sqlite3.OperationalError: unable to open database file

I'm a beginner, too, and had a similar problem. The .db file will created for you when you run python manage.py syncdb. From your terminal window, just be sure that you're located in the same folder as the manage.py file in your directory structure. From this location, I was able to successfully create the necessary tables. The settings.py file will have already been created when you initially set the project up.


DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3', # Add 'postgresql_psycopg2', 'mysql', 'sqlite3' or 'oracle'.
        'NAME': 'mydata.db',                      # Or path to database file if using sqlite3.
        'USER': '',                      # Not used with sqlite3.
        'PASSWORD': '',                  # Not used with sqlite3.
        'HOST': '',                      # Set to empty string for localhost. Not used with sqlite3.
        'PORT': '',                      # Set to empty string for default. Not used with sqlite3.
    }
}

Database will be created once you do python manage.py syncdb

Finally to check if everything is fine

from django.db import connection
cursor = connection.cursor()

If nothing happens, then your database is configured properly. Otherwise, check the error message for clues about what's wrong.