Incorrect/misleading error message when there is a logic that has an error in PLUGINS_CONFIG > nautobot_ssot

[nathanielfernandez]

Environment

• Nautobot version (Docker tag too if applicable): 2.1.5, VM install (non-docker)
• Python version: 3.10.12
• Database platform, version: psql (PostgreSQL) 16.2 (Ubuntu 16.2-1.pgdg22.04+1)
• Middleware(s): Nautobot is running on Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open nautobot_config.py and go to PLUGINS_CONFIG > nautobot_ssot dictionary.
2. In our case, we are using the infoblox ssot plugin. Try to insert a key-value pair that has an incorrect logic, like applying .split() to a list. Then save the file.

"infoblox_import_subnets": [x for x in ["10.0.0.0/8","172.16.0.0/12","192.168.0.0/16"].split(",") if x]

Note: Tried this one in python (cli). The above should give an AttributeError because a list does not have .split() attribute.

3. When you run nautobot-server post_upgrade, you'll get an error message about SECRET_KEY being empty, even though it has a value in nautobot_config.py.

nautobot@lab:~$ nautobot-server post_upgrade
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/nautobot/bin/nautobot-server", line 8, in <module>
    sys.exit(main())
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/nautobot/core/cli/__init__.py", line 52, in main
    run_app(
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/nautobot/core/runner/runner.py", line 297, in run_app
    management.execute_from_command_line([runner_name, command, *command_args])
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 419, in execute_from_command_line
    utility.execute()
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 395, in execute
    django.setup()
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/__init__.py", line 24, in setup
    apps.populate(settings.INSTALLED_APPS)
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/apps/registry.py", line 122, in populate
    app_config.ready()
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/nautobot/core/apps/__init__.py", line 846, in ready
    super().ready()
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/nautobot/core/apps/__init__.py", line 68, in ready
    registry["new_ui_ready_routes"].update(get_all_new_ui_ready_routes())
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/nautobot/core/utils/navigation.py", line 47, in get_all_new_ui_ready_routes
    url_patterns = resolver.url_patterns
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/utils/functional.py", line 48, in __get__
    res = instance.__dict__[self.name] = self.func(instance)
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/urls/resolvers.py", line 602, in url_patterns
    patterns = getattr(self.urlconf_module, "urlpatterns", self.urlconf_module)
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/utils/functional.py", line 48, in __get__
    res = instance.__dict__[self.name] = self.func(instance)
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/urls/resolvers.py", line 595, in urlconf_module
    return import_module(self.urlconf_name)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/importlib/__init__.py", line 126, in import_module
    return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1050, in _gcd_import
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1027, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1006, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 688, in _load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 883, in exec_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 241, in _call_with_frames_removed
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/nautobot/core/urls.py", line 7, in <module>
    from nautobot.core.views import (
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/nautobot/core/views/__init__.py", line 11, in <module>
    from django.contrib.auth.mixins import AccessMixin, LoginRequiredMixin
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/contrib/auth/mixins.py", line 5, in <module>
    from django.contrib.auth.views import redirect_to_login
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/contrib/auth/views.py", line 10, in <module>
    from django.contrib.auth.forms import (
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/contrib/auth/forms.py", line 11, in <module>
    from django.contrib.auth.tokens import default_token_generator
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/contrib/auth/tokens.py", line 117, in <module>
    default_token_generator = PasswordResetTokenGenerator()
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/contrib/auth/tokens.py", line 18, in __init__
    self.secret = self.secret or settings.SECRET_KEY
  File "/opt/nautobot/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/conf/__init__.py", line 90, in __getattr__
    raise ImproperlyConfigured("The SECRET_KEY setting must not be empty.")
django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: The SECRET_KEY setting must not be empty.

Expected Behavior

We were expecting to see the AttributeError instead of the SECRET_KEY being empty.

Observed Behavior

We saw the incorrect error message above. This could be a potential red herring to other engineers too.

[lampwins]

@nathanielfernandez could you try this on the latest release of 2.2? We changed some of the startup logic and are curious is that has any effect.