django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: Could not find the GDAL library . Try setting GDAL_LIBRARY_PATH in your settings. Windows 10-64 bit py39

Question

When running paver setup attempting to configure Geonode (Windows 10-64bit, Python 39), I get a raise of django being improperly configured. The computer suggests that if I have installed GDAL successfully then I should try setting GDAL_LIBRARY_PATH in my settings. I have successfully installed gdal via pip install GDAL-3.3.1-cp39-cp39-win_amd64.whl.

The settings for the geonode project are as follows (C:\Users\amell\Documents\geonode\geonode):

if os.name == 'nt':
   import platform
   OSGEO4W = r"C:\OSGeo4W"
   if '64' in platform.architecture()[0]:
       OSGEO4W += "64"
   assert os.path.isdir(OSGEO4W), "Directory does not exist: " + OSGEO4W
   os.environ['OSGEO4W_ROOT'] = OSGEO4W
   os.environ['GDAL_DATA'] = OSGEO4W + r"\share\gdal"
   os.environ['PROJ_LIB'] = OSGEO4W + r"\share\proj"
   os.environ['PATH'] = OSGEO4W + r"\bin;" + os.environ['PATH']

I then added the below code to the above and still get the same issue:

GDAL_LIBRARY_PATH = r'C:\OSGeo4W64\bin\gdal301.dll'

I have in addition checked the lib names to see if the GDAL version I installed (331) is listed (C:\Users\amell\Documents\geonode_env\Lib\site-packages\django\contrib\gis\gdal\libgdal). Strangely, the .dll in C:\OSGeo4W64\bin is 301 and not 331 (others suggested renaming this which failed), though I installed 331 via pip using the .whl file. I am currently not sure what the problem is, I tried possible solutions suggested by those with the same issue and they do not seem to work for my case. Perhaps I am missing something.

Answer 1

I have found the following to work for Windows:

Run Python to check if your Python is 32 or 64 bit.
Install corresponding OSGeo4W (32 or 64 bit) into C:\OSGeo4W or C:\OSGeo4W64:
Note: Select Express Web-GIS Install and click next.
In the ‘Select Packages’ list, ensure that GDAL is selected; MapServer and Apache are also enabled by default, may be unchecked safely.
Make sure the following is included in your settings.py:

import os
if os.name == 'nt':
    import platform
    OSGEO4W = r"C:\OSGeo4W"
    if '64' in platform.architecture()[0]:
        OSGEO4W += "64"
    assert os.path.isdir(OSGEO4W), "Directory does not exist: " + OSGEO4W
    os.environ['OSGEO4W_ROOT'] = OSGEO4W
    os.environ['GDAL_DATA'] = OSGEO4W + r"\share\gdal"
    os.environ['PROJ_LIB'] = OSGEO4W + r"\share\proj"
    os.environ['PATH'] = OSGEO4W + r"\bin;" + os.environ['PATH']

Run python manage.py check to verify geodjango is working correctly.