I'm using the Windows version of Python 3.4.3 (can't use Cygwin's Python because I require pywin32), Cygwin 2.0.4(0.287/5/3), and Django 1.7.8 (can't use 1.8.x for dependency reasons).
My problem is that about half the time I do anything Django related in the Cygwin shell, I get error -
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\test\testcases.py", line 182, in __call__
self._pre_setup()
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\test\testcases.py", line 754, in _pre_setup
self._fixture_setup()
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\test\testcases.py", line 887, in _fixture_setup
if not connections_support_transactions():
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\test\testcases.py", line 874, in connections_support_transactions
for conn in connections.all())
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\db\utils.py", line 257, in all
return [self[alias] for alias in self]
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\db\utils.py", line 254, in __iter__
return iter(self.databases)
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\utils\functional.py", line 55, in __get__
res = instance.__dict__[self.func.__name__] = self.func(instance)
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\db\utils.py", line 148, in databases
self._databases = settings.DATABASES
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\conf\__init__.py", line 46, in __getattr__
self._setup(name)
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\conf\__init__.py", line 42, in _setup
self._wrapped = Settings(settings_module)
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\conf\__init__.py", line 115, in __init__
raise ImproperlyConfigured("The SECRET_KEY setting must not be empty.")
django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: The SECRET_KEY setting must not be empty.
In this case, I'm attempting to run a simple unit test using nose. Strange thing is that it intermittently occurs about 50% of the time.
I can confirm that my PYTHONPATH is set properly with this small test.
printf "\033c";printf "+++ python sys.path\n\n";python -c "import sys;print(sys.path)";printf "\n+++ building...\n\n"; nosetests app -v
Which outputs.
+++ python sys.path
['', 'C:\\dev\\web', 'C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\python34.zip', 'C:\\dev\\web\\.env\\DLLs', 'C:\\dev\\web\\.env\\lib', 'C:\\dev\\web\\.env\\Scripts', 'C:\\Python34\\Lib', 'C:\\Python34\\DLLs', 'C:\\dev\\web\\.env', 'C:\\dev\\web\\.env\\lib\\site-packages', 'C:\\dev\\web\\.env\\lib\\site-packages\\win32', 'C:\\dev\\web\\.env\\lib\\site-packages\\win32\\lib', 'C:\\dev\\web\\.env\\lib\\site-packages\\Pythonwin']
+++ building...
ERROR
======================================================================
ERROR: test_foo (asd.tests.FooTests)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\test\testcases.py", line 182, in __call__
self._pre_setup()
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\test\testcases.py", line 754, in _pre_setup
self._fixture_setup()
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\test\testcases.py", line 887, in _fixture_setup
if not connections_support_transactions():
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\test\testcases.py", line 874, in connections_support_transactions
for conn in connections.all())
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\db\utils.py", line 257, in all
return [self[alias] for alias in self]
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\db\utils.py", line 254, in __iter__
return iter(self.databases)
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\utils\functional.py", line 55, in __get__
res = instance.__dict__[self.func.__name__] = self.func(instance)
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\db\utils.py", line 148, in databases
self._databases = settings.DATABASES
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\conf\__init__.py", line 46, in __getattr__
self._setup(name)
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\conf\__init__.py", line 42, in _setup
self._wrapped = Settings(settings_module)
File "C:\dev\web\.env\lib\site-packages\django\conf\__init__.py", line 115, in __init__
raise ImproperlyConfigured("The SECRET_KEY setting must not be empty.")
django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: The SECRET_KEY setting must not be empty.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 0 tests in 0.327s
FAILED (errors=1)
What would cause such discrepancy?
Here is what ended up being the true cause.
I had environment variables DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE and django_settings_module - same name, different case. DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE was set appropriately to config.settings.local, while django_settings_module was set to asd.
I had no idea that 1) both of these were defined and 2) the shell (Cygwin shell, anyways) randomly returns a value despite case differences.