[FIXED] Trying to place postgresql database information inside a dotenv file to hide important info, like passwords etc

Issue

I'm using the django rest framework and trying to connect a postgresql database. If I have the connection to the database written explicitly in the settings.py file, running python manage.py runserver works fine, but as soon as I replace the database connection with the dotenv values, the connection breaks. How do I fix this?

example

This works fine

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
        'NAME': 'ticketdb',
        'USER': 'postgres',
        'PASSWORD': 'pretendmyrealpasswordishere',
        'HOST': 'localhost',
    }
}

This does not and throws this error.

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
        'NAME': os.environ.get('DB_NAME'),
        'USER': os.environ.get('DB_USER'),
        'PASSWORD': os.environ.get('DB_USER_PASSWORD'),
        'HOST': os.environ.get('DB_HOST'),
        'PORT': os.environ.get('DB_PORT'),
    }
}

Traceback

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/threading.py", line 1016, in _bootstrap_inner
    self.run()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/threading.py", line 953, in run
    self._target(*self._args, **self._kwargs)
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/utils/autoreload.py", line 64, in wrapper
    fn(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/core/management/commands/runserver.py", line 137, in inner_run
    self.check_migrations()
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 564, in check_migrations
    executor = MigrationExecutor(connections[DEFAULT_DB_ALIAS])
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/db/migrations/executor.py", line 18, in __init__
    self.loader = MigrationLoader(self.connection)
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/db/migrations/loader.py", line 58, in __init__
    self.build_graph()
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/db/migrations/loader.py", line 235, in build_graph
    self.applied_migrations = recorder.applied_migrations()
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/db/migrations/recorder.py", line 81, in applied_migrations
    if self.has_table():
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/db/migrations/recorder.py", line 57, in has_table
    with self.connection.cursor() as cursor:
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/utils/asyncio.py", line 26, in inner
    return func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/db/backends/base/base.py", line 323, in cursor
    return self._cursor()
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/db/backends/base/base.py", line 299, in _cursor
    self.ensure_connection()
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/utils/asyncio.py", line 26, in inner
    return func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/db/backends/base/base.py", line 281, in ensure_connection
    with self.wrap_database_errors:
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/db/utils.py", line 91, in __exit__
    raise dj_exc_value.with_traceback(traceback) from exc_value
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/db/backends/base/base.py", line 282, in ensure_connection
    self.connect()
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/utils/asyncio.py", line 26, in inner
    return func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/db/backends/base/base.py", line 263, in connect
    self.connection = self.get_new_connection(conn_params)
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/utils/asyncio.py", line 26, in inner
    return func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/db/backends/postgresql/base.py", line 215, in get_new_connection
    connection = Database.connect(**conn_params)
  File "/home/mikha/.local/share/virtualenvs/django-tracker-Ko6xeuHD/lib/python3.10/site-packages/psycopg2/__init__.py", line 122, in connect
    conn = _connect(dsn, connection_factory=connection_factory, **kwasync)
django.db.utils.OperationalError: connection to server on socket "/var/run/postgresql/.s.PGSQL.5432" failed: No such file or directory
        Is the server running locally and accepting connections on that socket?

Solution

• Option 1: python-decouple package

pip install python-decouple

In your settings.py file:

from decouple import config

Access your environment variables as:

NAME = config("DB_NAME")

Official docs: https://github.com/henriquebastos/python-decouple/

• Option 2: python-dotenv package

pip install python-dotenv

In your settings.py file:

from dotenv import load_dotenv

load_dotenv()

Access your environment variables as:

NAME = os.getenv("DB_NAME")

Official docs: https://saurabh-kumar.com/python-dotenv/

Answered By - sergeyka