# Setting up test database credentials with CircleCI with Django is failing **URL:** \ **Category:** Build Environment\ **Tags:** python, docker, django\ **Created:** [December 28, 2021, 4:54am UTC](https://discuss.circleci.com/t/setting-up-test-database-credentials-with-circleci-with-django-is-failing/42396 "2021-12-28T04:54:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jeanmw](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/circleci/user_avatar/discuss.circleci.com/jeanmw/32/28965_2.png) [@jeanmw](https://discuss.circleci.com/u/jeanmw)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 4:54am UTC](https://discuss.circleci.com/t/setting-up-test-database-credentials-with-circleci-with-django-is-failing/42396/1 "2021-12-28T04:54:01Z")
Hello, I am a bit new to this, so apologies if this question is something basic but I have been unable to get a concrete answer. I am trying to set up CircleCI with a Django app, python3, and I cannot figure out how to configure the test database credentials for circleci. The app is deployed on Heroku and I have the database credentials referenced as environmental variables in settings.py: ```auto DATABASES = { 'default': { 'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2', 'NAME': env('DATABASE_NAME'), 'USER': env('DATABASE_USER'), 'PASSWORD': env('DATABASE_PASSWORD'), 'HOST': env('DATABASE_HOST'), 'PORT': env('DATABASE_PORT'), } } ``` My config.yml for circleci: ```auto version: 2.1 jobs: tests: docker: - image: circleci/python:3.7 environment: DATABASE_URL: postgresql://root@localhost/circle_test?sslmode=disable - image: circleci/postgres:9.6.2 environment: POSTGRES_USER: root POSTGRES_DB: circle_test steps: - checkout - run: sudo chown -R circleci:circleci /usr/local/bin - run: sudo chown -R circleci:circleci /usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages - restore_cache: key: deps9-{{ .Branch }}-{{ checksum "requirements.txt" }} - run: name: Install Dependencies command: | pip3 install --user -r requirements.txt - save_cache: key: deps9-{{ .Branch }}-{{ checksum "requirements.txt" }} paths: - ".venv" - "/usr/local/bin" - "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages" - run: python3 manage.py test workflows: main: jobs: - tests ``` I am not sure what is supposed to be used for the environmental variables for the test DB, and I can’t seem to find a concrete answer in the docs. I am getting `django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: Set the DATABASE_NAME environment variable" does not exist` in my builds. The `circleci/postgres:9.6.2-alpine` step is failing, but I don’t know how to configure what the test database credentials should be. The postgres container build is failing as expected. I’ve also tried adding what I think are the default values: ```auto jobs: tests: docker: - image: circleci/python:3.7 environment: DATABASE_NAME: circle_test DATABASE_URL: postgresql://root@localhost/circle_test?sslmode=disable DATABASE_USER: root DATABASE_PASSWORD: '' DATABASE_PORT: 5432 DATABASE_HOST: postgresql://root@localhost/circle_test?sslmode=disable - image: circleci/postgres:9.6.2 environment: DATABASE_NAME: circle_test DATABASE_USER: root DATABASE_URL: postgresql://root@localhost/circle_test?sslmode=disable DATABASE_PASSWORD: '' DATABASE_PORT: 5432 DATABASE_HOST: postgresql://root@localhost/circle_test?sslmode=disable ``` and get `django.db.utils.OperationalError: could not translate host name "postgresql://root@localhost/circle_test?sslmode=disable" to address: Name or service not known` ---
**Author:** ![jeanmw](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/circleci/user_avatar/discuss.circleci.com/jeanmw/32/28965_2.png) [@jeanmw](https://discuss.circleci.com/u/jeanmw)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 5:32am UTC](https://discuss.circleci.com/t/setting-up-test-database-credentials-with-circleci-with-django-is-failing/42396/2 "2021-12-28T05:32:29Z")
I found the issue - set DATABASE\_HOST to `localhost` in the config.yml. I feel that the default values should be documented somewhere, are they? ---
**Author:** ![timvisher](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/circleci/user_avatar/discuss.circleci.com/timvisher/32/27678_2.png) [@timvisher](https://discuss.circleci.com/u/timvisher)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 10:10pm UTC](https://discuss.circleci.com/t/setting-up-test-database-credentials-with-circleci-with-django-is-failing/42396/3 "2022-01-04T22:10:19Z")
> [@jeanmw](#): > > I feel that the default values should be documented somewhere, are they? Almost all the more common `circleci` images (_not_ necessarily the new `cimg` ones) are tiny wrappers around a public image. In this case that’s `postgres:latest` at least as of the time they built it (5 years ago). I can’t find the source code online at the moment but if you’re willing to believe the [docker readme](https://hub.docker.com/r/circleci/postgres) this one’s as simple as: ```auto FROM postgres:latest ENV POSTGRES_DB=circle_test ``` I’m honestly not sure how many of the environment variables you’re setting on the PG container are making a difference. At least I haven’t found anything that suggests that they’re used by that image for configuration. OTOH, on your python container it looks like maybe the Django [docs](https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/4.0/ref/settings/#host) are what you were looking for. Specifically: > If you’re using PostgreSQL, by default (empty [`HOST`](https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/4.0/ref/settings/#std:setting-HOST)), the connection to the database is done through UNIX domain sockets (‘local’ lines in `pg_hba.conf` ). If your UNIX domain socket is not in the standard location, use the same value of `unix_socket_directory` from `postgresql.conf` . If you want to connect through TCP sockets, set [`HOST`](https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/4.0/ref/settings/#std:setting-HOST) to ‘localhost’ or ‘127.0.0.1’ (‘host’ lines in `pg_hba.conf` ). On Windows, you should always define [`HOST`](https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/4.0/ref/settings/#std:setting-HOST), as UNIX domain sockets are not available. Glad you got yourself sorted! 🙂