rake test:prepare fails in Rails 4.0.8

I was testing my app (with rspec) when I noticed that rake test:prepare throws an odd **FATAL: database “postgres” does not exist **error. Stranger still, my tests run just fine regardless.

However, whenever I use rake **test:prepare --trace **(after using rake db:migrate) I get this error and receive a similar****error when attempting rake db:create RAILS_ENV=test and also **rake db:drop RAILS_ENV=test **as well.**Any idea what I may be overlooking?

Here is the error in question:

** Invoke test:prepare (first_time)
** Invoke db:test:prepare (first_time)
** Invoke environment (first_time)
** Execute environment
** Invoke db:load_config (first_time)
** Execute db:load_config
** Execute db:test:prepare
** Invoke db:test:load (first_time)
** Invoke db:test:purge (first_time)
** Invoke environment
** Invoke db:load_config
** Execute db:test:purge
rake aborted!

``

PG::Error: FATAL: database “postgres” does not exist

``

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:855:in `initialize’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:855:in `new’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:855:in `connect’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:556:in `initialize’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:41:in `new’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:41:in `postgresql_connection’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:440:in `new_connection’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:450:in `checkout_new_connection’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:421:in `acquire_connection’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:356:in `block in checkout’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.0.0-p481/lib/ruby/2.0.0/monitor.rb:211:in `mon_synchronize’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:355:in `checkout’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:265:in `block in connection’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.0.0-p481/lib/ruby/2.0.0/monitor.rb:211:in `mon_synchronize’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:264:in `connection’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:546:in `retrieve_connection’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/connection_handling.rb:79:in `retrieve_connection’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/connection_handling.rb:53:in `connection’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/tasks/postgresql_database_tasks.rb:8:in `connection’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/tasks/postgresql_database_tasks.rb:30:in `drop’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/tasks/postgresql_database_tasks.rb:43:in `purge’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/tasks/database_tasks.rb:137:in `purge’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/railties/databases.rake:365:in `block (3 levels) in <top (required)>’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:240:in `call’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:240:in `block in execute’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:235:in `each’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:235:in `execute’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:179:in `block in invoke_with_call_chain’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.0.0-p481/lib/ruby/2.0.0/monitor.rb:211:in `mon_synchronize’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:172:in `invoke_with_call_chain’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:201:in `block in invoke_prerequisites’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:199:in `each’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:199:in `invoke_prerequisites’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:178:in `block in invoke_with_call_chain’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.0.0-p481/lib/ruby/2.0.0/monitor.rb:211:in `mon_synchronize’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:172:in `invoke_with_call_chain’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:165:in `invoke’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/activerecord-4.0.8/lib/active_record/railties/databases.rake:371:in `block (3 levels) in <top (required)>’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:240:in `call’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:240:in `block in execute’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:235:in `each’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:235:in `execute’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:179:in `block in invoke_with_call_chain’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.0.0-p481/lib/ruby/2.0.0/monitor.rb:211:in `mon_synchronize’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:172:in `invoke_with_call_chain’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:201:in `block in invoke_prerequisites’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:199:in `each’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:199:in `invoke_prerequisites’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:178:in `block in invoke_with_call_chain’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.0.0-p481/lib/ruby/2.0.0/monitor.rb:211:in `mon_synchronize’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:172:in `invoke_with_call_chain’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/task.rb:165:in `invoke’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/application.rb:150:in `invoke_task’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/application.rb:106:in `block (2 levels) in top_level’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/application.rb:106:in `each’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/application.rb:106:in `block in top_level’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/application.rb:115:in `run_with_threads’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/application.rb:100:in `top_level’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/application.rb:78:in `block in run’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/application.rb:176:in `standard_exception_handling’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/lib/rake/application.rb:75:in `run’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/gems/rake-10.3.2/bin/rake:33:in `<top (required)>’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/bin/rake:23:in `load’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/bin/rake:23:in `’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/bin/ruby_executable_hooks:15:in `eval’

/Users/dalecooper/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p481@rails_4_0/bin/ruby_executable_hooks:15:in `’

``

Tasks: TOP => db:test:load => db:test:purge

``

Here is what my test environment looks like (according to my gemfile):

gem 'rails', '4.0.8'
gem 'pg', '0.15.1'

group :development, :test do
    gem 'rspec-rails', '2.13.1'
end

group :test do
    gem 'selenium-webdriver', '2.35.1'
    gem 'capybara', '2.1.0'
end

``

and here is what my **database.yml **file looks like :

development:
  adapter: postgresql
  endoding: unicode
  database: myapp_development
  pool: 5
  timeout: 5000
  hostname: localhost

test:
  adapter: postgresql
  endoding: unicode
  database: myapp_test
  pool: 5
  timeout: 5000
  hostname: localhost

production:
  adapter: postgresql
  database: myapp_production
  pool: 5
  timeout: 5000

``

First, the correct syntax to run the above command is:

bin/rake db:test:prepare (depending on your installation, you should run it as bundle exec rake db:test:prepare)

and rake test:prepare as you stated

You can also use:

rake db:setup

It will create the database, load the schema and initialize it with the seed.