Django 1.7 upgrade error: AppRegistryNotReady: Apps aren't loaded yet

Question

I am trying to upgrade a project from Django 1.6 to 1.7. I get the following error:

[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] mod_wsgi (pid=14523): Exception occurred processing WSGI script '/home/users1/k/kisvadim/domains/mathtasks.org/django.wsgi'.
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] Traceback (most recent call last): 
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/handlers/wsgi.py", line 187, in __call__
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] response = self.get_response(request)
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/handlers/base.py", line 199, in get_response
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] response = self.handle_uncaught_exception(request, resolver, sys.exc_info())
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/handlers/base.py", line 239, in handle_uncaught_exception
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] if resolver.urlconf_module is None:
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/urlresolvers.py", line 361, in urlconf_module
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] self._urlconf_module = import_module(self.urlconf_name)
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/usr/lib/python2.7/importlib/__init__.py", line 37, in import_module
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] __import__(name)
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/django/mathtasks/mathtasks/urls.py", line 11, in <module>
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] admin.autodiscover()
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/contrib/admin/__init__.py", line 23, in autodiscover
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] autodiscover_modules('admin', register_to=site)
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/utils/module_loading.py", line 67, in autodiscover_modules
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] for app_config in apps.get_app_configs():
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/apps/registry.py", line 137, in get_app_configs
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] self.check_apps_ready()
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/apps/registry.py", line 124, in check_apps_ready
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] raise AppRegistryNotReady("Apps aren't loaded yet.")
[Thu Oct 09 14:16:41 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] AppRegistryNotReady: Apps aren't loaded yet.

django.wsgi:

import os, sys
import django
virtual_env = os.path.expanduser('~/virtualenv/PythonEnv')
activate_this = os.path.join(virtual_env, 'bin/activate_this.py')
execfile(activate_this, dict(__file__=activate_this))
sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.expanduser('~'), 'django/mathtasks'))
os.environ['DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE'] = 'mathtasks.settings'
django.setup()
import django.core.handlers.wsgi
application = django.core.handlers.wsgi.WSGIHandler()

Any ideas what might be causing the error and how to fix it?

UPDATE1:

I replaced:

from django.contrib.auth.models import User

to:

from django.conf import settings
User = settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL

And I get the following error:

[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] mod_wsgi (pid=17128): Exception occurred processing WSGI script '/home/users1/k/kisvadim/domains/mathtasks.org/django.wsgi'. 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] Traceback (most recent call last): 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/handlers/wsgi.py", line 187, in __call__ 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] response = self.get_response(request) 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/handlers/base.py", line 199, in get_response 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] response = self.handle_uncaught_exception(request, resolver, sys.exc_info()) 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/handlers/base.py", line 239, in handle_uncaught_exception 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] if resolver.urlconf_module is None: 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/urlresolvers.py", line 361, in urlconf_module 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] self._urlconf_module = import_module(self.urlconf_name) 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/usr/lib/python2.7/importlib/__init__.py", line 37, in import_module 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] __import__(name) 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/django/mathtasks/mathtasks/urls.py", line 6, in <module> 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] from utils.views import SniptRegistrationView 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/django/mathtasks/utils/views.py", line 1, in <module> 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] from registration.backends.default.views import RegistrationView 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/django/mathtasks/registration/backends/default/views.py", line 7, in <module> 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] from registration.views import ActivationView as BaseActivationView 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/django/mathtasks/registration/views.py", line 11, in <module> 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] from registration.forms import RegistrationForm 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/django/mathtasks/registration/forms.py", line 159, in <module> 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] class UserProfileForm(forms.ModelForm): 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/forms/models.py", line 284, in __new__ 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] opts.help_texts, opts.error_messages) 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/forms/models.py", line 184, in fields_for_model 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] opts = model._meta 
[Thu Oct 09 15:06:15 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute '_meta'

UPDATE 2:

I replaced:

from django.contrib.auth.models import User

to:

from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
User = get_user_model()

and:

models.ForeignKey(settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL)

And I get the following error:

[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] No handlers could be found for logger "django.request" 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] mod_wsgi (pid=31421): Exception occurred processing WSGI script '/home/users1/k/kisvadim/domains/mathtasks.org/django.wsgi'. 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] Traceback (most recent call last): 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/handlers/wsgi.py", line 187, in __call__ 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] response = self.get_response(request) 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/handlers/base.py", line 199, in get_response 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] response = self.handle_uncaught_exception(request, resolver, sys.exc_info()) 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/handlers/base.py", line 239, in handle_uncaught_exception 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] if resolver.urlconf_module is None: 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/urlresolvers.py", line 361, in urlconf_module 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] self._urlconf_module = import_module(self.urlconf_name) 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/usr/lib/python2.7/importlib/__init__.py", line 37, in import_module 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] __import__(name) 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/django/mathtasks/mathtasks/urls.py", line 6, in <module> 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] from utils.views import SniptRegistrationView 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/django/mathtasks/utils/views.py", line 1, in <module> 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] from registration.backends.default.views import RegistrationView 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/django/mathtasks/registration/backends/default/views.py", line 6, in <module> 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] from registration.models import RegistrationProfile 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/django/mathtasks/registration/models.py", line 9, in <module> 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] User = get_user_model() 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/contrib/auth/__init__.py", line 136, in get_user_model 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] return django_apps.get_model(settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL) 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/apps/registry.py", line 199, in get_model 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] self.check_models_ready() 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] File "/home/users1/k/kisvadim/virtualenv/PythonEnv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/apps/registry.py", line 131, in check_models_ready 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] raise AppRegistryNotReady("Models aren't loaded yet.") 
[Thu Oct 09 16:10:52 2014] [error] [client 95.79.172.156] AppRegistryNotReady: Models aren't loaded yet.

Answer 1

see http://django.readthedocs.org/en/latest/releases/1.7.html#standalone-scripts

import django
django.setup()

• sky: The get_wsgi_application() solution did not work as my app was already configured as such. but calling django.setup() helped.
• Frankline: This worked out for me. Got the initial error after migrating to Django 1.9.
• teewuane: Where exactly do you put this? I do not have any standalone scripts that I know of.

Answer 2

I had a similar (the same?) isssue when upgrading to Django 1.7. In may case, it was enough to update the wsgi file: replace

import django.core.handlers.wsgi
application = django.core.handlers.wsgi.WSGIHandler()

with

from django.core.wsgi import get_wsgi_application
application = get_wsgi_application()

• Logic1: Took me hours to stumble upon this. I was also getting { No handlers could be found for logger "django.request" } and this solved my issue immediately. Thanks!!
• benzkji: I had this only on production, with gunicorn. Works like a charm, now!
• SwCharlie: Thanks! Solved problem where I could only run server via: ./manage.py runserver, as opposed to running via gunicorn after Django 1.5 to 1.11 upgrade

Answer 3

I was looking through all these thread to get celery working on windows (with this particular error message) and I just want to emphasize putting

import django
django.setup()

at the top of your tasks.py file, this is finally what got it working for me.

Answer 4

INSTALLED_APPS Had an missing comma in the array, that caused the error for me.

Answer 5

I got this error when I tried to import models from the app's __init__.py, which is not possible.

• Abhishek J: Not just models, because I had tried to import urls and faced the same issue
• Diego Vinícius: You declaring your models at init? weird... you should declare at models... and maybe, just maybe load some models at init if you package must be loaded first.
• Mark: I'm not recommending it, I'm saying it causes an error

Answer 6

In configuration uwsgi application file ( like uwsgi.ini ) replace:

module = django.core.handlers.wsgi:WSGIHandler()

on

module=django.core.wsgi:get_wsgi_application()

Answer 7

settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL is a string (that's why you get AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute '_meta' - it expects a Model) and should be used only on ForeignKey declarations:

class Article(models.Model):
 author = models.ForeignKey(settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL)

If you want to refer to your user model somewhere else you need to use get_user_model:

from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
UserModel = get_user_model()

Answer 8

I got this error when moving to a different PC and forgetting to install psycopg2 in my venv and when using 'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql', in my settings.

Perhaps it can be useful to someone else.

Answer 9

In my case SEcret_key was commented by mistake in settings.py

Answer 10

For those (like me) who are getting this error from shell:

Check that you are executing Django's shell and not Python's shell.

python manage.py shell

Answer 11

In my case, I forgot to add one of my sub-applications inside INSTALLED_APPS.

INSTALLED_APPS = [
 'django.contrib.admin',
 'django.contrib.auth',
 'django.contrib.contenttypes',
 'django.contrib.sessions',
 'django.contrib.messages',
 'django.contrib.staticfiles',
 'basketball',
 'basketball.area',
 'basketball.game',
 'basketball.player',
]

Answer 12

In my case the error was caused when I upgraded celery to 4.x and I had this in my INSTALLED_APPS: kombu.transport.django. Removing that resolved the issue. Seems it is mostly caused by some incorrect load of django itself.

Answer 13

Just reinstall Django using the command line, not in Pycharm helped to me.