How to set up a PostgreSQL database in Django

I'm new to Python and Django.

I'm configuring a Django project using a PostgreSQL database engine backend, But I'm getting errors on each database operation. For example when I run manage.py syncdb, I'm getting:

C:\xampp\htdocs\djangodir>python manage.py syncdb
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "manage.py", line 11, in <module>
    execute_manager(settings)
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\django\core\management\__init__.py", line
438, in execute_manager
    utility.execute()
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\django\core\management\__init__.py", line
379, in execute
    self.fetch_command(subcommand).run_from_argv(self.argv)
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\django\core\management\__init__.py", line
261, in fetch_command
    klass = load_command_class(app_name, subcommand)
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\django\core\management\__init__.py", line
67, in load_command_class
    module = import_module('%s.management.commands.%s' % (app_name, name))
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\django\utils\importlib.py", line 35, in im
port_module
    __import__(name)
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\django\core\management\commands\syncdb.py"
, line 7, in <module>
    from django.core.management.sql import custom_sql_for_model, emit_post_sync_
signal
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\django\core\management\sql.py", line 6, in
 <module>
    from django.db import models
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\django\db\__init__.py", line 77, in <modul
e>
    connection = connections[DEFAULT_DB_ALIAS]
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\django\db\utils.py", line 92, in __getitem
__
    backend = load_backend(db['ENGINE'])
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\django\db\utils.py", line 33, in load_back
end
    return import_module('.base', backend_name)
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\django\utils\importlib.py", line 35, in im
port_module
    __import__(name)
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\django\db\backends\postgresql\base.py", li
ne 23, in <module>
    raise ImproperlyConfigured("Error loading psycopg module: %s" % e)
django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: Error loading psycopg module: No mo
dule named psycopg

Can someone give me a clue on what is going on?

Solution 1:

You need to install psycopg2 Python library.

Installation

Download http://initd.org/psycopg/, then install it under Python PATH

After downloading, easily extract the tarball and:

$ python setup.py install

Or if you wish, install it by either easy_install or pip.

^{(I prefer to use pip over easy_install for no reason.)}

$ easy_install psycopg2
$ pip install psycopg2

Configuration

in settings.py

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
        'NAME': 'db_name',                      
        'USER': 'db_user',
        'PASSWORD': 'db_user_password',
        'HOST': '',
        'PORT': 'db_port_number',
    }
}

^{- Other installation instructions can be found at download page and install page.}

Solution 2:

Also make sure you have the PostgreSQL development package installed. On Ubuntu you need to do something like this:

$ sudo apt-get install libpq-dev

Solution 3:

Step by step that I use:

 - sudo apt-get install python-dev
 - sudo apt-get install postgresql-server-dev-9.1
 - sudo apt-get install python-psycopg2 - Or sudo pip install psycopg2

You may want to install a graphic tool to manage your databases, for that you can do:

sudo apt-get install postgresql pgadmin4

After, you must change Postgre user password, then do:

 - sudo su
 - su postgres -c psql postgres
 - ALTER USER postgres WITH PASSWORD 'YourPassWordHere';
 - \q

On your settings.py file you do:

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2',
        'NAME': 'dbname',
        'USER': 'postgres',
        'PASSWORD': 'postgres',
        'HOST': '',
        'PORT': '',
    }
}

Extra:

If you want to create the db using the command line you can just do:

- sudo su
- su postgres -c psql postgres
- CREATE DATABASE dbname;
- CREATE USER djangouser WITH ENCRYPTED PASSWORD 'myPasswordHere';
- GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE dbname TO djangouser;

On your settings.py file you do:

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2',
        'NAME': 'dbname',
        'USER': 'djangouser',
        'PASSWORD': 'myPasswordHere',
        'HOST': '',
        'PORT': '',
    }
}

Solution 4:

You can install "psycopg" with the following command:

# sudo easy_install psycopg2

Alternatively, you can use pip :

# pip install psycopg2

easy_install and pip are included with ActivePython, or manually installed from the respective project sites.

Or, simply get the pre-built Windows installer.

Solution 5:

This may seem a bit lengthy, but it worked for me without any error.

At first, Install phppgadmin from Ubuntu Software Center.

Then run these steps in terminal.

sudo apt-get install libpq-dev python-dev
pip install psycopg2
sudo apt-get install postgresql postgresql-contrib phppgadmin

Start the apache server

sudo service apache2 start

Now run this too in terminal, to edit the apache file.

sudo gedit /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

Add the following line to the opened file:

Include /etc/apache2/conf.d/phppgadmin

Now reload apache. Use terminal.

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 reload

Now you will have to create a new database. Login as 'postgres' user. Continue in terminal.

sudo su - postgres

In case you have trouble with the password of 'postgres', you can change it using the answer here https://stackoverflow.com/a/12721020/1990793 and continue with the steps.

Now create a database

createdb <db_name>

Now create a new user to login to phppgadmin later, providing a new password.

createuser -P <new_user>

Now your postgressql has been setup, and you can go to:

http://localhost/phppgadmin/

and login using the new user you've created, in order to view the database.