[change] Replaced third-party JSONField with Django built-in #600

Replaced jsonfield package's JSONField with Django's built-in JSONField across all models to use the modern, maintained Django implementation. Updated RadiusBatch.prefix_add method to directly assign user_credentials list instead of using json.dumps(). Added migration 0043 to replace JSONField in model definitions and migration 0044 to convert existing double-encoded JSON data in user_credentials field with proper error handling. Used .iterator() in data migration for memory efficiency and removed jsonfield dependency from setup.py.

Closes #600

Author: Eeshu-Yadav

openwisp_radius/base/models.py

@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import csv
 import ipaddress
-import json
 import logging
 import os
 import string
@@ -17,13 +16,13 @@
 from django.core.cache import cache
 from django.core.exceptions import ObjectDoesNotExist, ValidationError
 from django.core.mail import send_mail
+from django.core.serializers.json import DjangoJSONEncoder
 from django.db import models, transaction
-from django.db.models import ProtectedError, Q
+from django.db.models import JSONField, ProtectedError, Q
 from django.utils import timezone
 from django.utils.crypto import get_random_string
 from django.utils.timezone import now
 from django.utils.translation import gettext_lazy as _
-from jsonfield import JSONField
 from model_utils.fields import AutoLastModifiedField
 from openwisp_notifications.signals import notify
 from phonenumber_field.modelfields import PhoneNumberField
@@ -928,6 +927,7 @@ class AbstractRadiusBatch(OrgMixin, TimeStampedEditableModel):
         null=True,
         blank=True,
         verbose_name="PDF",
+        encoder=DjangoJSONEncoder,
     )
     expiration_date = models.DateField(
         verbose_name=_("expiration date"),
@@ -1023,7 +1023,7 @@ def prefix_add(self, prefix, n, password_length=BATCH_DEFAULT_PASSWORD_LENGTH):
         for user in users_list:
             user.full_clean()
             self.save_user(user)
-        self.user_credentials = json.dumps(user_credentials)
+        self.user_credentials = user_credentials
         self.full_clean()
         self.save()
 
@@ -1247,6 +1247,7 @@ class AbstractOrganizationRadiusSettings(UUIDModel):
             " (optional, leave blank if unsure)"
         ),
         verbose_name=_("SMS meta data"),
+        encoder=DjangoJSONEncoder,
     )
     freeradius_allowed_hosts = FallbackTextField(
         help_text=_GET_IP_LIST_HELP_TEXT,

openwisp_radius/migrations/0043_alter_organizationradiussettings_sms_meta_data_and_more.py

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+# Generated by Django 5.2.5 on 2025-10-22 18:34
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ("openwisp_radius", "0042_set_existing_batches_completed"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name="organizationradiussettings",
+            name="sms_meta_data",
+            field=models.JSONField(
+                blank=True,
+                help_text=(
+                    "Additional configuration for SMS backend in JSON format "
+                    "(optional, leave blank if unsure)"
+                ),
+                null=True,
+                verbose_name="SMS meta data",
+            ),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name="radiusbatch",
+            name="user_credentials",
+            field=models.JSONField(blank=True, null=True, verbose_name="PDF"),
+        ),
+    ]

openwisp_radius/migrations/0044_convert_user_credentials_data.py

@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+# Generated by Django 5.2.9 on 2026-02-13 18:15
+
+import json
+import logging
+
+import django.core.serializers.json
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def convert_user_credentials_data(apps, schema_editor):
+    """
+    Convert existing double-encoded JSON strings in user_credentials field
+    to proper JSON objects for Django's built-in JSONField.
+    """
+    db_alias = schema_editor.connection.alias
+    RadiusBatch = apps.get_model("openwisp_radius", "RadiusBatch")
+    for batch in (
+        RadiusBatch.objects.using(db_alias)
+        .exclude(user_credentials__isnull=True)
+        .iterator()
+    ):
+        if isinstance(batch.user_credentials, str):
+            try:
+                batch.user_credentials = json.loads(batch.user_credentials)
+                batch.save(using=db_alias, update_fields=["user_credentials"])
+            except Exception as e:
+                logger.exception(f"Encountered error while processing {batch}: {e}")
+                print(f"Encountered error while processing {batch}: {e}")
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        (
+            "openwisp_radius",
+            "0043_alter_organizationradiussettings_sms_meta_data_and_more",
+        ),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name="organizationradiussettings",
+            name="sms_meta_data",
+            field=models.JSONField(
+                blank=True,
+                encoder=django.core.serializers.json.DjangoJSONEncoder,
+                help_text=(
+                    "Additional configuration for SMS backend in JSON format "
+                    "(optional, leave blank if unsure)"
+                ),
+                null=True,
+                verbose_name="SMS meta data",
+            ),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name="radiusbatch",
+            name="user_credentials",
+            field=models.JSONField(
+                blank=True,
+                encoder=django.core.serializers.json.DjangoJSONEncoder,
+                null=True,
+                verbose_name="PDF",
+            ),
+        ),
+        migrations.RunPython(
+            convert_user_credentials_data, reverse_code=migrations.RunPython.noop
+        ),
+    ]

setup.py

@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@
         "weasyprint>=65,<68",
         "dj-rest-auth>=6.0,<7.2",
         "django-sendsms~=0.5.0",
-        "jsonfield~=3.1.0",
         "django-private-storage~=3.1.0",
         "django-ipware>=5.0,<7.1",
         "pyrad~=2.4",

tests/openwisp2/sample_radius/migrations/0002_initial_openwisp_app.py

@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 import django.core.validators
 import django.db.models.deletion
 import django.utils.timezone
-import jsonfield.fields
 import model_utils.fields
 import private_storage.fields
 import private_storage.storage.files
@@ -543,7 +542,7 @@ class Migration(migrations.Migration):
                 ),
                 (
                     "sms_meta_data",
-                    jsonfield.fields.JSONField(
+                    models.JSONField(
                         blank=True,
                         help_text=(
                             "Additional configuration for SMS backend in JSON format"
@@ -695,9 +694,7 @@ class Migration(migrations.Migration):
                 ),
                 (
                     "user_credentials",
-                    jsonfield.fields.JSONField(
-                        blank=True, null=True, verbose_name="PDF"
-                    ),
+                    models.JSONField(blank=True, null=True, verbose_name="PDF"),
                 ),
                 (
                     "expiration_date",

tests/openwisp2/sample_radius/migrations/0032_alter_organizationradiussettings_sms_meta_data_and_more.py

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# Generated by Django 5.2.9 on 2026-02-13 18:15
+
+import django.core.serializers.json
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ("sample_radius", "0031_radiusbatch_status"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name="organizationradiussettings",
+            name="sms_meta_data",
+            field=models.JSONField(
+                blank=True,
+                encoder=django.core.serializers.json.DjangoJSONEncoder,
+                help_text=(
+                    "Additional configuration for SMS backend in JSON format "
+                    "(optional, leave blank if unsure)"
+                ),
+                null=True,
+                verbose_name="SMS meta data",
+            ),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name="radiusbatch",
+            name="user_credentials",
+            field=models.JSONField(
+                blank=True,
+                encoder=django.core.serializers.json.DjangoJSONEncoder,
+                null=True,
+                verbose_name="PDF",
+            ),
+        ),
+    ]