south.exceptions.NoMigrations error for Django South - django

Question

I am trying to add south to my project on Heroku. I followed the following steps.
heroku run easy_install South
Added 'south' in INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py
Then
heroku run ./manage.py syncdb
heroku run ./manage.py convert_to_south sheets
Traceback
Running `./manage.py convert_to_south sheets` attached to terminal... up, run.2005
Creating migrations directory at '/app/sheets/migrations'...
Creating __init__.py in '/app/sheets/migrations'...
+ Added model sheets.Sheets
+ Added model sheets.UserSheets
+ Added M2M table for users on sheets.UserSheets
+ Added model sheets.SheetScribble
+ Added model sheets.SheetScribbleComment
+ Added model sheets.Tasks
+ Added model sheets.TaskComment
Created 0001_initial.py. You can now apply this migration with: ./manage.py migrate sheets
- Soft matched migration 0001 to 0001_initial.
Running migrations for sheets:
- Nothing to migrate.
- Loading initial data for sheets.
Installed 0 object(s) from 0 fixture(s)
App 'sheets' converted. Note that South assumed the application's models matched the database
(i.e. you haven't changed it since last syncdb); if you have, you should delete the sheets/migrations
directory, revert models.py so it matches the database, and try again.
then when I try to convert my second app to south,
heroku run ./manage.py convert_to_south scribbler
I get this error
Running `./manage.py convert_to_south scribbler` attached to terminal... up, run.6046
Creating migrations directory at '/app/scribbler/migrations'...
Creating __init__.py in '/app/scribbler/migrations'...
+ Added model scribbler.ScribbleMedia
+ Added model scribbler.Scribble
+ Added model scribbler.Tag
+ Added M2M table for scribbles on scribbler.Tag
+ Added model scribbler.SharedScribble
+ Added M2M table for users_favored on scribbler.SharedScribble
+ Added model scribbler.ScribbleComment
+ Added model scribbler.Connections
+ Added unique constraint for ['following', 'followers'] on scribbler.Connections
+ Added model scribbler.UserProfile
+ Added model scribbler.Invitation
+ Added model scribbler.Notifications
Created 0001_initial.py. You can now apply this migration with: ./manage.py migrate scribbler
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "./manage.py", line 10, in <module>
execute_from_command_line(sys.argv)
File "/app/.heroku/venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 443, in execute_from_command_line
utility.execute()
File "/app/.heroku/venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 382, in execute
self.fetch_command(subcommand).run_from_argv(self.argv)
File "/app/.heroku/venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 196, in run_from_argv
self.execute(*args, **options.__dict__)
File "/app/.heroku/venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 232, in execute
output = self.handle(*args, **options)
File "/app/.heroku/venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/south/management/commands/convert_to_south.py", line 87, in handle
delete_ghosts=options.get("delete_ghosts", False),
File "/app/.heroku/venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 150, in call_command
return klass.execute(*args, **defaults)
File "/app/.heroku/venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 232, in execute
output = self.handle(*args, **options)
File "/app/.heroku/venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/south/management/commands/migrate.py", line 108, in handle
ignore_ghosts = ignore_ghosts,
File "/app/.heroku/venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/south/migration/__init__.py", line 193, in migrate_app
applied_all = check_migration_histories(applied_all, delete_ghosts, ignore_ghosts)
File "/app/.heroku/venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/south/migration/__init__.py", line 74, in check_migration_histories
m = h.get_migration()
File "/app/.heroku/venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/south/models.py", line 34, in get_migration
return self.get_migrations().migration(self.migration)
File "/app/.heroku/venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/south/models.py", line 31, in get_migrations
return Migrations(self.app_name)
File "/app/.heroku/venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/south/migration/base.py", line 61, in __call__
self.instances[app_label] = super(MigrationsMetaclass, self).__call__(app_label_to_app_module(app_label), **kwds)
File "/app/.heroku/venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/south/migration/base.py", line 89, in __init__
self.set_application(application, force_creation, verbose_creation)
File "/app/.heroku/venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/south/migration/base.py", line 161, in set_application
raise exceptions.NoMigrations(application)
south.exceptions.NoMigrations: Application '<module 'sheets' from '/app/sheets/__init__.py'>' has no migrations.
I am not sure what the problem is.

Answer 1

You shouldn't be running those commands ON heroku. You should be doing that on your local environment, pushing them to heroku, then running the migrate commands.
It has an "ephemeral filesystem" which probably cleared between those two commands. So south has a record of a 0001 migration, but it doesn't exist.
I'm not sure why it's being thrown during the "convert_to_south" command (some new south feature?), but that's my best guess.
Try doing it locally, committing the migration files, then proceeding to run the migrate commands on heroku.