Setting up a self‐hosted PostgreSQL server

Install PostgreSQL server

With the release of version 4.3 of the On-Site platform, by default the database server runs in a docker container. However, there is also the option to use your own instance of Postgres to host the database.

Recommended requirements for a Postgres server:

• Postgres version 14 or newer
• 100GB free hd space

For supported operating systems the native version of Postgres should be sufficient. To install on RHEL / Rocky Linux:

sudo yum install postgresql-server

To install on Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install postgresql

N.B. The PostgreSQL server must also be configured to allow network connections from the WebCSD server.

Getting the latest version of the CSD Database

Contact support@ccdc.cam.ac.uk for assistance in getting the postgres database / databases you need. They will be able to provide you with a link to download the databases to your infrastructure.

Restore database

Restore the database you have downloaded into your new environment. If you are replacing an existing database first delete it:

psql -c "DROP DATABASE \"csd-database\""

Then install the new database:

psql -c "CREATE DATABASE \"csd-database\""
pg_restore --no-owner -d csd-database < downloaded_database_name.dump >

If you are unable to perform a database backup as described above, please contact support@ccdc.cam.ac.uk for assistance.

Point services to use the Postgres database

The best way to do this is at install time.

• If running the GUI installer, select the option “Configure custom database server” on the Database Config screen.
• If running the CLI installer, set the databaseConnectionString parameter. ./OnSiteInstaller databaseConnectionString="DB_CONNECTIONSTRING=Server=database-server;Port=5432;User Id=postgres;Password=< passwordhere >"

Alternatively, after installation you can set the DB_CONNECTIONSTRING variable in the .env file as above.