Zappa: when slim_handler is used MySQLdb cannot be found by Django

this issue is similar to #755 when using the zappa_settings.json configuration to turn on “use_precompiled_packages”:true and then turning on “slim_handler”: true I get error below:

1491418915817] Error loading MySQLdb module: libmysqlclient.so.18: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory: ImproperlyConfigured Traceback (most recent call last): File "/var/task/handler.py", line 508, in lambda_handler return LambdaHandler.lambda_handler(event, context) File "/var/task/handler.py", line 239, in lambda_handler handler = cls() File "/var/task/handler.py", line 142, in __init__ wsgi_app_function = get_django_wsgi(self.settings.DJANGO_SETTINGS) File "/var/task/django_zappa_app.py", line 20, in get_django_wsgi return get_wsgi_application() File "/private/var/folders/7c/lt6hvzr97z919lwy5yxyfs7w0000gn/T/pip-build-YiIZfn/django/django/core/wsgi.py", line 14, in get_wsgi_application File "/tmp/dailyfantasyser/django/__init__.py", line 18, in setup apps.populate(settings.INSTALLED_APPS) File "/tmp/dailyfantasyser/django/apps/registry.py", line 108, in populate app_config.import_models(all_models) File "/tmp/dailyfantasyser/django/apps/config.py", line 198, in import_models self.models_module = import_module(models_module_name) File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/importlib/__init__.py", line 37, in import_module __import__(name) File "/private/var/folders/7c/lt6hvzr97z919lwy5yxyfs7w0000gn/T/pip-build-YiIZfn/django/django/contrib/auth/models.py", line 41, in <module> File "/private/var/folders/7c/lt6hvzr97z919lwy5yxyfs7w0000gn/T/pip-build-YiIZfn/django/django/db/models/base.py", line 139, in __new__ File "/private/var/folders/7c/lt6hvzr97z919lwy5yxyfs7w0000gn/T/pip-build-YiIZfn/django/django/db/models/base.py", line 324, in add_to_class File "/private/var/folders/7c/lt6hvzr97z919lwy5yxyfs7w0000gn/T/pip-build-YiIZfn/django/django/db/models/options.py", line 250, in contribute_to_class File "/private/var/folders/7c/lt6hvzr97z919lwy5yxyfs7w0000gn/T/pip-build-YiIZfn/django/django/db/__init__.py", line 36, in __getattr__ File "/private/var/folders/7c/lt6hvzr97z919lwy5yxyfs7w0000gn/T/pip-build-YiIZfn/django/django/db/utils.py", line 240, in __getitem__ File "/private/var/folders/7c/lt6hvzr97z919lwy5yxyfs7w0000gn/T/pip-build-YiIZfn/django/django/db/utils.py", line 111, in load_backend File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/importlib/__init__.py", line 37, in import_module __import__(name) File "/private/var/folders/7c/lt6hvzr97z919lwy5yxyfs7w0000gn/T/pip-build-YiIZfn/django/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py", line 27, in <module> ImproperlyConfigured: Error loading MySQLdb module: libmysqlclient.so.18: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

I am running in virtualenv on macos10.12.3 with python2.7, Django 1.8.5.

Expected Behavior

the error should not occur and the library should be found in the proper location for Django to run properly.

Actual Behavior

the following error: ImproperlyConfigured: Error loading MySQLdb module: libmysqlclient.so.18: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Possible Fix

Steps to Reproduce

1. update project to use_precompiled_packages:true and slim_handler:true
2. deploy large project using zappa update staging
3. run zappa tail to view the log

Your Environment

• Zappa version used: 0.40.0p
• Operating System and Python version: macos10.12.3
• Link to your project (optional):
• Your zappa_settings.py:

{ "staging": { "aws_region": "us-east-1", "django_settings": "daily.settings_lambda", "s3_bucket": "daily", "memory_size": 1024, "timeout_seconds": 120, "use_precompiled_packages": true, "slim_handler": true, "delete_local_zip": false, "log_level": "DEBUG", } }