Running rake db:drop db:create db:migrate on Heroku Cedar stack

Question

When I try to run:

heroku run rake db:drop db:create db:migrate

I get the error:

Running rake db:drop attached to terminal... up, run.5
Couldn't drop adsfsadfas : #<ActiveRecord::StatementInvalid: PGError: ERROR:  must be owner of database adsfsadfas
: DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS "adsfsadfas">

I am on the Heroku Cedar stack. Am I allowed to drop databases on Heroku?

Thanks!

John

Here is an up to date answer: http://stackoverflow.com/a/13347768/1417223 — Fellow Stranger, Aug 09 '13 at 20:52

score 52 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 03 '17 at 09:28

52

The rake db:reset task is not supported. Heroku apps do not have permission to drop and create databases. Use the heroku pg:reset command instead.

edited Jul 03 '17 at 09:28

Dorian

22,759
8
120
116

answered Nov 17 '11 at 05:13

Francisco Soto

10,277
2
37
46

4

yeah, you need to type `heroku pg:reset SHARED_DATABASE` then input your app name at the prompt when asked – stephenmurdoch Nov 17 '11 at 05:17
20

this has now changed to `heroku pg:reset DATABASE_URL --confirm nameofapp` - ymmv – stephenmurdoch Sep 13 '12 at 06:39
Note also with the (now deprecated) Heroku gem, `heroku pg:reset DATABASE_URL` will also delete your schema, despite `heroku help pg` docs indicating "Delete all data in the database". Though, in the OP's case that's what is wanted (`rake db:drop`). – Richard Michael Oct 25 '12 at 14:07
Joshua Schmid pointed out that you may need to also run: heroku run rake db:schema:load – jasonleonhard Sep 25 '15 at 21:19
`heroku pg:reset` then `heroku run rake db:migrate` (and optionally `db:fixtures:load` as that was for my staging environment) – Dorian Jul 03 '17 at 09:09

score 13 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 05 '15 at 08:59

Directly destructive commands (drop and create) are not permitted on heroku. But if you're ok with loosing all the data, you can reset the database with pg:reset.

heroku pg:reset DATABASE_URL

Every other change should be done with db:migrate. This assures consistency of the database state.

If your migrations don't run through the full stack anymore you can use db:schema:load. This loads the schema directly from schema.rb. But be aware that this can also be destructive if create_table uses the parameters force: true or force: :cascade.

heroku run rake db:schema:load

Running rake db:drop db:create db:migrate on Heroku Cedar stack

2 Answers2