django-admin.txt

.. _ref-django-admin:

=============================
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 <subcommand> [options]
    manage.py <subcommand> [options]

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

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

.. django-admin-option:: --help

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

App names
---------

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

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

.. django-admin-option:: --version

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

Examples of output::

    0.95
    0.96
    0.97-pre-SVN-6069

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

.. django-admin-option:: --verbosity <amount>

Use ``--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 :ref:`default options for django-admin.py <django-admin-verbosity>`.

Available subcommands
=====================

cleanup
-------

.. versionadded:: 1.0

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

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

.. versionchanged:: 1.0
   Before 1.0 this was the "bin/compile-messages.py" command.

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

--locale
~~~~~~~~

Use the ``--locale`` or ``-l`` 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 <tablename>

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

createsuperuser
---------------

.. django-admin:: createsuperuser

.. versionadded:: 1.0

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 e-mail 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.

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

dbshell
-------

.. django-admin:: dbshell

Runs the command-line client for the database engine specified in your
``DATABASE_ENGINE`` setting, with the connection parameters specified in your
``DATABASE_USER``, ``DATABASE_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.

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 ``ROOT_URLCONF``, so
``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
--------

.. django-admin:: dumpdata <appname appname appname.Model ...>

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.

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

.. versionadded:: 1.0

Exclude a specific application from the applications whose contents is
output. For example, to specifically exclude the `auth` application from
the output, 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:: --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.

.. versionadded: 1.1

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.

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.

.. 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.

inspectdb
---------

Introspects the database tables in the database pointed-to by the
``DATABASE_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.

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

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

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 ``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
``FIXTURE_DIRS``, and the literal path ``foo/bar/mydata.json``.

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 and Fixtures

    Unfortunately, MySQL isn't capable of completely supporting all the
    features of Django fixtures. If you use MyISAM tables, MySQL doesn't
    support transactions or constraints, so you won't get a rollback if
    multiple transaction files are found, or validation of fixture data.
    If you use InnoDB tables, you won't be able to have any forward
    references in your data files - MySQL doesn't provide a mechanism to
    defer checking of row constraints until a transaction is committed.

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

.. versionchanged:: 1.0
   Before 1.0 this was the ``bin/make-messages.py`` command.

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.

--all
~~~~~

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

Example usage::

    django-admin.py makemessages --all

--extension
~~~~~~~~~~~

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

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

--locale
~~~~~~~~

Use the ``--locale`` or ``-l`` option to specify the locale to process.

Example usage::

    django-admin.py makemessages --locale=br_PT

--domain
~~~~~~~~

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

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

reset <appname appname ...>
---------------------------

Executes the equivalent of ``sqlreset`` for the given app name(s).

--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.

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

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

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

runserver [optional port number, or ipaddr:port]
------------------------------------------------

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).

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``.

--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/

--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

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

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 ``MEDIA_URL`` and so forth). If
you want to configure Django to serve static media, read :ref:`howto-static-files`.

Turning off auto-reload
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To disable auto-reloading of code while the development server is running, use the
``--noreload`` option, like so::

    django-admin.py runserver --noreload

shell
-----

Starts the Python interactive interpreter.

Django will use IPython_, if it's installed. If you have IPython installed and
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/

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

sqlflush
--------

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

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

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

sqlreset <appname appname ...>
------------------------------

Prints the DROP TABLE SQL, then the CREATE TABLE SQL, for the given app name(s).

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

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

See http://simon.incutio.com/archive/2004/04/21/postgres for more information.

startapp <appname>
------------------

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

startproject <projectname>
--------------------------

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

This command is disabled when the ``--settings`` option to
``django-admin.py`` is used, or when the environment variable
``DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE`` has been set. To re-enable it in these
situations, either omit the ``--settings`` option or unset
``DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE``.

syncdb
------

Creates the database tables for all apps in ``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 ``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.

--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.

test
----

Runs tests for all installed models. See :ref:`topics-testing` for more
information.

--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.

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

.. versionadded:: 1.0

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 :ref:`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 :ref:`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.

--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`` subcommand.

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

validate
--------

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

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

Although some subcommands may allow their own custom options, every subcommand
allows for the following options:

--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.org/getting_to_know_python/everything_is_an_object.html

--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.

--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-verbosity:

--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.

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

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

The ``django-admin.py`` / ``manage.py`` commands that output SQL to standard
output 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.

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 :ref:`howto-custom-management-commands` for how to add customized actions.