Django beginner problem: manage.py dbsync

Question

I'm running ubuntu 9.04 32b and got django from Synaptics. My settings.py is configured for a sqlite3 database.

I've been through this tutorial and got the following error when trying to run the command python manage.py syncdb :

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "manage.py", line 11, in 
    execute_manager(settings)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 340, in execute_manager
    utility.execute()
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 295, in execute
    self.fetch_command(subcommand).run_from_argv(self.argv)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 192, in run_from_argv
    self.execute(*args, **options.__dict__)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 219, in execute
    output = self.handle(*args, **options)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 348, in handle
    return self.handle_noargs(**options)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/django/core/management/commands/syncdb.py", line 51, in handle_noargs
    cursor = connection.cursor()
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/django/db/backends/__init__.py", line 56, in cursor
    cursor = self._cursor(settings)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/django/db/backends/sqlite3/base.py", line 145, in _cursor
    self.connection = Database.connect(**kwargs)
sqlite3.OperationalError: unable to open database file

Do anyone have a clue on my problem ?

score 21 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 05 '09 at 20:38

21

In settings.py are you using a relative path to the sqlite file?

If you are, try changing that to an absolute path.

i.e. instead of:

~/project/mydata.db

use

/home/user/project/mydata.db

answered Jul 05 '09 at 20:38

JosefAssad

4,018
28
37

2

This is almost always the problem. Python doesn't do path expansion when it reads these. – MattK Oct 18 '09 at 16:52

score 17 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 16 '12 at 07:58

This can also happen if your database name is the same as your project name. To fix it just change the name of your db e.g. by adding a .db to the NAME. So if your DATABASE NAME in settings.py was 'epic_project' change it to 'epic_project.db'

Long and boring explanation:

If you start your project by running:

django startproject epic_project

your folder structure will be like this:

/path/to/epic_project/
- manage.py
- epic_project/
  - settings.py

if then in your settings.py you set your database as:

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
        'NAME': 'epic_project',
        ...
    }
}

when

python manage.py syncdb

runs it tries to open or create a sqlite db file at /path/to/epic_project/epic_project, but there is a directory there, so it says "oh ok the path exists already, let's open it as an sqlite db", unfortunately for sqlite it's a directory and not a DB, so it cries and django presents these tears to you as "sqlite3.OperationalError: unable to open database file"

score 9 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 05 '09 at 20:34

9

might be a permission problem, does your user have sufficient right to write on the folder? for example if you do

sudo python manage.py syncdb

instead, does it work?

answered Jul 05 '09 at 20:34

oscarkuo

10,431
6
49
62

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 26 '11 at 00:18

5

For Google's sake:

The path to the database must be the full path to the file --- not just the directory where the file lives.

answered Aug 26 '11 at 00:18

Raj

3,791
5
43
56

Isn't this what JosefAssad suggested in [their answer](//stackoverflow.com/a/1084782/5420829)? – Андрей Беньковский Dec 13 '16 at 09:54

score 3 · Answer 5 · edited Jun 15 '12 at 02:43

3

I had the same problem on Windows then realized that syncdb would not create the specified folder if it didn't already exist. I had specified c:/mysite/db/sqlite3.db in settings but the /db/ folder didn't exist. Created it in terminal then re-ran syncdb successfully.

edited Jun 15 '12 at 02:43

Simon Dugré

17,980
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answered Jun 14 '12 at 18:10

Drake

31
2

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 29 '15 at 02:47

I had the same problem two days ago. I solved it by setting the 'NAME' in the DATABASE dictionary (settings.py) to the absolute path. For example.

settings.py

DATABASES = {
    'default' : {
        'ENGINE' : 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
        'NAME' : DATABASE_PATH,
    }
}

here you can set the DATABASE_PATH at the top of the settings.py as such (Not sure if this will work for windows)

SETTINGS_DIR = os.path.dirname(__file__)
PROJECT_PATH = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(SETTINGS_DIR, os.pardir))
DATABASE_PATH = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(PROJECT_PATH, 'your-database-name'))

For Windows you might have to use the replace method. (Not sure .. But you can try it out as follows)

PROJECT_PATH = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(SETTINGS_DIR, os.pardir).replace('\\', '/'))

Same goes for the DATABASE_PATH. PS. Correct me if I am wrong.

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 24 '13 at 19:19

Similar to answer from user104264 - different perspective...

Currently following the YouTube tutorial I had the same error. Seems to me while running the manage.py in a virtualenv django project directory ...path to virtual env.../django_project/, the database name inside /myapp/settings.py was simply 'storage.db' so

(django-v)...path to virtual env project.../django_project/>python manage.py syncdb

created ...path to virtual env project.../django_project/storage.db

-Bill

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Jul 09 '13 at 19:02

0

If you are specifying a full path to db file and are still having issues, try putting an r before the string.

ie.

r'C:\home\usr\mysite\sqlite3.db'

answered Jul 09 '13 at 19:02

agconti

17,780
15
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That signifies a regular expression, but the problem you're solving is the fact Python doesn't like the single backslashes. You'd be better off with `'C:\\home\\usr\\mysite\\sqlite3.db'` – Tom Dec 16 '14 at 18:08
1

@Tom it does not signify a regular expression. It tells python to treat it as a *raw string literal*: http://stackoverflow.com/a/2081708/2259303 – agconti Dec 16 '14 at 20:05
Duh, my bad. 99% of the time I use it is for Django urls so I've got it stuck in my head that way. Sorry. – Tom Dec 16 '14 at 20:42

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Dec 16 '14 at 18:39

0

The problem I was running into was a bootstrapping issue where some model lookups were being done at import (outside of any class or function). Per the docs, this is a bad idea.

answered Dec 16 '14 at 18:39

Tom

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Django beginner problem: manage.py dbsync

9 Answers9