SQL_ALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI ignored from Apache mod_wsgi

[laranzu]

Version: 0.18.5

Platform: Ubuntu 16.04 Apache 2.4

(Probably related to #3223)

I have superset pip installed into a virtualenv living at /usr/local/superset. My superset_config.py file has

SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = 'sqlite:////usr/local/superset/superset.db'

For this test I'm using AUTH_TYPE = AUTH_DB and have created an admin user with fabmanager.

Superset is being run from Apache via mod_wsgi. However it is ignoring the superset_config.py file and looking for /var/www/.superset/superset.db. If it can't find it, it creates a new empty database. Which makes it impossible to login.

[mistercrunch]

You need to have a module named superset_config in your PYTHONPATH, meaning if yo fire up an interpreter and import superset_config it should work.

In production at Airbnb we drop that file (superset_config.py) into a specific folder, and run export PYTHONPATH=~/thatfolder.

As you fire up your web server you should see something like this:

[laranzu]

I do have a superset_config.py, it's in my PYTHONPATH. I know superset_config.py is being loaded when I do superset runserver.
But that's not the issue, I need it to work when run from Apache via mod_wsgi.
(And yes my virtualenv is being activated from Apache, because otherwise nothing would work at all.)

[mistercrunch]

But is it in the Apache user's PYTHONPATH env?

[xrmx]

@laranzu if you really need to use apache httpd you can use apache as http proxy for gunicorn, it may help making things easier to deploy for you.

[laranzu]

My definition of "making things easier" would not be adding yet another layer of software (gunicorn) between Apache and Superset. Apache and WSGI have been around for many years because they work really well. I suggest that being able to deploy Superset "out of the box" in such systems is worth the effort.

Hacked around this issue for now.

[xrmx]

My point is there's no issue to be worked around, it's just you are not passing the python path to httpd. Please open a PR to the doc with the proper httpd configuration to help other users with the same issue.