my configuratios on the settings.py file.

STATICFILES_DIRS = [
    os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static'),
    ]
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
STATIC_ROOT = '<app-directory>/public_html/static'

# Media files
MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'media')
MEDIA_URL = '/media/'

# Crispy Form Theme - Bootstrap 3
CRISPY_TEMPLATE_PACK = 'bootstrap3'

# For Bootstrap 3, change error alert to 'danger'
from django.contrib import messages
MESSAGE_TAGS = {
    messages.ERROR: 'danger'
}

Answer 1

To deploy a production server, you need to set 3 things

1. deactivate the DEBUG configuration:

DEBUG = False

This disable all extra function for development.

2. define a static root directory in the settings file:

STATIC_ROOT = '/this/is/a/path/to/statics'

This, indicate where all the static files should be saved.

3. run the command to collect all static files:

python manage.py collectstatic

This saves all statics files in the directory configured by STATIC_ROOT

The official documentation for deployment: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.1/howto/deployment/checklist/#static-root-and-static-url