[Python] Deployed Django Rest Framework API gives "Server got itself in trouble" on any call...

I am deploying my Django Rest API to a web server running on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Linux and using the Apache web server. This web server is external; I have not set it up, and so some of the details on how it works is a blackbox to me.

I have run into a very annoying error in which I will get a 500 error saying "Server got itself in trouble" whenever I add payload to any sort of request. It doesn't matter the method: it can be a GET, POST, PUT, PATCH or DELETE and it will still run into the error...

However, when I run a request without a payload, I don't run into this error (I run into expected errors for not including expected request data instead)...

Here are some details on the server, that could give insight:

• The app runs within a Gunicorn container
• Client requests go to a reverse proxy and they are redirected to the app
• The app handles incoming requests and is listening out for them

Here is also the settings.py I am using. I have DEBUG=True for now to try to get to the root of the issue...

"""
Django settings for server project.

Generated by 'django-admin startproject' using Django 5.1.4.

For more information on this file, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.1/topics/settings/

For the full list of settings and their values, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.1/ref/settings/
"""

from pathlib import Path
from datetime import timedelta
from cryptography.fernet import Fernet
import sys
import environ
import os

env = environ.Env()
environ.Env.read_env()

USE_X_FORWARDED_HOST = True

# Build paths inside the project like this: BASE_DIR / 'subdir'.
BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent

# Quick-start development settings - unsuitable for production
# See https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.1/howto/deployment/checklist/

# SECURITY WARNING: keep the secret key used in production secret!
SECRET_KEY = 'django-insecure-(ltwgqma)#6=y3!dcw4b&8sog&%y@i51d1ye*(w_fk$9p0tvip'

ENCRYPTED_FIELDS_KEY = env('ENCRYPTED_FIELDS_KEY')

# SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
DEBUG = True

ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['*']


# Application definition

INSTALLED_APPS = [
'daphne',
'django_eventstream',

'django.contrib.admin',
'django.contrib.auth',
'django.contrib.contenttypes',
'django.contrib.sessions',
'django.contrib.messages',
'django.contrib.staticfiles',

'django_extensions',

'django_apscheduler',
'rest_framework',
'rest_framework_simplejwt.token_blacklist',
'corsheaders',

'apps.api'
]

MIDDLEWARE = [
'corsheaders.middleware.CorsMiddleware',
'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
]

ROOT_URLCONF = 'server.urls'

TEMPLATES = [
{
'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',
'DIRS': [],
'APP_DIRS': True,
'OPTIONS': {
'context_processors': [
'django.template.context_processors.debug',
'django.template.context_processors.request',
'django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth',
'django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages',
],
},
},
]

# WSGI_APPLICATION = 'server.wsgi.application'
ASGI_APPLICATION = "server.asgi.application"

# Database
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.1/ref/settings/#databases

DATABASES = {
'default': {
'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.mysql',
'HOST': 'server.com',
'NAME': env('DB_NAME'),
'USER': env('DB_USERNAME'),
'PASSWORD': env('DB_PASSWORD')
}
}

# Password validation
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.1/ref/settings/#auth-password-validators

AUTH_PASSWORD_VALIDATORS = [
{
'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.UserAttributeSimilarityValidator',
},
{
'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.MinimumLengthValidator',
},
{
'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.CommonPasswordValidator',
},
{
'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.NumericPasswordValidator',
},
]


LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en-us'
TIME_ZONE = 'UTC'
USE_I18N = True
USE_TZ = True

FIXTURE_DIRS = [
'fixtures'
]

STATIC_URL = 'static/'

MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(BASE_DIR), "server/media")

DEFAULT_AUTO_FIELD = 'django.db.models.BigAutoField'

CORS_ALLOW_ALL_ORIGINS = True

AUTH_USER_MODEL = "users.User"

REST_FRAMEWORK = {
'DEFAULT_PERMISSION_CLASSES': [
'rest_framework.permissions.AllowAny',
],
'DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_CLASSES': [
'rest_framework_simplejwt.authentication.JWTAuthentication',
],
'DEFAULT_RENDERER_CLASSES': [
'rest_framework.renderers.JSONRenderer',
],
'DEFAULT_PARSER_CLASSES': [
'rest_framework.parsers.JSONParser',
]
}
SIMPLE_JWT = {
'ACCESS_TOKEN_LIFETIME': timedelta(minutes=10),
'REFRESH_TOKEN_LIFETIME': timedelta(days=1),
'ROTATE_REFRESH_TOKENS': True,
'BLACKLIST_AFTER_ROTATION': False,

'USER_ID_FIELD': 'user_id'
}

LOGGING = {
"version": 1,
"disable_existing_loggers": False,
"handlers": {
"console": {
"class": "logging.StreamHandler",
},
},
"root": {
"handlers": ["console"],
"level": "WARNING",
},
}

if 'test' in sys.argv:
DATABASES['default'] = {
'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
'NAME': 'test'
}


There are logs I can access, but there is nothing there other than api/users 404: Bad request that indicate the error.

Thank you to anyone who can help me get to the bottom on this!

Continue reading...