Complete Tutorial: Set-up PostgreSQL Database with Django Application

Set-up PostgreSQL database with Django application involves several steps. Here are detailed tutorials for each step:

Set-up PostgreSQL Database with Django Application

Prerequisites:

1. Python installed on your machine (preferably Python 3.x)
2. PostgreSQL installed and running

Step 1. Create a Virtual Environment

python -m venv myenv

Activate the virtual environment:

# On Windows:
venv\Scripts\activate

# On Unix or MacOS:
source venv/bin/activate

Step 2: Setting Up the Environment

2.1 Install Django and PostgreSQL

First, make sure you have Python and pip installed. Then, install the Django and PostgreSQL adapters for Python:

pip install django psycopg2-binary

• pip install: Installs Python packages.
• django: Installs Django.
• psycopg2-binary: Installs the PostgreSQL adapter for Python.

Step 3: Create a Django Project

3.1 Create a Django Project

django-admin startproject myproject
cd myproject

• django-admin startproject: Command to create a new Django project.
• myproject: Name of the project folder.

3.2 Create a Django App

python manage.py startapp myapp

• python manage.py startapp: Command to create a new Django app within the project.
• myapp: Name of the app.

Step 4: Configure PostgreSQL Database

4.1 Configure Database Settings

In myproject/settings.py, configure the database settings to use PostgreSQL:

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
        'NAME': 'mydatabase',
        'USER': 'myuser',
        'PASSWORD': 'mypassword',
        'HOST': 'localhost',
        'PORT': '5432',
    }
}

• DATABASES: Django settings for database configuration.
• ENGINE: Specifies the database engine (PostgreSQL in this case).
• NAME: Name of the database.
• USER: Username for accessing the database.
• PASSWORD: Password for the database user.
• HOST: Hostname where the database server is running.
• PORT: Port number on which the database server is listening.

Step 5: Create PostgreSQL Database

5.1 Access PostgreSQL Command Line

psql -U postgres

• psql: Command-line interface for PostgreSQL.
• -U postgres: Login as the PostgreSQL superuser postgres.

5.2 Create Database and User

CREATE DATABASE mydatabase;
CREATE USER myuser WITH PASSWORD 'mypassword';
ALTER ROLE myuser SET client_encoding TO 'utf8';
ALTER ROLE myuser SET default_transaction_isolation TO 'read committed';
ALTER ROLE myuser SET timezone TO 'UTC';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE mydatabase TO myuser;

• CREATE DATABASE: Command to create a new database.
• CREATE USER: Command to create a new database user.
• ALTER ROLE: Commands to set client encoding, transaction isolation, and timezone for the user.
• GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES: Grant all privileges to the user on the created database.

Step 6: Migrate Database

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate

• python manage.py makemigrations: Command to create migration files based on the changes in the models.
• python manage.py migrate: Command to apply migrations and create database tables.

Step 7: Create Superuser

python manage.py createsuperuser

• python manage.py createsuperuser: Command to create a superuser to access the Django admin panel.

Step 8: Run Server

python manage.py runserver

• python manage.py runserver: Command to start the Django development server.

Step 9: Verify Setup

Visit http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/ and log in with the superuser credentials you created. If you can access the admin panel, your setup is successful.

Recap:

• Environment Setup: Install Django, PostgreSQL, and psycopg2-binary.
• Project Initialization: Create a Django project and app.
• Database Configuration: Configure PostgreSQL in settings.py.
• PostgreSQL Setup: Create a database and user in PostgreSQL.
• Migrations: Apply migrations to create necessary database tables.
• Superuser Creation: Create a superuser to access the Django admin panel.
• Run Server: Start the Django development server.
• Verification: Access the admin panel to ensure everything works.

This guide will get you up and running with a Django application using a PostgreSQL database.

Get Mehedi Khan’s stories in your inbox

Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.

Remember me for faster sign in

Thank you for reading. If you find something wrong or better ways to do it, let me know in the comments below.

If you like the post, hit the 👏 button below so that others may find it useful. You can follow me on:

GitHub | daily.dev | LinkedIn | YouTube

More Libraries: