Heroku on Rails - Invalid DATABASE_URL

Question

EDIT: The general advice is to use CEDAR stack.

Pretty new to RoR, Gems, Heroku and Git. Following tutorial: http://ruby.railstutorial.org/book/ruby-on-rails-tutorial

Works smoothly on localhost, when deployed to Heroku got ConnectionNotEstablished error, that was solved here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7542745/heroku-error-activerecordconnectionnotestablished (BTW: following same tutorial) After changing production database to PostgreSQL (gem 'pg') it generates another error:

Visting live site

An error occurred in the application and your page could not be served. Please try again in a few moments.

If you are the application owner, check your logs for details.

Tried this - Heroku app crashed, receiving "Invalid DATABASE URL" when attempting heroku rake db:migrate - heroku rake db:migrate

rake aborted!
Invalid DATABASE_URL

Tasks: TOP => db:migrate => db:load_config
(See full trace by running task with --trace)

heroku console

Internal server error

gemfile

source 'http://rubygems.org'

gem 'rails', '3.1.1'

group :development do
  gem 'rspec-rails', '2.6.1'
  gem 'annotate', '~> 2.4.1.beta' 
  gem 'sqlite3'
end

group :test do
  gem 'rspec-rails', '2.6.1'
  gem 'webrat', '0.7.1'
  gem 'sqlite3'
end

group :production do
    gem 'pg'
end

group :assets do
  gem 'sass-rails',   '~> 3.1.4'
  gem 'coffee-rails', '~> 3.1.1'
  gem 'uglifier', '>= 1.0.3'
end

heroku logs

9:02+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /usr/ruby1.9.2/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/thin-1.2.6/lib/thin/runner.rb:143:in `run!'
9:02+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /usr/ruby1.9.2/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/thin-1.2.6/bin/thin:6:in `<top (required)>'
9:02+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /usr/ruby1.9.2/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/thin-1.2.6/lib/thin/runner.rb:177:in `run_command'
9:02+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /home/heroku_rack/heroku.ru:18:in `block (2 levels) in <main>'
9:02+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/rack-1.3.6/lib/rack/builder.rb:51:in `initialize'
9:02+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /usr/ruby1.9.2/bin/thin:19:in `<main>'
9:02+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /usr/ruby1.9.2/bin/thin:19:in `load'
9:03+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from starting to crashed
9:04+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Process exited
1:58+00:00 heroku[slugc]: Slug compilation started
3:09+00:00 heroku[api]: Deploy 3dea426 by mstefanow@gmail.com
3:09+00:00 heroku[api]: Release v7 created by mstefanow@gmail.com
3:09+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from crashed to created
3:09+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from created to starting
3:10+00:00 heroku[slugc]: Slug compilation finished
3:12+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Starting process with command `thin -p 44881 -e production -R /home/heroku_rack/heroku.ru start`
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]: (erb):9:in `rescue in <main>': Invalid DATABASE_URL (RuntimeError)
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from (erb):6:in `<main>'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /usr/ruby1.9.2/lib/ruby/1.9.1/erb.rb:753:in `eval'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /usr/ruby1.9.2/lib/ruby/1.9.1/erb.rb:753:in `result'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/railties-3.1.1/lib/rails/application/configuration.rb:106:in `database_configuration'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/lazy_load_hooks.rb:36:in `instance_eval'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activerecord-3.1.1/lib/active_record/railtie.rb:68:in `block (2 levels) in <class:Railtie>'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/lazy_load_hooks.rb:36:in `execute_hook'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/lazy_load_hooks.rb:43:in `block in run_load_hooks'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/lazy_load_hooks.rb:42:in `each'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/lazy_load_hooks.rb:42:in `run_load_hooks'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activerecord-3.1.1/lib/active_record/base.rb:2190:in `<top (required)>'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `require'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `block in require'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:225:in `load_dependency'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `require'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:489:in `load_missing_constant'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/app/models/user.rb:12:in `<top (required)>'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:179:in `each'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:179:in `const_missing'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/inflector/methods.rb:124:in `block in constantize'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/inflector/methods.rb:123:in `each'
3:15+00:00 a
 from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/inflector/methods.rb:123:in `constantize'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/core_ext/string/inflections.rb:43:in `constantize'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:348:in `require_or_load'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:181:in `block in const_missing'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/actionpack-3.1.1/lib/action_controller/metal/params_wrapper.rb:148:in `_default_wrap_model'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/actionpack-3.1.1/lib/action_controller/metal/params_wrapper.rb:167:in `_set_wrapper_defaults'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/actionpack-3.1.1/lib/action_controller/metal/params_wrapper.rb:128:in `inherited'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/actionpack-3.1.1/lib/abstract_controller/railties/routes_helpers.rb:7:in `block (2 levels) in wi

3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/actionpack-3.1.1/lib/action_controller/railties/paths.rb:7:in `block (2 levels) in with'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/app/controllers/users_controller.rb:1:in `<top (required)>'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `block in require'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:225:in `load_dependency'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `require'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `require'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:348:in `require_or_load'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:302:in `depend_on'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/activesupport-3.1.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:214:in `require_dependency'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/railties-3.1.1/lib/rails/engine.rb:417:in `block (2 levels) in eager_load!'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/railties-3.1.1/lib/rails/engine.rb:416:in `each'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/railties-3.1.1/lib/rails/engine.rb:416:in `block in eager_load!'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/railties-3.1.1/lib/rails/engine.rb:414:in `each'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/railties-3.1.1/lib/rails/engine.rb:414:in `eager_load!'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/railties-3.1.1/lib/rails/application/finisher.rb:51:in `block in <module:Finisher>'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/railties-3.1.1/lib/rails/initializable.rb:30:in `instance_exec'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/railties-3.1.1/lib/rails/initializable.rb:30:in `run'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/railties-3.1.1/lib/rails/initializable.rb:55:in `block in run_initializers'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/railties-3.1.1/lib/rails/initializable.rb:54:in `each'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/railties-3.1.1/lib/rails/initializable.rb:54:in `run_initializers'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/railties-3.1.1/lib/rails/application.rb:96:in `initialize!'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/config/environment.rb:5:in `<top (required)>'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from <internal:lib/rubygems/custom_require>:29:in `require'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from <internal:lib/rubygems/custom_require>:29:in `require'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from config.ru:3:in `block (3 levels) in <main>'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /home/heroku_rack/heroku.ru:23:in `eval'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /home/heroku_rack/heroku.ru:23:in `block (3 levels) in <main>'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/railties-3.1.1/lib/rails/railtie/configurable.rb:30:in `method_missing'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/rack-1.3.6/lib/rack/builder.rb:120:in `new'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/rack-1.3.6/lib/rack/builder.rb:120:in `map'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /home/heroku_rack/heroku.ru:18:in `block (2 levels) in <main>'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/rack-1.3.6/lib/rack/builder.rb:51:in `instance_eval'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/rack-1.3.6/lib/rack/builder.rb:51:in `initialize'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /home/heroku_rack/heroku.ru:11:in `new'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/rack-1.3.6/lib/rack/builder.rb:51:in `instance_eval'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/rack-1.3.6/lib/rack/builder.rb:51:in `initialize'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /home/heroku_rack/heroku.ru:11:in `block in <main>'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/rack-1.3.6/lib/rack/builder.rb:51:in `instance_eval'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /app/.bundle/gems/ruby/1.9.1/gems/rack-1.3.6/lib/rack/builder.rb:51:in `initialize'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /home/heroku_rack/heroku.ru:1:in `new'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /home/heroku_rack/heroku.ru:1:in `<main>'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /usr/ruby1.9.2/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/thin-1.2.6/lib/rack/adapter/loader.rb:36:in `eval'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /usr/ruby1.9.2/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/thin-1.2.6/lib/rack/adapter/loader.rb:36:in `load'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /usr/ruby1.9.2/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/thin-1.2.6/lib/thin/controllers/controller.rb:175:in `load_rackup_config'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /usr/ruby1.9.2/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/thin-1.2.6/lib/thin/controllers/controller.rb:65:in `start'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /usr/ruby1.9.2/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/thin-1.2.6/lib/thin/runner.rb:143:in `run!'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /usr/ruby1.9.2/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/thin-1.2.6/bin/thin:6:in `<top (required)>'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /usr/ruby1.9.2/bin/thin:19:in `load'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /usr/ruby1.9.2/bin/thin:19:in `<main>'
3:15+00:00 app[web.1]:   from /usr/ruby1.9.2/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/thin-1.2.6/lib/thin/runner.rb:177:in `run_command'
3:16+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from starting to crashed
3:17+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Process exited
5:55+00:00 heroku[router]: Error H10 (App crashed) -> GET high-wind-7473.heroku.com/pages/home dyno= queue= wait= service= status=503 bytes=
5:57+00:00 heroku[router]: Error H10 (App crashed) -> GET high-wind-7473.heroku.com/pages/home dyno= queue= wait= service= status=503 bytes=

Kind of stuck, please help (point in right direction)

Of course

bundle install
git add .
git commit -m "another heroku fix"
git push
git push heroku

score 18 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 18 '14 at 15:26

You need to set the DATABASE_URL environment variable with the path to your online postgres db.

Try running heroku pg. If the output is "myapp has no heroku-postgresql databases." then you need to add the PostgreSQL add-on first. It will create a postgres db for you on Amazon AWS.

heroku addons:add heroku-postgresql:hobby-basic

(hobby-basic is the free plan)

To find the URL for your new database, run

heroku config

You should see a variable that starts with HEROKU_POSTGRESQL. Copy its value (it should start with postgres:// and use it to set the DATABASE_URL

heroku config:set DATABASE_URL=postgres://your-db-url

ndp · Answer 2 · 2012-08-18T04:03:05.910

3

I had exactly the same problem. It turned out I didn't have a database associated with the app. You will see this with the simple heroku config command-- you should see some database URLs there pointing to Amazon. eg:

$ h config
DATABASE_URL        => postgres://fakedexgwa:fakepassword@ec2-33-44-55-77.compute-1.amazonaws.com/fakedexgwa

Anyway, I fixed this by creating a brand new app and deploying to it. I tried fiddling around in the config screens, but couldn't fix the problem.

I'm not sure if this is the same cause as yours: I created a simple Ruby app, deployed it, and then created a Rails app. I hadn't gotten to any database yet, and I'm wondering if Heroku somehow decided on the first deployment that I didn't need a database.

edited Aug 18 '12 at 04:03

answered Apr 14 '12 at 03:31

ndp

21,546
5
36
52

Hey call me crazy, but you might want to change your actual db password or edit this post, so your database credentials aren't broadcast to the world? – culix Aug 14 '12 at 08:05
Hey crazy! I changed the post so it's more obviously fake data... fyi I didn't post my real credentials originally. – ndp Aug 18 '12 at 04:07
Okay, phew! Good to hear! Just trying to help. – culix Aug 18 '12 at 06:21

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 15 '14 at 19:40

Another way of setting DATABASE_URL in the config file is to run the command

heroku pg:promote HEROKU_POSTGRESQL_COLOR_URL

The .._COLOR_URL would be taken from running heroku config as suggested by rodrei

See the heroku documentation: https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/heroku-postgresql#establish-primary-db

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 28 '11 at 19:10

First thing I'd start with is moving your application to the Cedar Stack - it supports Rails 3.1 out of the box without having to do any messing around.

When you create your app via heroku create do it as

heroku create --stack cedar

and then repush to this stack - you may find your problems will all vanish. The thing to remember is to add 'run' into your commands, heroku run console, heroku run rake db:migrate etc.

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 25 '14 at 19:33

Please read this article:

ClearDB MySQL Database

Commands:

heroku config

or if you use for one rails project multiple heroku projects

heroku config --app your_app_name

Add Database URL :

heroku config:set DATABASE_URL='mysql://adffdadf2341:adf4234@us-cdbr-east.cleardb.com/heroku_db?reconnect=true'

If you use mysql2 gem must to replace mysql with mysql2

heroku config:set DATABASE_URL='mysql2://adffdadf2341:adf4234@us-cdbr-east.cleardb.com/heroku_db?reconnect=true'

I hope those configurations can be used for PostgreSQL, NoSQL database or another database.

score -1 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 28 '11 at 20:22

-1

Can you please type heroku config --long --(app name). Please post results, especially DATABASE_URL.

Need more info. Also, definitely ensure you're on the cedar stack as mentioned above.

answered Dec 28 '11 at 20:22

Gabriel Rivera

17
4

BUNDLE_WITHOUT => development:test LANG => en_US.UTF-8 RACK_ENV => production Migrating to cedar, as suggested in other answer as well. – Mars Robertson Dec 28 '11 at 21:03
Migrating to cedar isn't that trivial, some issues with postgre/sqlite Next time will use **--database=postgresql** from the very beginning. Anyway thanks for help, for now I'll complete tutorial without deploying... – Mars Robertson Dec 28 '11 at 21:45
That is missing the Database URL.... do you have the shared database add on installed? It should spit out the Database URL and below the Shared database URL. If there is a problem, it sounds like it's there. There should be at least a default value. – Gabriel Rivera Dec 28 '11 at 22:23

Heroku on Rails - Invalid DATABASE_URL

Kind of stuck, please help (point in right direction)

6 Answers6

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