How to configure Django to run on MSSQL Server

Question

I'm able to run Django 1.11 with SQLite Database. But I'm getting an error with MSSQL Server.

Apart from settings.py file I had not modified anything.

It is showing ImproperlyConfigured: Django 1.11 is not supported.
Here is my configuration:

Settings.py

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django_pyodbc',
        'HOST': '127.0.0.1', 
        'NAME': 'demo2016',
        'USER': 'sa',
        'PASSWORD': '',
        'PORT': '',
        'OPTIONS': {
            'driver': 'ODBC Driver 13 for SQL Server',
        },
    }
}

In cmd prompt:

C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\Desktop\sqldjango>python manage.py migrate

Traceback (most recent call last):
      File "manage.py", line 22, in <module>
        execute_from_command_line(sys.argv)
      File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\core\management\__init__.py", line 364, in execute_from_command_line
        utility.execute()
      File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\core\management\__init__.py", line 338, in execute
        django.setup()
      File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\__init__.py", line 27, in setup
        apps.populate(settings.INSTALLED_APPS)
      File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\apps\registry.py", line 108, in populate
        app_config.import_models()
      File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\apps\config.py", line 202, in import_models
        self.models_module = import_module(models_module_name)
      File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\importlib\__init__.py", line 126, in import_module
        return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
      File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 994, in _gcd_import
      File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 971, in _find_and_load
      File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 955, in _find_and_load_unlocked
      File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 665, in _load_unlocked
      File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 678, in exec_module
      File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 219, in _call_with_frames_removed
      File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\contrib\auth\models.py", line 4, in <module>
        from django.contrib.auth.base_user import AbstractBaseUser, BaseUserManager
      File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\contrib\auth\base_user.py", line 52, in <module>
        class AbstractBaseUser(models.Model):
      File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\models\base.py", line 124, in __new__
        new_class.add_to_class('_meta', Options(meta, app_label))
      File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\models\base.py", line 325, in add_to_class
        value.contribute_to_class(cls, name)
      File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\models\options.py", line 214, in contribute_to_class
        self.db_table = truncate_name(self.db_table, connection.ops.max_name_length())
      File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\__init__.py", line 33, in __getattr__
        return getattr(connections[DEFAULT_DB_ALIAS], item)
      File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\utils.py", line 211, in __getitem__
        backend = load_backend(db['ENGINE'])
      File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\utils.py", line 115, in load_backend
        return import_module('%s.base' % backend_name)
      File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\importlib\__init__.py", line 126, in import_module
        return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
      File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django_pyodbc\base.py", line 98, in <module>
        raise ImproperlyConfigured("Django %d.%d is not supported." % DjangoVersion[:2])
    django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: Django 1.11 is not supported.

What should be the ENGINE: I have change from

'ENGINE': 'django_pyodbc' to 'ENGINE': 'sqlserver'

After that it shows

django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: 'sqlserver' isn't an available database backend.
Try using 'django.db.backends.XXX', where XXX is one of:
    'mysql', 'oracle', 'postgresql', 'sqlite3'
Error was: No module named 'sqlserver'

After that I tried to install sqlserver

C:\Windows\system32>pip install sqlserver
Collecting sqlserver
  Could not find a version that satisfies the requirement sqlserver (from versions: )
No matching distribution found for sqlserver

According to @Anusha Prashanth answer

Method 1: I tried to change the Database->'ENGINE': 'sqlserver_ado'

Results:

C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\Desktop\sqldjango>python manage.py migrate
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "manage.py", line 22, in <module>
    execute_from_command_line(sys.argv)
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\core\management\__init__.py", line 364, in execute_from_command_line
    utility.execute()
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\core\management\__init__.py", line 338, in execute
    django.setup()
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\__init__.py", line 27, in setup
    apps.populate(settings.INSTALLED_APPS)
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\apps\registry.py", line 108, in populate
    app_config.import_models()
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\apps\config.py", line 202, in import_models
    self.models_module = import_module(models_module_name)
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\importlib\__init__.py", line 126, in import_module
    return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 994, in _gcd_import
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 971, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 955, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 665, in _load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 678, in exec_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 219, in _call_with_frames_removed
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\contrib\auth\models.py", line 4, in <module>
    from django.contrib.auth.base_user import AbstractBaseUser, BaseUserManager
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\contrib\auth\base_user.py", line 52, in <module>
    class AbstractBaseUser(models.Model):
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\models\base.py", line 124, in __new__
    new_class.add_to_class('_meta', Options(meta, app_label))
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\models\base.py", line 325, in add_to_class
    value.contribute_to_class(cls, name)
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\models\options.py", line 214, in contribute_to_class
    self.db_table = truncate_name(self.db_table, connection.ops.max_name_length())
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\__init__.py", line 33, in __getattr__
    return getattr(connections[DEFAULT_DB_ALIAS], item)
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\utils.py", line 212, in __getitem__
    conn = backend.DatabaseWrapper(db, alias)
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\sqlserver_ado\base.py", line 184, in __init__
    super(DatabaseWrapper, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\backends\base\base.py", line 96, in __init__
    self.client = self.client_class(self)
TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not callable

Method 2: I tried to change the Database->'ENGINE': 'sql_server.pyodbc'

Results:

From models.py

import os
import mimetypes

from django.utils.translation import gettext as _
from django.conf import settings
from django.contrib.auth.models import User

from django.db import models

GENRE_CHOICES =  (
             ('1', 'Rock'),
             ('2', 'Jazz/Blues'),
             ('3', 'Blues'),    
             )


def get_upload_path(dirname, obj, filename):
   return os.path.join("audiotracks", dirname, obj.user.username, filename)

def get_audio_upload_path(obj, filename):
   return get_upload_path("audio_files", obj, filename)

class Genre(models.Model):
   genre_choices = models.CharField(max_length=1, choices=GENRE_CHOICES)
   slug = models.SlugField(max_length = 40, unique = True) #so as to have a dedicated page for each category 
   description = models.TextField()

def __unicode__(self):
       return self.title

def get_absolute_url(self):
    return "/genres/%s/" % self.slug

class AudioTrack(models.Model):
   class Meta:
      abstract = True

   user = models.ForeignKey(User, 
      related_name = "tracks",
      blank = True,
      null = True
  )

added_on = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True, null = True)
updated_on = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True, null = True)
audio_file = models.FileField(_("Audio file"), upload_to=get_audio_upload_path)
title = models.CharField(_("Title"), max_length="200", null=True)
description = models.TextField(_("Description"), null=True, blank=True)
slug = models.SlugField(max_length = 40, unique = True) #so as to have a dedicated page for each category 
genres = models.ManyToManyField(Genre)

def __unicode__(self):
    return "Track '%s' uploaded by '%s'" % (self.title, self.user.username)

@property
def mimetype(self):
    if not hasattr(self, '_mimetype'):
        self._mimetype = mimetypes.guess_type(self.audio_file.path)[0]
    return self._mimetype

@property
def filetype(self):
    if '/' in self.mimetype:
        type_names = {'mpeg': 'MP3', 'ogg': 'Ogg Vorbis', 'wave':'wav', 'FLAC':'FLA'}
        filetype = self.mimetype.split('/')[1]
        return type_names.get(filetype, filetype)
    else:
        return self.mimetype

@models.permalink
def get_absolute_url(self):
    # ('tracks.views.track_detail', [self.user.username, self.slug])
    return "/%s/%s/" %(self.genre, self.slug)

if hasattr(settings, 'AUDIOTRACKS_MODEL'):
   app_name, model_name = settings.AUDIOTRACKS_MODEL.split('.')
   Track = models.get_model(app_name, model_name)
else:
   class Track(AudioTrack):
      pass

In cmd prompt:

C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\Desktop\mydjango>python manage.py runserver
Performing system checks...

System check identified no issues (0 silenced).
Unhandled exception in thread started by <function check_errors.<locals>.wrapper at 0x040AE108>
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\backends\base\base.py", line 213, in ensure_connection
    self.connect()
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\backends\base\base.py", line 189, in connect
    self.connection = self.get_new_connection(conn_params)
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\sql_server\pyodbc\base.py", line 309, in get_new_connection
    timeout=timeout)
pyodbc.OperationalError: ('08001', '[08001] [Microsoft][ODBC Driver 13 for SQL Server]Named Pipes Provider: Could not open a connection to SQL Server [5].  (5) (SQLDriverConnect); [08001] [Microsoft][ODBC Driver 13 for SQL Server]Login timeout expired (0); [08001] [Microsoft][ODBC Driver 13 for SQL Server]Invalid connection string attribute (0); [08001] [Microsoft][ODBC Driver 13 for SQL Server]A network-related or instance-specific error has occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. Server is not found or not accessible. Check if instance name is correct and if SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. For more information see SQL Server Books Online. (5)')

The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\utils\autoreload.py", line 228, in wrapper
    fn(*args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\core\management\commands\runserver.py", line 128, in inner_run
    self.check_migrations()
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\core\management\base.py", line 422, in check_migrations
    executor = MigrationExecutor(connections[DEFAULT_DB_ALIAS])
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\migrations\executor.py", line 20, in __init__
    self.loader = MigrationLoader(self.connection)
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\migrations\loader.py", line 52, in __init__
    self.build_graph()
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\migrations\loader.py", line 209, in build_graph
    self.applied_migrations = recorder.applied_migrations()
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\migrations\recorder.py", line 65, in applied_migrations
    self.ensure_schema()
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\migrations\recorder.py", line 52, in ensure_schema
    if self.Migration._meta.db_table in self.connection.introspection.table_names(self.connection.cursor()):
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\backends\base\base.py", line 254, in cursor
    return self._cursor()
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\backends\base\base.py", line 229, in _cursor
    self.ensure_connection()
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\backends\base\base.py", line 213, in ensure_connection
    self.connect()
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\utils.py", line 94, in __exit__
    six.reraise(dj_exc_type, dj_exc_value, traceback)
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\utils\six.py", line 685, in reraise
    raise value.with_traceback(tb)
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\backends\base\base.py", line 213, in ensure_connection
    self.connect()
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\django\db\backends\base\base.py", line 189, in connect
    self.connection = self.get_new_connection(conn_params)
  File "C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\lib\site-packages\sql_server\pyodbc\base.py", line 309, in get_new_connection
    timeout=timeout)
django.db.utils.OperationalError: ('08001', '[08001] [Microsoft][ODBC Driver 13 for SQL Server]Named Pipes Provider: Could not open a connection to SQL Server [5].  (5) (SQLDriverConnect); [08001] [Microsoft][ODBC Driver 13 for SQL Server]Login timeout expired (0); [08001] [Microsoft][ODBC Driver 13 for SQL Server]Invalid connection string attribute (0); [08001] [Microsoft][ODBC Driver 13 for SQL Server]A network-related or instance-specific error has occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. Server is not found or not accessible. Check if instance name is correct and if SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. For more information see SQL Server Books Online. (5)')

Answer 1

Try to use django-pyodbc-azure

• Install pyodbc

• Install django-pyodbc-azure

  pip install django-pyodbc-azure

• Change database engine

  ENGINE: 'sql_server.pyodbc'

Settings.py

DATABASES = { 
    'default': { 
        'ENGINE': 'sql_server.pyodbc', 
        'NAME': 'mydb', 
        'USER': 'user@myserver', 
        'PASSWORD': 'password', 
        'HOST': 'myserver.database.windows.net', 
        'PORT': '', 

        'OPTIONS': { 
        'driver': 'ODBC Driver 13 for SQL Server', 
        }, 
    }, 
}

Reference

---

OR

You can use django-mssql

• Install django-mssql - Supports django 1.8

  pip install django-mssql

• Change the database engine to sqlserver_ado

  ENGINE': 'sqlserver_ado'

Answer 2

Django doesn't natively support MSSQL. You should be able to use: Django MSSQL but keep in mind it is only showing support through 1.8 and there may be some issues with 1.11.

Why do you want to use MSSQL with Django? If it is because you are in a Microsoft environment, don't worry about that - you can install MySQL quite easily. The only reason I can see for using MSSQL with Django is if you need to access legacy databases that are still being updated. If they are old and this is a replacement application then you can export the data to MySQL.

Answer 3

Successfully Created... Specially thanking to Anusha Prasanth, Manassehkatz, Ingaz, Jordanm and my Research. Due to old documentation of Django MSSQL Database Backend in their website creates ambiguity whether which version of Django works with MSSQL or not. Still its in an process to update...

With the below Software Configurations:

• Django 1.11.8 (LTS)
• MSSQL Server 2017
• django_pyodbc_azure-1.11.0.0.dist

After creating the virtual Environment, follow these below steps:

 DATABASES = { 'default': { 'ENGINE': 'sql_server.pyodbc', 'HOST': 'DESKTOP-C6RS3DO', 'NAME': 'demo2016', 'USER': 'sa', 'PASSWORD': 'sa', 'PORT': '', 'OPTIONS': { 'driver': 'ODBC Driver 13 for SQL Server', }, } } 

Very Important Note: Use Name of server pc/laptop. Do not try to use
'HOST': '127.0.0.1',
As It leads to errors

In models.py (define whatever classes need to be included)

import os
import mimetypes

from django.utils.translation import gettext as _
from django.conf import settings
from django.contrib.auth.models import User

from django.db import models

GENRE_CHOICES =  (
             ('1', 'Rock'),
             ('2', 'Jazz/Blues'),
             ('3', 'Blues'),    
             )


def get_upload_path(dirname, obj, filename):
   return os.path.join("audiotracks", dirname, obj.user.username, filename)

def get_audio_upload_path(obj, filename):
   return get_upload_path("audio_files", obj, filename)

class Genre(models.Model):
   genre_choices = models.CharField(max_length=1, choices=GENRE_CHOICES)
   slug = models.SlugField(max_length = 40, unique = True) #so as to have a dedicated page for each category 
   description = models.TextField()

def __unicode__(self):
       return self.title

def get_absolute_url(self):
    return "/genres/%s/" % self.slug

class AudioTrack(models.Model):
   class Meta:
      abstract = True

   user = models.ForeignKey(User, 
      related_name = "tracks",
      blank = True,
      null = True
  )

added_on = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True, null = True)
updated_on = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True, null = True)
audio_file = models.FileField(_("Audio file"), upload_to=get_audio_upload_path)
title = models.CharField(_("Title"), max_length="200", null=True)
description = models.TextField(_("Description"), null=True, blank=True)
slug = models.SlugField(max_length = 40, unique = True) #so as to have a dedicated page for each category 
genres = models.ManyToManyField(Genre)

def __unicode__(self):
    return "Track '%s' uploaded by '%s'" % (self.title, self.user.username)

@property
def mimetype(self):
    if not hasattr(self, '_mimetype'):
        self._mimetype = mimetypes.guess_type(self.audio_file.path)[0]
    return self._mimetype

@property
def filetype(self):
    if '/' in self.mimetype:
        type_names = {'mpeg': 'MP3', 'ogg': 'Ogg Vorbis', 'wave':'wav', 'FLAC':'FLA'}
        filetype = self.mimetype.split('/')[1]
        return type_names.get(filetype, filetype)
    else:
        return self.mimetype

@models.permalink
def get_absolute_url(self):
    # ('tracks.views.track_detail', [self.user.username, self.slug])
    return "/%s/%s/" %(self.genre, self.slug)

if hasattr(settings, 'AUDIOTRACKS_MODEL'):
   app_name, model_name = settings.AUDIOTRACKS_MODEL.split('.')
   Track = models.get_model(app_name, model_name)
else:
   class Track(AudioTrack):
      pass

In CMD>

C:\Users\Vitriv-Desktop\Desktop\mydjango> python manage.py migrate
Operations to perform:
  Apply all migrations: admin, auth, contenttypes, sessions
Running migrations:
  Applying contenttypes.0001_initial... OK
  Applying auth.0001_initial... OK
  Applying admin.0001_initial... OK
  Applying admin.0002_logentry_remove_auto_add... OK
  Applying contenttypes.0002_remove_content_type_name... OK
  Applying auth.0002_alter_permission_name_max_length... OK
  Applying auth.0003_alter_user_email_max_length... OK
  Applying auth.0004_alter_user_username_opts... OK
  Applying auth.0005_alter_user_last_login_null... OK
  Applying auth.0006_require_contenttypes_0002... OK
  Applying auth.0007_alter_validators_add_error_messages... OK
  Applying auth.0008_alter_user_username_max_length... OK
  Applying sessions.0001_initial... OK

After that run this cmd in virtual env,

python manage.py runserver

Navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin

Type:

python manage.py createsuperuser

That's it. For more documentation refer to docs djangoproject.com