Download & Run a Django Site from PythonAnywhere on Local Server

Posted: September 08, 2024 | Updated: September 08, 2024

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How to download a project that is already running on PythonAnywhere to your local computer

First, log in to your PythonAnywhere account and go to the 'Consoles' tab. Either open an already running bash console or start a new bash console.

First, find the working directory using the following command.

pwd

Then navigate to the project directory and type the following command to activate the virtual environment.

workon venv

Note: Here, venv is the name of the virtual environment.

Then compress and download the Django project file from PythonAnywhere using the following command

zip -r myproject_backup.zip /home/yourusername/myproject

Note: Change the directory name to match your project directory location.

The zip file will be created in the project directory. Download the file and extract it on your computer.

How to download a database from PythonAnywhere to your local computer

Now you need to download the MySQL or PostgreSQL database from your PythonAnywhere account to your local computer.

For MySQL Database:

Use the following command to download the MySQL database from PythonAnywhere.

mysqldump -u yourusername -h yourusername.mysql.pythonanywhere-services.com --set-gtid-purged=OFF --no-tablespaces 'yourusername$dbname'  > db-backup.sql

Note: Change the MySQL username, hostname, and database name to match your project’s database.

It will generate a backup file named 'db-backup.sql' in your project directory. Download the file to your computer.

How to run a Django site downloaded from PythonAnywhere on your local computer

Install XAMP and start "Apache" and "MySQL".

Then open phpMyAdmin and create an empty database.

Import the SQL file you downloaded from PythonAnywhere.

Then add the localhost database credentials to the settings.py file in your Django project.


DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.mysql',
        'NAME': 'database_name',
        'USER': 'daabase_username',
        'PASSWORD': 'database_user_password',
        'HOST': '127.0.0.1',
        'PORT': '3306',
    }
}

That's all.

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