Pythondiscord.pyDeploy5 min read

Deploy Discord bot with Python

Configure and run a Python bot (discord.py) with virtual environment and systemd.

Prerequisites

VPS or Discord Bot hosting plan at Baires Host
Your bot token from the Discord Developer Portal
Python bot code ready to deploy
SSH access to your server

Step 1: Install Python

bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y python3 python3-pip python3-venv
python3 --version

Step 2: Create project structure

bash
mkdir -p /opt/bots/my-bot
cd /opt/bots/my-bot

Recommended structure:

terminal
my-bot/
├── bot/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── main.py
│   ├── cogs/
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   ├── moderation.py
│   │   └── utility.py
│   └── utils/
│       └── helpers.py
├── .env
├── requirements.txt
├── run.py
└── update.sh

Step 3: Set up virtual environment

bash
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

Step 4: Install dependencies

Create requirements.txt:

terminal
discord.py>=2.3.0
python-dotenv>=1.0.0
aiohttp>=3.9.0

Install:

bash
pip install -r requirements.txt

Step 5: Configure environment variables

bash
nano .env

env
DISCORD_TOKEN=your_bot_token_here
PREFIX=!
OWNER_ID=your_discord_user_id

Step 6: Create the run script

bash
nano run.py

python
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from bot.main import MyBot

load_dotenv()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    bot = MyBot()
    bot.run(os.getenv("DISCORD_TOKEN"))

Step 7: Create a systemd service

bash
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/discord-bot.service

ini
[Unit]
Description=Discord Bot (Python)
After=network.target

[Service]
User=deploy
WorkingDirectory=/opt/bots/my-bot
ExecStart=/opt/bots/my-bot/venv/bin/python run.py
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
EnvironmentFile=/opt/bots/my-bot/.env
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start:

bash
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable discord-bot
sudo systemctl start discord-bot

Step 8: Create an update script

bash
nano update.sh

bash
#!/bin/bash
set -e

echo "[$(date)] Starting update..."

# Pull latest code
git pull origin main

# Update dependencies
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Restart the service
sudo systemctl restart discord-bot

echo "[$(date)] Update complete!"
sudo systemctl status discord-bot --no-pager

bash
chmod +x update.sh

Managing the bot

bash
# Check status
sudo systemctl status discord-bot

# View logs
journalctl -u discord-bot -f

# View last 50 lines
journalctl -u discord-bot -n 50

# Restart
sudo systemctl restart discord-bot

# Stop
sudo systemctl stop discord-bot

Tips

Use cogs to organize commands into modules for easier maintenance
Log to file in addition to journald for easier debugging
Pin dependency versions in requirements.txt for reproducible deployments
Set up a webhook to notify you in Discord when the bot restarts
Use discord.py intents properly - enable only what you need in the Developer Portal

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