Psycopg2.operationalerror: could not translate host name “postgres” to address: temporary failure in name resolution

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The psycopg2.OperationalError occurs when the psycopg2 library is unable to translate the host name “postgres” to an IP address due to a temporary failure in name resolution. This error commonly occurs when the host name is not recognized or the DNS (Domain Name System) resolution fails.

To resolve this issue, you can try the following steps:

  1. Check the host name: Ensure that the host name “postgres” is correct and matches the actual hostname or IP address of the PostgreSQL database server you are trying to connect to.
  2. Verify network connectivity: Ensure that your computer or server has a working network connection and can reach the PostgreSQL server. You can try pinging the server or accessing it via other tools or services to confirm the network connectivity.
  3. Check DNS resolution: If you are using a host name instead of an IP address, make sure that the DNS resolution is working correctly. You can test this by pinging the host name or using the “nslookup” or “dig” command to check if the host name resolves to the correct IP address.
  4. Use IP address instead of host name: If you are experiencing consistent DNS resolution issues, consider using the IP address of the PostgreSQL server instead of the host name to establish the database connection.

Here’s an example of how you can modify your connection code to use the IP address instead of the host name in Python with psycopg2: 

    
      import psycopg2

      try:
          # Replace "host=postgres" with "host="
          conn = psycopg2.connect(host="", 
                                  port=,
                                  dbname="", 
                                  user="", 
                                  password="")
          # Perform your database operations here

          conn.close()
      except psycopg2.OperationalError as e:
          print("Connection Error: ", e)

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