Django: Incorrectly configured: SECRET_KEY parameter must not be empty

Question

I am trying to configure several settings files (development, production, ..), which include some basic settings. However fails. When I try to run ./manage.py runserver , I get the following error:

 (cb)clime@den /srv/www/cb $ ./manage.py runserver ImproperlyConfigured: The SECRET_KEY setting must not be empty. 

Here is my settings module:

 (cb)clime@den /srv/www/cb/cb/settings $ ll total 24 -rw-rw-r--. 1 clime clime 8230 Oct 2 02:56 base.py -rw-rw-r--. 1 clime clime 489 Oct 2 03:09 development.py -rw-rw-r--. 1 clime clime 24 Oct 2 02:34 __init__.py -rw-rw-r--. 1 clime clime 471 Oct 2 02:51 production.py 

Basic settings (contain SECRET_KEY):

 (cb)clime@den /srv/www/cb/cb/settings $ cat base.py: # Django base settings for cb project. import django.conf.global_settings as defaults DEBUG = False TEMPLATE_DEBUG = False INTERNAL_IPS = ('127.0.0.1',) ADMINS = ( ('clime', '[e-mail]'), ) MANAGERS = ADMINS DATABASES = { 'default': { #'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2', # Add 'postgresql_psycopg2', 'mysql', 'sqlite3' or 'oracle'. 'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2', 'NAME': 'cwu', # Or path to database file if using sqlite3. 'USER': 'clime', # Not used with sqlite3. 'PASSWORD': '', # Not used with sqlite3. 'HOST': '', # Set to empty string for localhost. Not used with sqlite3. 'PORT': '', # Set to empty string for default. Not used with sqlite3. } } # Local time zone for this installation. Choices can be found here: # http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_zones_by_name # although not all choices may be available on all operating systems. # In a Windows environment this must be set to your system time zone. TIME_ZONE = 'Europe/Prague' # Language code for this installation. All choices can be found here: # http://www.i18nguy.com/unicode/language-identifiers.html LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en-us' SITE_ID = 1 # If you set this to False, Django will make some optimizations so as not # to load the internationalization machinery. USE_I18N = False # If you set this to False, Django will not format dates, numbers and # calendars according to the current locale. USE_L10N = False # TODO: make this true and accustom date time input DATE_INPUT_FORMATS = defaults.DATE_INPUT_FORMATS + ('%d %b %y', '%d %b, %y') # + ('25 Oct 13', '25 Oct, 13') # If you set this to False, Django will not use timezone-aware datetimes. USE_TZ = True # Absolute filesystem path to the directory that will hold user-uploaded files. # Example: "/home/media/media.lawrence.com/media/" MEDIA_ROOT = '/srv/www/cb/media' # URL that handles the media served from MEDIA_ROOT. Make sure to use a # trailing slash. # Examples: "http://media.lawrence.com/media/", "http://example.com/media/" MEDIA_URL = '/media/' # Absolute path to the directory static files should be collected to. # Don't put anything in this directory yourself; store your static files # in apps' "static/" subdirectories and in STATICFILES_DIRS. # Example: "/home/media/media.lawrence.com/static/" STATIC_ROOT = '/srv/www/cb/static' # URL prefix for static files. # Example: "http://media.lawrence.com/static/" STATIC_URL = '/static/' # Additional locations of static files STATICFILES_DIRS = ( # Put strings here, like "/home/html/static" or "C:/www/django/static". # Always use forward slashes, even on Windows. # Don't forget to use absolute paths, not relative paths. ) # List of finder classes that know how to find static files in # various locations. STATICFILES_FINDERS = ( 'django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.FileSystemFinder', 'django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.AppDirectoriesFinder', # 'django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.DefaultStorageFinder', ) # Make this unique, and don't share it with anybody. SECRET_KEY = '8lu*6g0lg)9z!ba+a$ehk)xt)x%rxgb$i1&amp;022shmi1jcgihb*' # List of callables that know how to import templates from various sources. TEMPLATE_LOADERS = ( 'django.template.loaders.filesystem.Loader', 'django.template.loaders.app_directories.Loader', # 'django.template.loaders.eggs.Loader', ) TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS = ( 'django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth', 'django.core.context_processors.request', 'django.core.context_processors.debug', 'django.core.context_processors.i18n', 'django.core.context_processors.media', 'django.core.context_processors.static', 'django.core.context_processors.tz', 'django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages', 'web.context.inbox', 'web.context.base', 'web.context.main_search', 'web.context.enums', ) MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = ( 'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware', 'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware', 'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware', 'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware', 'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware', 'watson.middleware.SearchContextMiddleware', 'debug_toolbar.middleware.DebugToolbarMiddleware', 'middleware.UserMemberMiddleware', 'middleware.ProfilerMiddleware', 'middleware.VaryOnAcceptMiddleware', # Uncomment the next line for simple clickjacking protection: # 'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware', ) ROOT_URLCONF = 'cb.urls' # Python dotted path to the WSGI application used by Django runserver. WSGI_APPLICATION = 'cb.wsgi.application' TEMPLATE_DIRS = ( # Put strings here, like "/home/html/django_templates" or "C:/www/django/templates". # Always use forward slashes, even on Windows. # Don't forget to use absolute paths, not relative paths. '/srv/www/cb/web/templates', '/srv/www/cb/templates', ) INSTALLED_APPS = ( 'django.contrib.auth', 'django.contrib.contenttypes', 'django.contrib.sessions', 'django.contrib.sites', 'django.contrib.messages', 'django.contrib.staticfiles', 'south', 'grappelli', # must be before admin 'django.contrib.admin', 'django.contrib.admindocs', 'endless_pagination', 'debug_toolbar', 'djangoratings', 'watson', 'web', ) AUTH_USER_MODEL = 'web.User' # A sample logging configuration. The only tangible logging # performed by this configuration is to send an email to # the site admins on every HTTP 500 error when DEBUG=False. # See http://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/topics/logging for # more details on how to customize your logging configuration. LOGGING = { 'version': 1, 'disable_existing_loggers': False, 'filters': { 'require_debug_false': { '()': 'django.utils.log.RequireDebugFalse' } }, 'formatters': { 'standard': { 'format' : "[%(asctime)s] %(levelname)s [%(name)s:%(lineno)s] %(message)s", 'datefmt' : "%d/%b/%Y %H:%M:%S" }, }, 'handlers': { 'mail_admins': { 'level': 'ERROR', 'filters': ['require_debug_false'], 'class': 'django.utils.log.AdminEmailHandler' }, 'null': { 'level':'DEBUG', 'class':'django.utils.log.NullHandler', }, 'logfile': { 'level':'DEBUG', 'class':'logging.handlers.RotatingFileHandler', 'filename': "/srv/www/cb/logs/application.log", 'maxBytes': 50000, 'backupCount': 2, 'formatter': 'standard', }, 'console':{ 'level':'INFO', 'class':'logging.StreamHandler', 'formatter': 'standard' }, }, 'loggers': { 'django.request': { 'handlers': ['mail_admins'], 'level': 'ERROR', 'propagate': True, }, 'django': { 'handlers':['console'], 'propagate': True, 'level':'WARN', }, 'django.db.backends': { 'handlers': ['console'], 'level': 'DEBUG', 'propagate': False, }, 'web': { 'handlers': ['console', 'logfile'], 'level': 'DEBUG', }, }, } LOGIN_URL = 'login' LOGOUT_URL = 'logout' #ENDLESS_PAGINATION_LOADING = """ # <img src="/static/web/img/preloader.gif" alt="loading" style="margin:auto"/> #""" ENDLESS_PAGINATION_LOADING = """ <div class="spinner small" style="margin:auto"> <div class="block_1 spinner_block small"></div> <div class="block_2 spinner_block small"></div> <div class="block_3 spinner_block small"></div> </div> """ DEBUG_TOOLBAR_CONFIG = { 'INTERCEPT_REDIRECTS': False, } import django.template.loader django.template.loader.add_to_builtins('web.templatetags.cb_tags') django.template.loader.add_to_builtins('web.templatetags.tag_library') WATSON_POSTGRESQL_SEARCH_CONFIG = 'public.english_nostop' 

One of the settings files:

 (cb)clime@den /srv/www/cb/cb/settings $ cat development.py from base import * DEBUG = True TEMPLATE_DEBUG = True ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['127.0.0.1', '31.31.78.149'] DATABASES = { 'default': { 'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2', 'NAME': 'cwu', 'USER': 'clime', 'PASSWORD': '', 'HOST': '', 'PORT': '', } } MEDIA_ROOT = '/srv/www/cb/media/' STATIC_ROOT = '/srv/www/cb/static/' TEMPLATE_DIRS = ( '/srv/www/cb/web/templates', '/srv/www/cb/templates', ) 

Code in manage.py :

 (cb)clime@den /srv/www/cb $ cat manage.py #!/usr/bin/env python import os import sys if __name__ == "__main__": os.environ.setdefault("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE", "cb.settings.development") from django.core.management import execute_from_command_line execute_from_command_line(sys.argv) 

If I add from base import * to /srv/www/cb/cb/settings/__init__.py (which is otherwise empty), it magically starts working, but I don’t understand why. Can anyone explain to me what is going on here? This should be the magic of the python module.

EDIT: Everything also starts to work if I delete this line with base.py

 django.template.loader.add_to_builtins('web.templatetags.cb_tags') 

If I remove this line from web.templatetags.cb_tags, it will also start working:

 from endless_pagination.templatetags import endless 

I guess this is because it ultimately leads to

 from django.conf import settings PER_PAGE = getattr(settings, 'ENDLESS_PAGINATION_PER_PAGE', 10) 

In this way, he creates some weird circular things and a game.

Answer 1

I had the same error, and it turned out to be a circular dependence between something loaded with settings and the settings module itself. In my case, it was a middleware class that was named in the settings, which themselves tried to load the settings.

Answer 2

I encountered the same problem after restructuring the settings in accordance with the instructions from Daniel Greenfield's book “Two Scoops of Django”.

I solved the problem by setting

 os.environ.setdefault("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE", "project_name.settings.local") 

in manage.py and wsgi.py

Answer 3

I had the same error with python manage.py runserver .

It turned out to me that this is due to an outdated compiled binary (.pyc). After deleting all such files in my project, the server started again. :)

So, if you get this error out of nowhere, that is, without any changes related to django settings, this might be a good first step.

Answer 4

Delete .pyc files

Ubuntu terminal command to remove .pyc: find . -name "*.pyc" -exec rm -rf {} \; find . -name "*.pyc" -exec rm -rf {} \;

I have the same error when I made python manage.py runningerver. This was because of the .pyc file. I deleted the .pyc file from the project directory, then it worked.

Answer 5

It starts working because on base.py you have all the information you need in the base settings file. You need a line:

 SECRET_KEY = '8lu*6g0lg)9z!ba+a$ehk)xt)x%rxgb$i1&022shmi1jcgihb*' 

So it works, and when you do from base import * , it imports SECRET_KEY into your development.py .

You should always import basic settings before making any user settings.

---

EDIT: Also, when django imports development from your package, it initializes all the variables inside the database, since you defined from base import * inside __init__.py

Answer 6

I think this is an Environment Error , you should try setting: DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE='correctly_settings'

Answer 7

I did not specify the settings file:

 python manage.py runserver --settings=my_project.settings.develop 

Answer 8

I solved this problem that occurs on OS X with Django both 1.5 and 1.6, disconnecting all active sessions before virtualenv and starting it again.

Answer 9

I had the same problem with celery. My setting.py before:

 SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('DJANGO_SECRET_KEY') 

after:

 SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('DJANGO_SECRET_KEY', <YOUR developing key>) 

If environment variables are not defined, then: SECRET_KEY = YOUR development key

Answer 10

I just wanted to add that I got this error when my database name was spelled incorrectly in my settings.py file so that the database could not be created.

Answer 11

I solved this problem on 1.8.4 by setting the TEMPLATES settings that had a typo (removing TEMPLATES ['debug'] solved it)

Go to the settings that you recently changed, make sure that all the keys are included in the book.

Answer 12

For anyone using PyCharm: the green “Run selected configuration” button will result in an error while py manage.py runserver 127.0.0.1:8000 --settings=app_name.settings.development will work.

To fix this, you need to edit the configuration environment variables. To do this, click on the "Select launch / debug configuration" drop-down menu to the left of the green launch button, and then click "Change Configuration". On the environment tab, change the DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE environment DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE to app_name.settings.development .

Answer 13

In the init .py settings directory, write the correct import, for example:

 from Project.settings.base import * 

No need to change wsgi.py or manage.py

Answer 14

I solved this problem by removing spaces around equal signs ( = ) in my .env file.

Answer 15

To add another potential solution to the mix, I had the settings folder as well as settings.py in my project. (I was returning from environment-based settings files to a single file. Since then I have revised.)

Python was embarrassed about whether I want to import project/settings.py or project/settings/__init__.py . I deleted the settings directory and now everything works fine.

Answer 16

In my case, the problem was that I had app_folder and settings.py . Then I decided to make the Settings folder inside app_folder - and this is app_folder to conflict with settings.py . Just renamed this Settings folder - and it worked.