Django: Run a script right after runserver

Question

Context:

I have a table on the database that uses values from an external database. This external database updates its values periodically.

Problem:

In order to update my database everytime i start the server, I want to run a script right after the runserver.

Potential Solution:

I have seen that it is possible to run a script from a certain app, which is something I'm interested in. This is achievable by using the django-extensions:

https://django-extensions.readthedocs.io/en/latest/runscript.html

However, this script only runs with the following command:

python manage.py runscript your_script

Is there any other way to run a script from an app and execute it right after the runserver command? I am open to suggestions!

Thanks in advance

Update

Thanks to @Raydel Miranda for the remarks, I feel i left some information behind.

My goal is, once I start the server I'm planning to open a socket to maintain my database updated.

Answer 1

You can execute the code in the top-level urls.py. That module is imported and executed once.

urls.py

from django.confs.urls.defaults import *
from your_script import one_time_startup_function

urlpatterns = ...

one_time_startup_function()

Answer 2

I would recommend to use something like this, lets say you have the script like this:

# abc.py

from your_app.models import do_something

do_something()

Now you can run this script right after runserver(or any other way you are running the django application) like this:

python manage.py runserver & python manage.py shell < abc.py

FYI, it will only work if you have bash in your terminal (like in ie Linux, MacOs).

Update

After reading you problem carefully, I think running a script after runserver might not be the best solution. As you said:

This external database updates its values periodically.

So, I think you need some sort of perodic task to do this update. You can use cronjob or you can use Celery for this.