Getting ERROR: Error parsing url: undefined when trying to run migrations with Sequelize

Question

I'm creating a Node.js/Express.js app with Sequelize as my ORM. This is the tutorial I'm following. I'm having trouble migrating my tables onto my Azure SQL database.

My config/config.json file is as such:

{
    "development" : {
       "use_env_variable" : "DATABASE_URL",
       "dialect" : "mssql"
    }
}

My .env file is as such:

DATABASE_URL=<connection string here>

These are being called by this code in models/index.js:

'use strict';

var fs        = require('fs');
var path      = require('path');
var Sequelize = require('sequelize');
var basename  = path.basename(module.filename);
var env       = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development';
var config    = require(__dirname + '/../config/config.json')[env];
var db        = {};

if (config.use_env_variable) {
  var sequelize = new Sequelize(process.env[config.use_env_variable]);
} else {
  var sequelize = new Sequelize(config.database, config.username, config.password, config);
}

I have require('dotenv').config() in my main file app.js. My understanding was that the dotenv package exports all of my .env variables throughout my project.

When I try running node_modules/.bin/sequelize db:migrate in the terminal, I get

ERROR: Error parsing url: undefined

Why is it coming back as undefined?

Here is my file structure in case it helps.

Try saying require(path.join(__dirname, '../config/config.json'))? — JSilv
– JSilv, Commented Apr 23, 2018 at 19:12

AbhinavD · Accepted Answer · 2018-04-24 03:58:39Z

8

Where are you requiring your .env file? When you are running migration, this file would not be required and hence the error.

You should add require('dotenv').config(); in your config/config.js as your first line.

answered Apr 24, 2018 at 3:58

AbhinavD

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Ethan · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-01 21:58:35Z

5

I hope this helps someone, I had this resolved by exporting the DATABASE_URL on the terminal using: export DATABASE_URL=postgresql://[user[:password]@][netlocation][:port][/dbname]

As stated here: https://tutel.me/c/programming/questions/45929489/use_env_variable+returned+undefined+in+sequelize

answered Oct 1, 2018 at 21:58

Ethan

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Wes Guirra · Accepted Answer · 2020-09-17 09:27:12Z

5

It seem's that when you are running sequelize through cli it doesn't load your .env config as expected, I have the same issue and it can be resolved by creating a .sequelizerc in your project root folder with this content:

// .sequelizerc

require('dotenv').config(); // <- require this here

// ...Any aditional configuration for sequelize-cli like custom folders for models and migrations
const path = require('path');
module.exports = {
  'config': path.resolve('src', 'config', 'config.js'),
  'models-path': path.resolve('src', 'models'),
  'seeders-path': path.resolve('src', 'seeders'),
  'migrations-path': path.resolve('src', 'migrations')
};

The .sequelizerc file would work as a configuration not just to your sequelize but also to your sequelize-cli.

answered Sep 17, 2020 at 9:27

Wes Guirra

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2 Comments

J. Unkrass Over a year ago

this solution helped me a lot

yogithesymbian Over a year ago

i have same issue now, and my sequelizerc already look like that , then how to solve ? after deploying into heroku i got these problem

Andy Nguyen · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-14 09:37:10Z

2

I had this problem too and resolved it. In my case, it is about the .env file. You need to do 2 things. First:

require('dotenv').config();

to use variables in the .env file. Second, in the .env file, you must use the = to separate between key and value, like this:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:123456@localhost:5432/databasename

It took me half of a day to realize that I used the : in the .env file (not do this):

DATABASE_URL:postgres://postgres:123456@localhost:5432/databasename

EDIT: Just for more detail, you need to put require('dotenv').config(); in the top of .sequelizerc file.

edited Dec 14, 2020 at 9:37

answered Dec 14, 2020 at 7:49

Andy Nguyen

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Comments

Pang · Accepted Answer · 2021-01-30 06:50:29Z

2

I managed to resolve this error by installing the sequelize dependency:

yarn add sequelize

or

npm i sequelize

edited Jan 30, 2021 at 6:50

Pang

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answered Jan 30, 2021 at 6:03

lobug5

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