Below is a working solution:

1. Add your vm hostname and '127.0.0.1' to ALLOWED_HOSTS in settings.py

   ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['vcm-xxxxx.vm.duke.edu','127.0.0.1']

2. Start your server by

   python3 manage.py runserver 0:8000

   Using 0.0.0.0 means the server runs on "all" interfaces on the machine, including the one which has a public IP.

3. Open http://vcm-xxxxx.vm.duke.edu:8000/ in browser and it should work