django-admin.txt

=============================
django-admin.py and manage.py
=============================

``django-admin.py`` is Django's command-line utility for administrative tasks.
This document outlines all it can do.

In addition, ``manage.py`` is automatically created in each Django project.
``manage.py`` is a thin wrapper around ``django-admin.py`` that takes care of
two things for you before delegating to ``django-admin.py``:

* It puts your project's package on ``sys.path``.

* It sets the :envvar:`DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE` environment variable so that
  it points to your project's ``settings.py`` file.

The ``django-admin.py`` script should be on your system path if you installed
Django via its ``setup.py`` utility. If it's not on your path, you can find it
in ``site-packages/django/bin`` within your Python installation. Consider
symlinking it from some place on your path, such as ``/usr/local/bin``.

For Windows users, who do not have symlinking functionality available, you can
copy ``django-admin.py`` to a location on your existing path or edit the
``PATH`` settings (under ``Settings - Control Panel - System - Advanced -
Environment...``) to point to its installed location.

Generally, when working on a single Django project, it's easier to use
``manage.py``. Use ``django-admin.py`` with ``DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE``, or the
``--settings`` command line option, if you need to switch between multiple
Django settings files.

The command-line examples throughout this document use ``django-admin.py`` to
be consistent, but any example can use ``manage.py`` just as well.

Usage
=====

.. code-block:: bash

    django-admin.py <command> [options]
    manage.py <command> [options]

``command`` should be one of the commands listed in this document.
``options``, which is optional, should be zero or more of the options available
for the given command.

Getting runtime help
--------------------

.. django-admin:: help

Run ``django-admin.py help`` to display usage information and a list of the
commands provided by each application.

Run ``django-admin.py help --commands`` to display a list of all available
commands.

Run ``django-admin.py help <command>`` to display a description of the given
command and a list of its available options.

App names
---------

Many commands take a list of "app names." An "app name" is the basename of
the package containing your models. For example, if your :setting:`INSTALLED_APPS`
contains the string ``'mysite.blog'``, the app name is ``blog``.

Determining the version
-----------------------

.. django-admin:: version

Run ``django-admin.py version`` to display the current Django version.

The output follows the schema described in :pep:`386`::

    1.4.dev17026
    1.4a1
    1.4

Displaying debug output
-----------------------

Use :djadminopt:`--verbosity` to specify the amount of notification and debug information
that ``django-admin.py`` should print to the console. For more details, see the
documentation for the :djadminopt:`--verbosity` option.

Available commands
==================

cleanup
-------

.. django-admin:: cleanup

Can be run as a cronjob or directly to clean out old data from the database
(only expired sessions at the moment).

compilemessages
---------------

.. django-admin:: compilemessages

Compiles .po files created with ``makemessages`` to .mo files for use with
the builtin gettext support. See :doc:`/topics/i18n/index`.

Use the :djadminopt:`--locale` option to specify the locale to process.
If not provided, all locales are processed.

Example usage::

    django-admin.py compilemessages --locale=br_PT

createcachetable
----------------

.. django-admin:: createcachetable

Creates a cache table named ``tablename`` for use with the database cache
backend. See :doc:`/topics/cache` for more information.

.. versionadded:: 1.2

The :djadminopt:`--database` option can be used to specify the database
onto which the cachetable will be installed.

dbshell
-------

.. django-admin:: dbshell

Runs the command-line client for the database engine specified in your
``ENGINE`` setting, with the connection parameters specified in your
:setting:`USER`, :setting:`PASSWORD`, etc., settings.

* For PostgreSQL, this runs the ``psql`` command-line client.
* For MySQL, this runs the ``mysql`` command-line client.
* For SQLite, this runs the ``sqlite3`` command-line client.

This command assumes the programs are on your ``PATH`` so that a simple call to
the program name (``psql``, ``mysql``, ``sqlite3``) will find the program in
the right place. There's no way to specify the location of the program
manually.

.. versionadded:: 1.2

The :djadminopt:`--database` option can be used to specify the database
onto which to open a shell.

diffsettings
------------

.. django-admin:: diffsettings

Displays differences between the current settings file and Django's default
settings.

Settings that don't appear in the defaults are followed by ``"###"``. For
example, the default settings don't define :setting:`ROOT_URLCONF`, so
:setting:`ROOT_URLCONF` is followed by ``"###"`` in the output of
``diffsettings``.

Note that Django's default settings live in ``django/conf/global_settings.py``,
if you're ever curious to see the full list of defaults.

dumpdata <appname appname appname.Model ...>
--------------------------------------------

.. django-admin:: dumpdata

Outputs to standard output all data in the database associated with the named
application(s).

If no application name is provided, all installed applications will be dumped.

The output of ``dumpdata`` can be used as input for ``loaddata``.

Note that ``dumpdata`` uses the default manager on the model for selecting the
records to dump. If you're using a :ref:`custom manager <custom-managers>` as
the default manager and it filters some of the available records, not all of the
objects will be dumped.

.. versionadded:: 1.3

The :djadminopt:`--all` option may be provided to specify that
``dumpdata`` should use Django's base manager, dumping records which
might otherwise be filtered or modified by a custom manager.

.. django-admin-option:: --format <fmt>

By default, ``dumpdata`` will format its output in JSON, but you can use the
``--format`` option to specify another format. Currently supported formats
are listed in :ref:`serialization-formats`.

.. django-admin-option:: --indent <num>

By default, ``dumpdata`` will output all data on a single line. This isn't
easy for humans to read, so you can use the ``--indent`` option to
pretty-print the output with a number of indentation spaces.

The :djadminopt:`--exclude` option may be provided to prevent specific
applications from being dumped.

.. versionadded:: 1.3

The :djadminopt:`--exclude` option may also be provided to prevent specific
models (specified as in the form of ``appname.ModelName``) from being dumped.

In addition to specifying application names, you can provide a list of
individual models, in the form of ``appname.Model``. If you specify a model
name to ``dumpdata``, the dumped output will be restricted to that model,
rather than the entire application. You can also mix application names and
model names.

.. versionadded:: 1.2

The :djadminopt:`--database` option can be used to specify the database
onto which the data will be loaded.

.. django-admin-option:: --natural

.. versionadded:: 1.2

Use :ref:`natural keys <topics-serialization-natural-keys>` to represent
any foreign key and many-to-many relationship with a model that provides
a natural key definition. If you are dumping ``contrib.auth`` ``Permission``
objects or ``contrib.contenttypes`` ``ContentType`` objects, you should
probably be using this flag.

flush
-----

.. django-admin:: flush

Returns the database to the state it was in immediately after syncdb was
executed. This means that all data will be removed from the database, any
post-synchronization handlers will be re-executed, and the ``initial_data``
fixture will be re-installed.

The :djadminopt:`--noinput` option may be provided to suppress all user
prompts.

.. versionadded:: 1.2

The :djadminopt:`--database` option may be used to specify the database
to flush.

inspectdb
---------

.. django-admin:: inspectdb

Introspects the database tables in the database pointed-to by the
:setting:`NAME` setting and outputs a Django model module (a ``models.py``
file) to standard output.

Use this if you have a legacy database with which you'd like to use Django.
The script will inspect the database and create a model for each table within
it.

As you might expect, the created models will have an attribute for every field
in the table. Note that ``inspectdb`` has a few special cases in its field-name
output:

* If ``inspectdb`` cannot map a column's type to a model field type, it'll
  use ``TextField`` and will insert the Python comment
  ``'This field type is a guess.'`` next to the field in the generated
  model.

* If the database column name is a Python reserved word (such as
  ``'pass'``, ``'class'`` or ``'for'``), ``inspectdb`` will append
  ``'_field'`` to the attribute name. For example, if a table has a column
  ``'for'``, the generated model will have a field ``'for_field'``, with
  the ``db_column`` attribute set to ``'for'``. ``inspectdb`` will insert
  the Python comment
  ``'Field renamed because it was a Python reserved word.'`` next to the
  field.

This feature is meant as a shortcut, not as definitive model generation. After
you run it, you'll want to look over the generated models yourself to make
customizations. In particular, you'll need to rearrange models' order, so that
models that refer to other models are ordered properly.

Primary keys are automatically introspected for PostgreSQL, MySQL and
SQLite, in which case Django puts in the ``primary_key=True`` where
needed.

``inspectdb`` works with PostgreSQL, MySQL and SQLite. Foreign-key detection
only works in PostgreSQL and with certain types of MySQL tables.

.. versionadded:: 1.2

The :djadminopt:`--database` option may be used to specify the
database to introspect.

loaddata <fixture fixture ...>
------------------------------

.. django-admin:: loaddata

Searches for and loads the contents of the named fixture into the database.

.. versionadded:: 1.2

The :djadminopt:`--database` option can be used to specify the database
onto which the data will be loaded.

What's a "fixture"?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A *fixture* is a collection of files that contain the serialized contents of
the database. Each fixture has a unique name, and the files that comprise the
fixture can be distributed over multiple directories, in multiple applications.

Django will search in three locations for fixtures:

1. In the ``fixtures`` directory of every installed application
2. In any directory named in the :setting:`FIXTURE_DIRS` setting
3. In the literal path named by the fixture

Django will load any and all fixtures it finds in these locations that match
the provided fixture names.

If the named fixture has a file extension, only fixtures of that type
will be loaded. For example::

    django-admin.py loaddata mydata.json

would only load JSON fixtures called ``mydata``. The fixture extension
must correspond to the registered name of a
:ref:`serializer <serialization-formats>` (e.g., ``json`` or ``xml``).

If you omit the extensions, Django will search all available fixture types
for a matching fixture. For example::

    django-admin.py loaddata mydata

would look for any fixture of any fixture type called ``mydata``. If a fixture
directory contained ``mydata.json``, that fixture would be loaded
as a JSON fixture.

The fixtures that are named can include directory components. These
directories will be included in the search path. For example::

    django-admin.py loaddata foo/bar/mydata.json

would search ``<appname>/fixtures/foo/bar/mydata.json`` for each installed
application,  ``<dirname>/foo/bar/mydata.json`` for each directory in
:setting:`FIXTURE_DIRS`, and the literal path ``foo/bar/mydata.json``.

When fixture files are processed, the data is saved to the database as is.
Model defined ``save`` methods and ``pre_save`` signals are not called.

Note that the order in which fixture files are processed is undefined. However,
all fixture data is installed as a single transaction, so data in
one fixture can reference data in another fixture. If the database backend
supports row-level constraints, these constraints will be checked at the
end of the transaction.

The ``dumpdata`` command can be used to generate input for ``loaddata``.

Compressed fixtures
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fixtures may be compressed in ``zip``, ``gz``, or ``bz2`` format. For example::

    django-admin.py loaddata mydata.json

would look for any of ``mydata.json``, ``mydata.json.zip``,
``mydata.json.gz``, or ``mydata.json.bz2``. The first file contained within a
zip-compressed archive is used.

Note that if two fixtures with the same name but different
fixture type are discovered (for example, if ``mydata.json`` and
``mydata.xml.gz`` were found in the same fixture directory), fixture
installation will be aborted, and any data installed in the call to
``loaddata`` will be removed from the database.

.. admonition:: MySQL with MyISAM and fixtures

    The MyISAM storage engine of MySQL doesn't support transactions or
    constraints, so if you use MyISAM, you won't get validation of fixture
    data, or a rollback if multiple transaction files are found.

Database-specific fixtures
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you're in a multi-database setup, you might have fixture data that
you want to load onto one database, but not onto another. In this
situation, you can add database identifier into the names of your fixtures.

For example, if your :setting:`DATABASES` setting has a 'master' database
defined, name the fixture ``mydata.master.json`` or
``mydata.master.json.gz`` and the fixture will only be loaded when you
specify you want to load data into the ``master`` database.

makemessages
------------

.. django-admin:: makemessages

Runs over the entire source tree of the current directory and pulls out all
strings marked for translation. It creates (or updates) a message file in the
conf/locale (in the django tree) or locale (for project and application)
directory. After making changes to the messages files you need to compile them
with ``compilemessages`` for use with the builtin gettext support. See the
:ref:`i18n documentation <how-to-create-language-files>` for details.

.. django-admin-option:: --all

Use the ``--all`` or ``-a`` option to update the message files for all
available languages.

Example usage::

    django-admin.py makemessages --all

.. django-admin-option:: --extension

Use the ``--extension`` or ``-e`` option to specify a list of file extensions
to examine (default: ".html", ".txt").

Example usage::

    django-admin.py makemessages --locale=de --extension xhtml

Separate multiple extensions with commas or use -e or --extension multiple times::

    django-admin.py makemessages --locale=de --extension=html,txt --extension xml

Use the :djadminopt:`--locale` option to specify the locale to process.

Example usage::

    django-admin.py makemessages --locale=br_PT

.. django-admin-option:: --domain

Use the ``--domain`` or ``-d`` option to change the domain of the messages files.
Currently supported:

* ``django`` for all ``*.py``, ``*.html`` and ``*.txt`` files (default)
* ``djangojs`` for ``*.js`` files

.. django-admin-option:: --symlinks

.. versionadded:: 1.2

Use the ``--symlinks`` or ``-s`` option to follow symlinks to directories when
looking for new translation strings.

Example usage::

    django-admin.py makemessages --locale=de --symlinks

.. django-admin-option:: --ignore

Use the ``--ignore`` or ``-i`` option to ignore files or directories matching
the given :mod:`glob`-style pattern. Use multiple times to ignore more.

These patterns are used by default: ``'CVS'``, ``'.*'``, ``'*~'``

Example usage::

    django-admin.py makemessages --locale=en_US --ignore=apps/* --ignore=secret/*.html

.. django-admin-option:: --no-default-ignore

Use the ``--no-default-ignore`` option to disable the default values of
:djadminopt:`--ignore`.

.. django-admin-option:: --no-wrap

.. versionadded:: 1.3

Use the ``--no-wrap`` option to disable breaking long message lines into
several lines in language files.

.. django-admin-option:: --no-location

.. versionadded:: 1.4

Use the ``--no-location`` option to not write '``#: filename:line``'
comment lines in language files. Note that using this option makes it harder
for technically skilled translators to understand each message's context.

runfcgi [options]
-----------------

.. django-admin:: runfcgi

Starts a set of FastCGI processes suitable for use with any Web server that
supports the FastCGI protocol. See the :doc:`FastCGI deployment documentation
</howto/deployment/fastcgi>` for details. Requires the Python FastCGI module from
`flup`_.

.. versionadded:: 1.4
    Internally, this wraps the WSGI application object specified by the
    :setting:`WSGI_APPLICATION` setting.

.. _flup: http://www.saddi.com/software/flup/

The options accepted by this command are passed to the FastCGI library and
don't use the ``'--'`` prefix as is usual for other Django management commands.

.. django-admin-option:: protocol

``protocol=PROTOCOL``

Protocol to use. *PROTOCOL* can be ``fcgi``, ``scgi``, ``ajp``, etc.
(default is ``fcgi``)

.. django-admin-option:: host

``host=HOSTNAME``

Hostname to listen on.

.. django-admin-option:: port

``port=PORTNUM``

Port to listen on.

.. django-admin-option:: socket

``socket=FILE``

UNIX socket to listen on.

.. django-admin-option:: method

``method=IMPL``

Possible values: ``prefork`` or ``threaded`` (default ``prefork``)

.. django-admin-option:: maxrequests

``maxrequests=NUMBER``

Number of requests a child handles before it is killed and a new child is
forked (0 means no limit).

.. django-admin-option:: maxspare

``maxspare=NUMBER``

Max number of spare processes / threads.

.. django-admin-option:: minspare

``minspare=NUMBER``

Min number of spare processes / threads.

.. django-admin-option:: maxchildren

``maxchildren=NUMBER``

Hard limit number of processes / threads.

.. django-admin-option:: daemonize

``daemonize=BOOL``

Whether to detach from terminal.

.. django-admin-option:: pidfile

``pidfile=FILE``

Write the spawned process-id to file *FILE*.

.. django-admin-option:: workdir

``workdir=DIRECTORY``

Change to directory *DIRECTORY* when daemonizing.

.. django-admin-option:: debug

``debug=BOOL``

Set to true to enable flup tracebacks.

.. django-admin-option:: outlog

``outlog=FILE``

Write stdout to the *FILE* file.

.. django-admin-option:: errlog

``errlog=FILE``

Write stderr to the *FILE* file.

.. django-admin-option:: umask

``umask=UMASK``

Umask to use when daemonizing. The value is interpeted as an octal number
(default value is ``022``).

Example usage::

    django-admin.py runfcgi socket=/tmp/fcgi.sock method=prefork daemonize=true \
        pidfile=/var/run/django-fcgi.pid

Run a FastCGI server as a daemon and write the spawned PID in a file.

runserver [port or address:port]
--------------------------------

.. django-admin:: runserver

Starts a lightweight development Web server on the local machine. By default,
the server runs on port 8000 on the IP address ``127.0.0.1``. You can pass in an
IP address and port number explicitly.

If you run this script as a user with normal privileges (recommended), you
might not have access to start a port on a low port number. Low port numbers
are reserved for the superuser (root).

.. versionadded:: 1.4
    This server uses the WSGI application object specified by the
    :setting:`WSGI_APPLICATION` setting.

DO NOT USE THIS SERVER IN A PRODUCTION SETTING. It has not gone through
security audits or performance tests. (And that's how it's gonna stay. We're in
the business of making Web frameworks, not Web servers, so improving this
server to be able to handle a production environment is outside the scope of
Django.)

The development server automatically reloads Python code for each request, as
needed. You don't need to restart the server for code changes to take effect.

When you start the server, and each time you change Python code while the
server is running, the server will validate all of your installed models. (See
the ``validate`` command below.) If the validator finds errors, it will print
them to standard output, but it won't stop the server.

You can run as many servers as you want, as long as they're on separate ports.
Just execute ``django-admin.py runserver`` more than once.

Note that the default IP address, ``127.0.0.1``, is not accessible from other
machines on your network. To make your development server viewable to other
machines on the network, use its own IP address (e.g. ``192.168.2.1``) or
``0.0.0.0`` or ``::`` (with IPv6 enabled).

.. versionchanged:: 1.3

You can provide an IPv6 address surrounded by brackets
(e.g. ``[200a::1]:8000``). This will automatically enable IPv6 support.

A hostname containing ASCII-only characters can also be used.

.. django-admin-option:: --adminmedia

Use the ``--adminmedia`` option to tell Django where to find the various CSS
and JavaScript files for the Django admin interface. Normally, the development
server serves these files out of the Django source tree magically, but you'd
want to use this if you made any changes to those files for your own site.

Example usage::

    django-admin.py runserver --adminmedia=/tmp/new-admin-style/

.. versionchanged:: 1.3

If the :doc:`staticfiles</ref/contrib/staticfiles>` contrib app is enabled
(default in new projects) the :djadmin:`runserver` command will be overriden
with an own :djadmin:`runserver<staticfiles-runserver>` command which doesn't
have the :djadminopt:`--adminmedia` option due to deprecation.

.. django-admin-option:: --noreload

Use the ``--noreload`` option to disable the use of the auto-reloader. This
means any Python code changes you make while the server is running will *not*
take effect if the particular Python modules have already been loaded into
memory.

Example usage::

    django-admin.py runserver --noreload

.. django-admin-option:: --nothreading

.. versionadded:: 1.4

Use the ``--nothreading`` option to disable the use of threading in the
development server.

.. django-admin-option:: --ipv6, -6

.. versionadded:: 1.3

Use the ``--ipv6`` (or shorter ``-6``) option to tell Django to use IPv6 for
the development server. This changes the default IP address from
``127.0.0.1`` to ``::1``.

Example usage::

    django-admin.py runserver --ipv6

Examples of using different ports and addresses
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Port 8000 on IP address ``127.0.0.1``::

    django-admin.py runserver

Port 8000 on IP address ``1.2.3.4``::

    django-admin.py runserver 1.2.3.4:8000

Port 7000 on IP address ``127.0.0.1``::

    django-admin.py runserver 7000

Port 7000 on IP address ``1.2.3.4``::

    django-admin.py runserver 1.2.3.4:7000

Port 8000 on IPv6 address ``::1``::

    django-admin.py runserver -6

Port 7000 on IPv6 address ``::1``::

    django-admin.py runserver -6 7000

Port 7000 on IPv6 address ``2001:0db8:1234:5678::9``::

    django-admin.py runserver [2001:0db8:1234:5678::9]:7000

Port 8000 on IPv4 address of host ``localhost``::

    django-admin.py runserver localhost:8000

Port 8000 on IPv6 address of host ``localhost``::

    django-admin.py runserver -6 localhost:8000

Serving static files with the development server
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By default, the development server doesn't serve any static files for your site
(such as CSS files, images, things under :setting:`MEDIA_URL` and so forth). If
you want to configure Django to serve static media, read :doc:`/howto/static-files`.

shell
-----

.. django-admin:: shell

Starts the Python interactive interpreter.

Django will use IPython_ or bpython_ if either is installed. If you have a
rich shell installed but want to force use of the "plain" Python interpreter,
use the ``--plain`` option, like so::

    django-admin.py shell --plain

.. _IPython: http://ipython.scipy.org/
.. _bpython: http://bpython-interpreter.org/

sql <appname appname ...>
-------------------------

.. django-admin:: sql

Prints the CREATE TABLE SQL statements for the given app name(s).

.. versionadded:: 1.2

The :djadminopt:`--database` option can be used to specify the database for
which to print the SQL.

sqlall <appname appname ...>
----------------------------

.. django-admin:: sqlall

Prints the CREATE TABLE and initial-data SQL statements for the given app name(s).

Refer to the description of ``sqlcustom`` for an explanation of how to
specify initial data.

.. versionadded:: 1.2

The :djadminopt:`--database` option can be used to specify the database for
which to print the SQL.

sqlclear <appname appname ...>
------------------------------

.. django-admin:: sqlclear

Prints the DROP TABLE SQL statements for the given app name(s).

.. versionadded:: 1.2

The :djadminopt:`--database` option can be used to specify the database for
which to print the SQL.

sqlcustom <appname appname ...>
-------------------------------

.. django-admin:: sqlcustom

Prints the custom SQL statements for the given app name(s).

For each model in each specified app, this command looks for the file
``<appname>/sql/<modelname>.sql``, where ``<appname>`` is the given app name and
``<modelname>`` is the model's name in lowercase. For example, if you have an
app ``news`` that includes a ``Story`` model, ``sqlcustom`` will attempt
to read a file ``news/sql/story.sql`` and append it to the output of this
command.

Each of the SQL files, if given, is expected to contain valid SQL. The SQL
files are piped directly into the database after all of the models'
table-creation statements have been executed. Use this SQL hook to make any
table modifications, or insert any SQL functions into the database.

Note that the order in which the SQL files are processed is undefined.

.. versionadded:: 1.2

The :djadminopt:`--database` option can be used to specify the database for
which to print the SQL.

sqlflush
--------

.. django-admin:: sqlflush

Prints the SQL statements that would be executed for the :djadmin:`flush`
command.

.. versionadded:: 1.2

The :djadminopt:`--database` option can be used to specify the database for
which to print the SQL.

sqlindexes <appname appname ...>
--------------------------------

.. django-admin:: sqlindexes

Prints the CREATE INDEX SQL statements for the given app name(s).

.. versionadded:: 1.2

The :djadminopt:`--database` option can be used to specify the database for
which to print the SQL.

sqlsequencereset <appname appname ...>
--------------------------------------

.. django-admin:: sqlsequencereset

Prints the SQL statements for resetting sequences for the given app name(s).

Sequences are indexes used by some database engines to track the next available
number for automatically incremented fields.

Use this command to generate SQL which will fix cases where a sequence is out
of sync with its automatically incremented field data.

.. versionadded:: 1.2

The :djadminopt:`--database` option can be used to specify the database for
which to print the SQL.

startapp <appname> [destination]
--------------------------------

.. django-admin:: startapp

Creates a Django app directory structure for the given app name in the current
directory or the given destination.

.. versionchanged:: 1.4

By default the directory created contains a ``models.py`` file and other app
template files. (See the `source`_ for more details.) If only the app
name is given, the app directory will be created in the current working
directory.

If the optional destination is provided, Django will use that existing
directory rather than creating a new one. You can use '.' to denote the current
working directory.

For example::

    django-admin.py startapp myapp /Users/jezdez/Code/myapp

.. versionadded:: 1.4
.. django-admin-option:: --template

With the ``--template`` option, you can use a custom app template by providing
either the path to a directory with the app template file, or a path to a
compressed file (``.tar.gz``, ``.tar.bz2``, ``.tgz``, ``.tbz``, ``.zip``)
containing the app template files.

Django will also accept URLs (``http``, ``https``, ``ftp``) to compressed
archives with the app template files, downloading and extracting them on the
fly.

For example, this would look for an app template in the given directory when
creating the ``myapp`` app::

    django-admin.py startapp --template=/Users/jezdez/Code/my_app_template myapp

.. versionadded:: 1.4

When Django copies the app template files, it also renders certain files
through the template engine: the files whose extensions match the
``--extension`` option (``py`` by default) and the files whose names are passed
with the ``--name`` option. The :class:`template context
<django.template.Context>` used is:

- Any option passed to the startapp command
- ``app_name`` -- the app name as passed to the command
- ``app_directory`` -- the full path of the newly created app

.. _render_warning:

.. warning::

    When the app template files are rendered with the Django template
    engine (by default all ``*.py`` files), Django will also replace all
    stray template variables contained. For example, if one of the Python files
    contains a docstring explaining a particular feature related
    to template rendering, it might result in an incorrect example.

    To work around this problem, you can use the :ttag:`templatetag`
    templatetag to "escape" the various parts of the template syntax.

.. _source: https://code.djangoproject.com/browser/django/trunk/django/conf/app_template/

startproject <projectname> [destination]
----------------------------------------

.. django-admin:: startproject

Creates a Django project directory structure for the given project name in
the current directory or the given destination.

.. versionchanged:: 1.4

By default, the new directory contains ``manage.py`` and a project package
(containing a ``settings.py`` and other files). See the `template source`_ for
details.

If only the project name is given, both the project directory and project
package will be named ``<projectname>`` and the project directory
will be created in the current working directory.

If the optional destination is provided, Django will use that existing
directory as the project directory, and create ``manage.py`` and the project
package within it. Use '.' to denote the current working directory.

For example::

    django-admin.py startproject myproject /Users/jezdez/Code/myproject_repo

.. versionadded:: 1.4

As with the :djadmin:`startapp` command, the ``--template`` option lets you
specify a directory, file path or URL of a custom project template. See the
:djadmin:`startapp` documentation for details of supported project template
formats.

For example, this would look for a project template in the given directory
when creating the ``myproject`` project::

    django-admin.py startproject --template=/Users/jezdez/Code/my_project_template myproject

When Django copies the project template files, it also renders certain files
through the template engine: the files whose extensions match the
``--extension`` option (``py`` by default) and the files whose names are passed
with the ``--name`` option. The :class:`template context
<django.template.Context>` used is:

- Any option passed to the startproject command
- ``project_name`` -- the project name as passed to the command
- ``project_directory`` -- the full path of the newly created project
- ``secret_key`` -- a random key for the :setting:`SECRET_KEY` setting

Please also see the :ref:`rendering warning <render_warning>` as mentioned
for :djadmin:`startapp`.

.. _`template source`: https://code.djangoproject.com/browser/django/trunk/django/conf/project_template/

syncdb
------

.. django-admin:: syncdb

Creates the database tables for all apps in :setting:`INSTALLED_APPS` whose
tables have not already been created.

Use this command when you've added new applications to your project and want to
install them in the database. This includes any apps shipped with Django that
might be in :setting:`INSTALLED_APPS` by default. When you start a new project,
run this command to install the default apps.

.. admonition:: Syncdb will not alter existing tables

   ``syncdb`` will only create tables for models which have not yet been
   installed. It will *never* issue ``ALTER TABLE`` statements to match
   changes made to a model class after installation. Changes to model classes
   and database schemas often involve some form of ambiguity and, in those
   cases, Django would have to guess at the correct changes to make. There is
   a risk that critical data would be lost in the process.

   If you have made changes to a model and wish to alter the database tables
   to match, use the ``sql`` command to display the new SQL structure and
   compare that to your existing table schema to work out the changes.

If you're installing the ``django.contrib.auth`` application, ``syncdb`` will
give you the option of creating a superuser immediately.

``syncdb`` will also search for and install any fixture named ``initial_data``
with an appropriate extension (e.g. ``json`` or ``xml``). See the
documentation for ``loaddata`` for details on the specification of fixture
data files.

The :djadminopt:`--noinput` option may be provided to suppress all user
prompts.

.. versionadded:: 1.2

The :djadminopt:`--database` option can be used to specify the database to
synchronize.

test <app or test identifier>
-----------------------------

.. django-admin:: test

Runs tests for all installed models. See :doc:`/topics/testing` for more
information.

.. versionadded:: 1.2
.. django-admin-option:: --failfast

The ``--failfast`` option can be used to stop running tests and report the
failure immediately after a test fails.

.. versionadded:: 1.4
.. django-admin-option:: --testrunner

The ``--testrunner`` option can be used to control the test runner class that
is used to execute tests. If this value is provided, it overrides the value
provided by the :setting:`TEST_RUNNER` setting.

.. versionadded:: 1.4
.. django-admin-option:: --liveserver

The ``--liveserver`` option can be used to override the default address where
the live server (used with :class:`~django.test.LiveServerTestCase`) is
expected to run from. The default value is ``localhost:8081``.

testserver <fixture fixture ...>
--------------------------------

.. django-admin:: testserver

Runs a Django development server (as in ``runserver``) using data from the
given fixture(s).

For example, this command::

    django-admin.py testserver mydata.json

...would perform the following steps:

1. Create a test database, as described in :doc:`/topics/testing`.
2. Populate the test database with fixture data from the given fixtures.
   (For more on fixtures, see the documentation for ``loaddata`` above.)
3. Runs the Django development server (as in ``runserver``), pointed at
   this newly created test database instead of your production database.

This is useful in a number of ways:

* When you're writing :doc:`unit tests </topics/testing>` of how your views
  act with certain fixture data, you can use ``testserver`` to interact with
  the views in a Web browser, manually.

* Let's say you're developing your Django application and have a "pristine"
  copy of a database that you'd like to interact with. You can dump your
  database to a fixture (using the ``dumpdata`` command, explained above),
  then use ``testserver`` to run your Web application with that data. With
  this arrangement, you have the flexibility of messing up your data
  in any way, knowing that whatever data changes you're making are only
  being made to a test database.

Note that this server does *not* automatically detect changes to your Python
source code (as ``runserver`` does). It does, however, detect changes to
templates.

.. django-admin-option:: --addrport [port number or ipaddr:port]

Use ``--addrport`` to specify a different port, or IP address and port, from
the default of ``127.0.0.1:8000``. This value follows exactly the same format and
serves exactly the same function as the argument to the ``runserver`` command.

Examples:

To run the test server on port 7000 with ``fixture1`` and ``fixture2``::

    django-admin.py testserver --addrport 7000 fixture1 fixture2
    django-admin.py testserver fixture1 fixture2 --addrport 7000

(The above statements are equivalent. We include both of them to demonstrate
that it doesn't matter whether the options come before or after the fixture
arguments.)

To run on 1.2.3.4:7000 with a ``test`` fixture::

    django-admin.py testserver --addrport 1.2.3.4:7000 test

.. versionadded:: 1.3

The :djadminopt:`--noinput` option may be provided to suppress all user
prompts.

validate
--------

.. django-admin:: validate

Validates all installed models (according to the :setting:`INSTALLED_APPS`
setting) and prints validation errors to standard output.

Commands provided by applications
=================================

Some commands are only available when the ``django.contrib`` application that
:doc:`implements </howto/custom-management-commands>` them has been
:setting:`enabled <INSTALLED_APPS>`. This section describes them grouped by
their application.

``django.contrib.auth``
-----------------------

changepassword
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.. django-admin:: changepassword

.. versionadded:: 1.2

This command is only available if Django's :doc:`authentication system
</topics/auth>` (``django.contrib.auth``) is installed.

Allows changing a user's password. It prompts you to enter twice the password of
the user given as parameter. If they both match, the new password will be
changed immediately. If you do not supply a user, the command will attempt to
change the password whose username matches the current user.

.. versionadded:: 1.4

Use the ``--database`` option to specify the database to query for the user. If
it's not supplied, Django will use the ``default`` database.

Example usage::

    django-admin.py changepassword ringo

createsuperuser
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.. django-admin:: createsuperuser

This command is only available if Django's :doc:`authentication system
</topics/auth>` (``django.contrib.auth``) is installed.

Creates a superuser account (a user who has all permissions). This is
useful if you need to create an initial superuser account but did not
do so during ``syncdb``, or if you need to programmatically generate
superuser accounts for your site(s).

When run interactively, this command will prompt for a password for
the new superuser account. When run non-interactively, no password
will be set, and the superuser account will not be able to log in until
a password has been manually set for it.

.. django-admin-option:: --username
.. django-admin-option:: --email

The username and email address for the new account can be supplied by
using the ``--username`` and ``--email`` arguments on the command
line. If either of those is not supplied, ``createsuperuser`` will prompt for
it when running interactively.

.. versionadded:: 1.4

Use the ``--database`` option to specify the database into which the superuser
object will be saved.

``django.contrib.gis``
----------------------

ogrinspect
~~~~~~~~~~

This command is only available if :doc:`GeoDjango </ref/contrib/gis/index>`
(``django.contrib.gis``) is installed.

Please refer to its :djadmin:`description <ogrinspect>` in the GeoDjango
documentation.

``django.contrib.sitemaps``
---------------------------

ping_google
~~~~~~~~~~~

This command is only available if the :doc:`Sitemaps framework
</ref/contrib/sitemaps>` (``django.contrib.sitemaps``) is installed.

Please refer to its :djadmin:`description <ping_google>` in the Sitemaps
documentation.

``django.contrib.staticfiles``
------------------------------

collectstatic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This command is only available if the :doc:`static files application
</howto/static-files>` (``django.contrib.staticfiles``) is installed.

Please refer to its :djadmin:`description <collectstatic>` in the
:doc:`staticfiles </ref/contrib/staticfiles>` documentation.

findstatic
~~~~~~~~~~

This command is only available if the :doc:`static files application
</howto/static-files>` (``django.contrib.staticfiles``) is installed.

Please refer to its :djadmin:`description <findstatic>` in the :doc:`staticfiles
</ref/contrib/staticfiles>` documentation.

Default options
===============

Although some commands may allow their own custom options, every command
allows for the following options:

.. django-admin-option:: --pythonpath

Example usage::

    django-admin.py syncdb --pythonpath='/home/djangoprojects/myproject'

Adds the given filesystem path to the Python `import search path`_. If this
isn't provided, ``django-admin.py`` will use the ``PYTHONPATH`` environment
variable.

Note that this option is unnecessary in ``manage.py``, because it takes care of
setting the Python path for you.

.. _import search path: http://diveintopython.net/getting_to_know_python/everything_is_an_object.html

.. django-admin-option:: --settings

Example usage::

    django-admin.py syncdb --settings=mysite.settings

Explicitly specifies the settings module to use. The settings module should be
in Python package syntax, e.g. ``mysite.settings``. If this isn't provided,
``django-admin.py`` will use the ``DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE`` environment
variable.

Note that this option is unnecessary in ``manage.py``, because it uses
``settings.py`` from the current project by default.

.. django-admin-option:: --traceback

Example usage::

    django-admin.py syncdb --traceback

By default, ``django-admin.py`` will show a simple error message whenever an
error occurs. If you specify ``--traceback``, ``django-admin.py``  will
output a full stack trace whenever an exception is raised.

.. django-admin-option:: --verbosity

Example usage::

    django-admin.py syncdb --verbosity 2

Use ``--verbosity`` to specify the amount of notification and debug information
that ``django-admin.py`` should print to the console.

* ``0`` means no output.
* ``1`` means normal output (default).
* ``2`` means verbose output.
* ``3`` means *very* verbose output.

Common options
==============

The following options are not available on every command, but they are common
to a number of commands.

.. django-admin-option:: --database

.. versionadded:: 1.2

Used to specify the database on which a command will operate. If not
specified, this option will default to an alias of ``default``.

For example, to dump data from the database with the alias ``master``::

    django-admin.py dumpdata --database=master

.. django-admin-option:: --exclude

Exclude a specific application from the applications whose contents is
output. For example, to specifically exclude the `auth` application from
the output of dumpdata, you would call::

    django-admin.py dumpdata --exclude=auth

If you want to exclude multiple applications, use multiple ``--exclude``
directives::

    django-admin.py dumpdata --exclude=auth --exclude=contenttypes

.. django-admin-option:: --locale

Use the ``--locale`` or ``-l`` option to specify the locale to process.
If not provided all locales are processed.

.. django-admin-option:: --noinput

Use the ``--noinput`` option to suppress all user prompting, such as "Are
you sure?" confirmation messages. This is useful if ``django-admin.py`` is
being executed as an unattended, automated script.

Extra niceties
==============

.. _syntax-coloring:

Syntax coloring
---------------

The ``django-admin.py`` / ``manage.py`` commands will use pretty
color-coded output if your terminal supports ANSI-colored output. It
won't use the color codes if you're piping the command's output to
another program.

The colors used for syntax highlighting can be customized. Django
ships with three color palettes:

* ``dark``, suited to terminals that show white text on a black
  background. This is the default palette.

* ``light``, suited to terminals that show black text on a white
  background.

* ``nocolor``, which disables syntax highlighting.

You select a palette by setting a ``DJANGO_COLORS`` environment
variable to specify the palette you want to use. For example, to
specify the ``light`` palette under a Unix or OS/X BASH shell, you
would run the following at a command prompt::

    export DJANGO_COLORS="light"

You can also customize the colors that are used. Django specifies a
number of roles in which color is used:

* ``error`` - A major error.
* ``notice`` - A minor error.
* ``sql_field`` - The name of a model field in SQL.
* ``sql_coltype`` - The type of a model field in SQL.
* ``sql_keyword`` - A SQL keyword.
* ``sql_table`` - The name of a model in SQL.
* ``http_info`` - A 1XX HTTP Informational server response.
* ``http_success`` - A 2XX HTTP Success server response.
* ``http_not_modified`` - A 304 HTTP Not Modified server response.
* ``http_redirect`` - A 3XX HTTP Redirect server response other than 304.
* ``http_not_found`` - A 404 HTTP Not Found server response.
* ``http_bad_request`` - A 4XX HTTP Bad Request server response other than 404.
* ``http_server_error`` - A 5XX HTTP Server Error response.

Each of these roles can be assigned a specific foreground and
background color, from the following list:

* ``black``
* ``red``
* ``green``
* ``yellow``
* ``blue``
* ``magenta``
* ``cyan``
* ``white``

Each of these colors can then be modified by using the following
display options:

* ``bold``
* ``underscore``
* ``blink``
* ``reverse``
* ``conceal``

A color specification follows one of the following patterns:

* ``role=fg``
* ``role=fg/bg``
* ``role=fg,option,option``
* ``role=fg/bg,option,option``

where ``role`` is the name of a valid color role, ``fg`` is the
foreground color, ``bg`` is the background color and each ``option``
is one of the color modifying options. Multiple color specifications
are then separated by semicolon. For example::

    export DJANGO_COLORS="error=yellow/blue,blink;notice=magenta"

would specify that errors be displayed using blinking yellow on blue,
and notices displayed using magenta. All other color roles would be
left uncolored.

Colors can also be specified by extending a base palette. If you put
a palette name in a color specification, all the colors implied by that
palette will be loaded. So::

    export DJANGO_COLORS="light;error=yellow/blue,blink;notice=magenta"

would specify the use of all the colors in the light color palette,
*except* for the colors for errors and notices which would be
overridden as specified.

Bash completion
---------------

If you use the Bash shell, consider installing the Django bash completion
script, which lives in ``extras/django_bash_completion`` in the Django
distribution. It enables tab-completion of ``django-admin.py`` and
``manage.py`` commands, so you can, for instance...

* Type ``django-admin.py``.
* Press [TAB] to see all available options.
* Type ``sql``, then [TAB], to see all available options whose names start
  with ``sql``.


See :doc:`/howto/custom-management-commands` for how to add customized actions.


==========================================
Running management commands from your code
==========================================

.. _call-command:

.. function:: django.core.management.call_command(name, *args, **options)

To call a management command from code use ``call_command``.

``name``
  the name of the command to call.

``*args``
  a list of arguments accepted by the command.

``**options``
  named options accepted on the command-line.

Examples::

      from django.core import management
      management.call_command('flush', verbosity=0, interactive=False)
      management.call_command('loaddata', 'test_data', verbosity=0)