django/docs/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 ``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
=====

``django-admin.py action [options]``

``manage.py action [options]``

``action`` should be one of the actions listed in this document. ``options``,
which is optional, should be zero or more of the options listed in this
document.

Run ``django-admin.py --help`` to display a help message that includes a terse
list of all available actions and options.

Most actions take a list of ``appname``s. An ``appname`` is the basename of the
package containing your models. For example, if your ``INSTALLED_APPS``
contains the string ``'mysite.blog'``, the ``appname`` is ``blog``.

Available actions
=================

adminindex [appname appname ...]
--------------------------------

Prints the admin-index template snippet for the given appnames.

Use admin-index template snippets if you want to customize the look and feel of
your admin's index page. See `Tutorial 2`_ for more information.

.. _Tutorial 2: ../tutorial02/

createcachetable [tablename]
----------------------------

Creates a cache table named ``tablename`` for use with the database cache
backend.  See the `cache documentation`_ for more information.

.. _cache documentation: ../cache/

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
------------

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 [appname appname ...]
------------------------------

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

By default, the database will be dumped in JSON format. If you want the output
to be in another format, use the ``--format`` option (e.g., ``format=xml``).
You may specify any Django serialization backend (including any user specified
serialization backends named in the ``SERIALIZATION_MODULES`` setting). The
``--indent`` option can be used to pretty-print the output.

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

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

flush
-----

Return 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.

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.

A *Fixture* is a collection of files that contain the serialized contents of
the database. Each fixture has a unique name; however, 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 serializer (e.g., ``json`` or
``xml``).

If you omit the extension, 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. However, if two fixtures with the same name but different
fixture type are discovered (for example, if ``mydata.json`` and
``mydata.xml`` 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.

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``.

.. 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.

reset [appname appname ...]
---------------------------

Executes the equivalent of ``sqlreset`` for the given appnames.

runfcgi [options]
-----------------
Starts a set of FastCGI processes suitable for use with any web server
which supports the FastCGI protocol. See the `FastCGI deployment
documentation`_ for details. Requires the Python FastCGI module from
`flup`_.

.. _FastCGI deployment documentation: ../fastcgi/
.. _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``.

Examples:
~~~~~~~~~

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 the `serving static files`_
documentation.

.. _serving static files: ../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 appnames.

sqlall [appname appname ...]
----------------------------

Prints the CREATE TABLE and initial-data SQL statements for the given appnames.

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 appnames.

sqlcustom [appname appname ...]
-------------------------------

Prints the custom SQL statements for the given appnames.

For each model in each specified app, this command looks for the file
``<appname>/sql/<modelname>.sql``, where ``<appname>`` is the given appname 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.

sqlindexes [appname appname ...]
----------------------------------------

Prints the CREATE INDEX SQL statements for the given appnames.

sqlreset [appname appname ...]
--------------------------------------

Prints the DROP TABLE SQL, then the CREATE TABLE SQL, for the given appnames.

sqlsequencereset [appname appname ...]
----------------------------------------------

Prints the SQL statements for resetting sequences for the given
appnames.

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.

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.

test
----

Discover and run tests for all installed models.  See `Testing Django applications`_ for more information.

.. _testing Django applications: ../testing/

testserver [fixture fixture ...]
--------------------------------

**New in Django development version**

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 `testing Django applications`_.
    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 `unit tests`_ 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 can only run on the default port on localhost; it does
not yet accept a ``host`` or ``port`` parameter.

.. _unit tests: ../testing/

validate
--------

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

Available options
=================

--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 takes care of
setting ``DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE`` for you.

--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

--format
--------

Example usage::

    django-admin.py dumpdata --format=xml

Specifies the output format that will be used. The name provided must be the name
of a registered serializer.

--help
------

Displays a help message that includes a terse list of all available actions and
options.

--indent
--------

Example usage::

    django-admin.py dumpdata --indent=4

Specifies the number of spaces that will be used for indentation when
pretty-printing output. By default, output will *not* be pretty-printed.
Pretty-printing will only be enabled if the indent option is provided.

--noinput
---------

Inform django-admin that the user should NOT be prompted for any input. Useful
if the django-admin script will be executed as an unattended, automated
script.

--noreload
----------

Disable the use of the auto-reloader when running the development server.

--version
---------

Displays the current Django version.

Example output::

    0.9.1
    0.9.1 (SVN)

--verbosity
-----------

Example usage::

    django-admin.py syncdb --verbosity=2

Verbosity determines the amount of notification and debug information that
will be printed to the console. '0' is no output, '1' is normal output,
and ``2`` is verbose output.

--adminmedia
------------

Example usage::

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

Tells Django where to find the various CSS and JavaScript files for the admin
interface when running the development server. Normally these files are served
out of the Django source tree, but because some designers customize these files
for their site, this option allows you to test against custom versions.

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``.

Customized actions
==================

**New in Django development version**

If you want to add an action of your own to ``manage.py``, you can.
Simply add a ``management/commands`` directory to your application.
Each python file in that directory will be discovered and registered as
a command that can be executed as an action when you run ``manage.py``::

    /fancy_blog
        __init__.py
        models.py
        /management
            __init__.py
            /commands
                __init__.py
                explode.py
        views.py
        
In this example, ``explode`` command will be made available to any project
that includes the ``fancy_blog`` application in ``settings.INSTALLED_APPS``.

The ``explode.py`` file has only one requirement -- it must define a class
called ``Command`` that extends ``django.core.management.base.BaseCommand``.

For more details on how to define your own commands, look at the code for the
existing ``django-admin.py`` commands, in ``/django/core/management/commands``.