Django inspectdb failing because of SQLite error

bwareham

I'm trying to create a Django app from a legacy PostgreSQL database I brought over from my Webfaction account a few years ago. When I run the python manage.py inspectdb command I get the following error:

django.db.utils.NotSupportedError: deterministic=True requires SQLite 3.8.3 or higher

First off, I'm confused because my settings.py file has the legacy db setup as the default db. But, figuring there may still be some requirement for an SQLite db, I ran sqlite3 --version and got this response:

SQLite header and source version mismatch 2019-10-10 20:19:45 18db032d058f1436ce3dea84081f4ee5a0f2259ad97301d43c426bc7f3dfalt1 2013-05-20 00:56:22 118a3b35693b134d56ebd780123b7fd6f1497668

Going into the shell I was able to run this:

import sqlite3
>sqlite3.sqlite_version
>'3.30.1'

After looking at this thread, I checked the workaround at Using Databases with Django - SQLite, but couldn't install psyqlite3-binary, got:

ERROR: Could not find a version that satisfies the requirement pysqlite3-binary (from versions: none) ERROR: No matching distribution found for pysqlite3-binary

So, I'm at a loss with how to proceed.

sean

bwareham I just tried pip install pysqlite3-binary on a test account and had no trouble installing the library.

I've also tried python manage.py inspectdb on a PostgreSQL Django project and didn't see any sqlite errors.

I suspect you have a configuration problem that's causing Django to think you're using a sqlite database, but you've stated that you've already set up your DB config for the old PostgtreSQL database.

Are you sure you're running the correct manage.py from the correct directory?

bwareham

Yes, it did turn out to be user error. My text editor appeared to be saving the settings file to the server but wasn't. I reset the connection and now working fine. Thanks for the catch.

swevolution

I have a similar problem - I want to use sqlite3 but pip install pysqlite3-binary fails with no matching distro as described above. Is this a py 3.10.1 problem?

pip install pysqlite3 is happy but django complains it needs 3.8.3 of sqlite

sean

swevolution it does seem to be related to the Python version. It works fine for me on the system Python 3.6, but not with the Python 3.10 that's bundled with our Django apps.

The good news is that in the near future we'll be rolling out Python 3.10 (and 3.11!) system-wide, built against an up-to-date SQLite. When we do, we'll also release instructions on how to convert an existing Django app to use the new Python.

For now, you can work around this by installing pysqlite3 by running the following commands with your app's virtual env activated:

export PATH=/usr/sqlite330/bin:$PATH
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/sqlite330/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
pip install pysqlite3

Hope this helps 🙂

swevolution

Unfortunately the pip install was ok but python manage.py makemigrations gave

django.db.utils.NotSupportedError: deterministic=True requires SQLite 3.8.3 or higher

Time to use a different db? - It will probably be a better solution anyway?

sean

swevolution did you have the PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH variables set when you ran the management command? If not, then can you please try that and let me know how it goes?

swevolution

I cut/paste your commands and I checked using echo $PATH and $LD_LIBRARY_PATH.
I also tried with and without the import in settings.

I have switched to postgres now which is probably a better solution in the long term.

sean

swevolution ok, if you'd like to try SQLite again then you can use it by re-creating your virtualenv with the new system-wide Python 3.10 install, eg:

cd ~/apps/name_of_app
mv env env.old
/usr/local/bin/python3.10 -m venv env
source env/bin/activate
pip install uwsgi django
# then install your other project requirements

Once that's done your app's will be using the new system Python 3.10 which is built against a modern SQLite.