How to resolve "django.db.utils.OperationalError: could not translate host name "db" to address: Name or service not known"

Question

I'm currently working on running a Django project within a Docker container on my local machine. While the project runs smoothly on other machines, I've encountered some issues during setup. Specifically, I'm facing difficulties with database connectivity, as indicated by the error message: "could not translate host name 'db' to address: Name or service not known." I suspect this may be due to configuration differences or network settings on my machine. I'm actively troubleshooting and exploring potential solutions to resolve this issue and successfully run the project. If you have any insights or recommendations, I'd greatly appreciate your assistance. Thank you!

Answer 1

The error occurs because your web_1 container (running the django app) is trying to access host name 'db', which is the service specified to run your postgreSQL database, but it could not find any instance of it running.

The clue is in the logs:

db_1         | ls: cannot open directory '/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/': Permission denied

gotlaw-main_db_1 exited with code 2

These two logs show:

1. the problem why the postgres container could not start properly,
2. and the postgres container exiting.

There are several reasons why you might encounter a permissions denied error, but for now, try running docker as administrator and try again.