Import error cannot import name execute_manager in windows environment

Question

I'll get you up to speed. I'm trying to setup a windows dev environment. I've successfully installed python, django, and virtualenv + virtualenwrapper(windows-cmd installer)

workon env
Python 2.7.6 (default, Nov 10 2013, 19:24:24) [MSC v.1500 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import django
>>> django.VERSION
(1,6,1, 'final',0)
>>> quit()

But when I run: python manage.py runserver from my cloned repository I get this error:

Traceback (most recent call last)"
File "manage.py", line 2, in (module)
from django.core.management import execute_manager
ImportError: cannot import name execute_manager

Both python and django are added to my system variable PATH:

...C:\Python27\;C:\Python27\Scripts\;C:\PYTHON27\DLLs\;C:\PYTHON27\LIB\;C:\Python27\Lib\site-packages\; 

I've also tried this with bash and powershell and I still get the same error.

Is this a virtualenv related issue? Django dependence issue? Yikes. How do I fix this problem? Help me Stackoverflow-kenobi your my only hope.

Kill

Are you actually using virtualenv? The whole point of it is not to use the system-wide python interpreter along with its libraries. Check the accepted answer for the question: #6050433 It touches on virtualenv setup. – Wheelock

@Wheelock Hmm it looks like I'm not properly running the virtualenv. After running the proper django version, I get this error: ImportError: No module named djcelery. – Kill

@Wheelock I checked if django would run in python outside of my environment and it does. Also the link you suggested is for a linux environment. – Kill

Answer 1

execute_manager deprecated in Django 1.4 as part of the project layout refactor and was removed in 1.6 per the deprecation timeline: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.4/internals/deprecation/#id3

To fix this error you should either install a compatible version of Django for the project or update the manage.py to new style which does not use execute_manager: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/stable/releases/1.4/#updated-default-project-layout-and-manage-py Most likely if your manage.py is not compatible with 1.6 then neither is the rest of the project. You should find the appropriate Django version for the project.

Sigmon

Thank you for your timely reply. It looks like that helped. I'm successfully running 1.3.1 (version my project requires). However it looks like it may have been a virtualenv problem. Because I'm getting this error: ImportError: No module named djcelery. – Kill

That error seems pretty clear. You haven't installed django-celery. – Sigmon

Answer 2

@Mark Lavin explained nicely what the error means and how it arises. I think I've just discovered why others may also get this error message so leaving it here for the record.

I'm assuming you're running this from within a virtual environment.

When starting a new Django project, if you run django-admin startproject <myproject>, you are invoking the global installation of Django. If, as in my case, it comes from a stale repo, it may be an old version - in my case:

>> django-admin --version
>> 1.3.1

If you want to run Django from within a virtual environment, then you need to invoke it with django-admin.py startproject <myproject>. This way, you get a Django project with the version corresponding to your local installation:

>> django-admin.py --version
>> 1.6.6

Krys

Answer 3

I was getting this error because I had an old version of django-admin.py in my /usr/local/bin folder and I had forgotten to create a new virtualenv for my new project.

Remember that the steps for a new project should be:

1. First create a new virtualenv for your new project:
   mkvirtualenv <mynewproj>
2. Update the Python version for your virtualenv if necessary:
   virtualenv --python $(which python3.6) ~/.virtualenvs/<mynewproj>
3. Then create your Django project folder structure:
   django-admin startproject <django project name>

I also deleted my old obsolete /usr/local/bin/django-admin.py because it was created before I discovered the joys of virtualenv.

Gorgerin