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Test Django apps with SQL Server

This article explains how to configure Django's test framework to work with SQL Server databases using the mssql-django backend.

How Django testing works with SQL Server

When you run python manage.py test, Django creates a separate test database, runs all tests, and then destroys the test database. The test database name defaults to test_ followed by your configured database name.

Configure test database settings

Customize the test database using the TEST dictionary in your database configuration:

DATABASES = {
    "default": {
        "ENGINE": "mssql",
        "NAME": "<your-database>",
        "USER": "<your-username>",
        "PASSWORD": "<your-password>",
        "HOST": "<your-server>",
        "PORT": "1433",
        "OPTIONS": {
            "driver": "ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server",
        },
        "TEST": {
            "NAME": "test_mydb",
            "COLLATION": "SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS",
        },
    },
}

TEST settings

Setting Description
NAME Name of the test database. Default: "test_" + NAME.
COLLATION Collation for the test database. Default: instance default collation.
DEPENDENCIES Creation-order dependencies when using multiple databases.
MIRROR Alias of a database that this test database should mirror.

Run tests

Run the full test suite:

python manage.py test

Run tests for a specific app:

python manage.py test myapp

Run a specific test class or method:

python manage.py test myapp.tests.ProductTestCase.test_create_product

Keep the test database

Use --keepdb to preserve the test database between test runs. This approach speeds up repeated test runs by skipping database creation and destruction:

python manage.py test --keepdb

Note

The --keepdb flag is required when using managed identity authentication (ActiveDirectoryMsi), because the test runner can't create databases with that authentication method.

Transaction isolation in tests

Django's TestCase class wraps each test in a transaction and rolls it back after the test completes. This behavior provides test isolation without creating and destroying tables for each test.

For tests that need to commit transactions (for example, to test transaction-related behavior), use TransactionTestCase:

from django.test import TransactionTestCase
from myapp.models import Product

class ProductTransactionTest(TransactionTestCase):
    def test_atomic_operation(self):
        # This test commits to the database
        Product.objects.create(name="Widget", price=9.99)
        self.assertEqual(Product.objects.count(), 1)

Tip

Use TestCase (not TransactionTestCase) whenever possible. TestCase is faster because it uses transaction rollback instead of truncating tables.

Test with multiple databases

If your project uses multiple databases, configure test dependencies:

DATABASES = {
    "default": {
        "ENGINE": "mssql",
        "NAME": "<primary-database>",
        "USER": "<your-username>",
        "PASSWORD": "<your-password>",
        "HOST": "<your-server>",
        "PORT": "1433",
        "OPTIONS": {
            "driver": "ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server",
        },
        "TEST": {
            "NAME": "test_primary",
        },
    },
    "reporting": {
        "ENGINE": "mssql",
        "NAME": "<reporting-database>",
        "USER": "<your-username>",
        "PASSWORD": "<your-password>",
        "HOST": "<your-server>",
        "PORT": "1433",
        "OPTIONS": {
            "driver": "ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server",
        },
        "TEST": {
            "NAME": "test_reporting",
            "DEPENDENCIES": ["default"],
        },
    },
}

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