Deploying EdgeDB with Docker

This image is primarily intended to be used directly when there is a requirement to use Docker containers, such as in production, or in a development setup that involves multiple containers orchestrated by Docker Compose or a similar tool. Otherwise, using the edgedb server CLI on the host system is the recommended way to install and run EdgeDB servers.

How to use this image

The simplest way to run the image (without data persistence) is this:

  1. $
  1. docker run --name edgedb -d \
  2.   -e EDGEDB_SERVER_SECURITY=insecure_dev_mode \
  3.   edgedb/edgedb

See the Customization section below for the meaning of the EDGEDB_SERVER_SECURITY variable and other options.

Then, to authenticate to the EdgeDB instance and store the credentials in a Docker volume, run:

  1. $
  1. docker run -it --rm --link=edgedb \
  2.   -e EDGEDB_SERVER_PASSWORD=secret \
  3.   -v edgedb-cli-config:/.config/edgedb edgedb/edgedb-cli \
  4.   -H edgedb instance link my_instance

Now, to open an interactive shell to the database instance run this:

  1. $
  1. docker run -it --rm --link=edgedb \
  2.   -v edgedb-cli-config:/.config/edgedb edgedb/edgedb-cli \
  3.   -I my_instance

Data Persistence

If you want the contents of the database to survive container restarts, you must mount a persistent volume at the path specified by EDGEDB_SERVER_DATADIR (/var/lib/edgedb/data) by default. For example:

  1. $
  1. docker run \
  2.   --name edgedb \
  3.   -e EDGEDB_SERVER_PASSWORD=secret \
  4.   -e EDGEDB_SERVER_TLS_CERT_MODE=generate_self_signed \
  5.   -v /my/data/directory:/var/lib/edgedb/data \
  6.   -d edgedb/edgedb

Note that on Windows you must use a Docker volume instead:

  1. $
  1. docker volume create --name=edgedb-data
  1. $
  1. docker run \
  2.   --name edgedb \
  3.   -e EDGEDB_SERVER_PASSWORD=secret \
  4.   -e EDGEDB_SERVER_TLS_CERT_MODE=generate_self_signed \
  5.   -v edgedb-data:/var/lib/edgedb/data \
  6.   -d edgedb/edgedb

It is also possible to run an edgedb container on a remote PostgreSQL cluster specified by EDGEDB_SERVER_BACKEND_DSN. See below for details.

Schema Migrations

A derived image may include application schema and migrations in /dbschema, in which case the container will attempt to apply the schema migrations found in /dbschema/migrations, unless the EDGEDB_DOCKER_APPLY_MIGRATIONS environment variable is set to never.

Docker Compose

A simple docker-compose configuration might look like this. With a docker-compose.yaml containing:

  1. version: "3"
  2. services:
  3.   edgedb:
  4.     image: edgedb/edgedb
  5.     environment:
  6.       EDGEDB_SERVER_SECURITY: insecure_dev_mode
  7.     volumes:
  8.       - "./dbschema:/dbschema"
  9.     ports:
  10.       - "5656:5656"

Once there is a schema in dbschema/ a migration can be created with:

  1. $
  1. edgedb --tls-security=insecure -P 5656 migration create

alternatively, if you don’t have the EdgeDB CLI installed on your host machine, you can use the CLI bundled with the server container:

  1. $
  1. docker-compose exec edgedb edgedb --tls-security=insecure migration create

Customization

The behavior of the EdgeDB docker image can be customized via environment variables and initialization scripts.

Some environment variables (noted below) support *_FILE and *_ENV variants. The *_FILE variant expects its value to be a file name. The file’s contents will be read and used as the value. This is useful for referencing files that are mounted in the container. The *_ENV variant expects its value to be the name of another environment variable. The value of the other environment variable is then used as the final value. This is convenient in deployment scenarios where relevant values are auto populated into fixed environment variables.

Initial container setup

When an EdgeDB container starts on the specified data directory or remote Postgres cluster for the first time, initial instance setup is performed. This is called the bootstrap phase.

The following environment variables affect the bootstrap only and have no effect on subsequent container runs.

EDGEDB_SERVER_PASSWORD

Determines the password used for the default superuser account.

The *_FILE and *_ENV variants are also supported.

EDGEDB_SERVER_PASSWORD_HASH

A variant of EDGEDB_SERVER_PASSWORD, where the specified value is a hashed password verifier instead of plain text.

The *_FILE and *_ENV variants are also supported.

EDGEDB_SERVER_USER

Optionally specifies the name of the default superuser account. Defaults to edgedb if not specified.

The *_FILE and *_ENV variants are also supported.

EDGEDB_SERVER_TLS_CERT_MODE

Specifies what to do when the TLS certificate and key are either not specified or are missing. When set to require_file, the TLS certificate and key must be specified in the EDGEDB_SERVER_TLS_CERT and EDGEDB_SERVER_TLS_KEY variables and both must exist. When set to generate_self_signed a new self-signed certificate and private key will be generated and placed in the path specified by EDGEDB_SERVER_TLS_CERT and EDGEDB_SERVER_TLS_KEY, if those are set, otherwise the generated certificate and key are stored as edbtlscert.pem and edbprivkey.pem in EDGEDB_SERVER_DATADIR, or, if EDGEDB_SERVER_DATADIR is not set then they will be placed in /etc/ssl/edgedb.

The default is generate_self_signed when EDGEDB_SERVER_SECURITY=insecure_dev_mode. Otherwise the default is require_file.

The *_FILE and *_ENV variants are also supported.

EDGEDB_SERVER_GENERATE_SELF_SIGNED_CERT

Deprecated: use EDGEDB_SERVER_TLS_CERT_MODE=generate_self_signed instead.

Set this option to 1 to tell the server to automatically generate a self-signed certificate with key file in the EDGEDB_SERVER_DATADIR (if present, see below), and echo the certificate content in the logs. If the certificate file exists, the server will use it instead of generating a new one.

Self-signed certificates are usually used in development and testing, you should likely provide your own certificate and key file with the variables below.

EDGEDB_SERVER_TLS_CERT EDGEDB_SERVER_TLS_KEY

The TLS certificate and private key, exclusive with EDGEDB_SERVER_TLS_CERT_MODE=generate_self_signed.

The *_FILE and *_ENV variants are also supported.

EDGEDB_SERVER_DATABASE

Optionally specifies the name of a default database that is created during bootstrap. Defaults to edgedb if not specified.

The *_FILE and *_ENV variants are also supported.

EDGEDB_SERVER_DEFAULT_AUTH_METHOD

Optionally specifies the authentication method used by the server instance. Supported values are SCRAM (the default) and Trust. When set to Trust, the database will allow complete unauthenticated access for all who have access to the database port. In this case the EDGEDB_SERVER_PASSWORD (or equivalent) setting is not required.

Use at your own risk and only for development and testing.

EDGEDB_SERVER_SECURITY

When set to insecure_dev_mode, sets EDGEDB_SERVER_DEFAULT_AUTH_METHOD to Trust (see above), and EDGEDB_SERVER_TLS_CERT_MODE to generate_self_signed (unless an explicit TLS certificate is specified). Finally, if this option is set, the server will accept plaintext HTTP connections.

Use at your own risk and only for development and testing.

EDGEDB_SERVER_BOOTSTRAP_COMMAND

Specifies one or more EdgeQL statements to run at bootstrap. If specified, overrides EDGEDB_SERVER_PASSWORD, EDGEDB_SERVER_PASSWORD_HASH, EDGEDB_SERVER_USER and EDGEDB_SERVER_DATABASE. Useful to fine-tune initial user and database creation, and other initial setup. If neither the EDGEDB_SERVER_BOOTSTRAP_COMMAND variable or the EDGEDB_SERVER_BOOTSTRAP_SCRIPT_FILE are explicitly specified, the container will look for the presence of /edgedb-bootstrap.edgeql in the container (which can be placed in a derived image).

The *_FILE and *_ENV variants are also supported.

EDGEDB_SERVER_BOOTSTRAP_SCRIPT_FILE

Run the script when initializing the database. The script is run by default user within default database.

To perform additional initialization, a derived image may include one ore more *.edgeql, or *.sh scripts, which are executed in addition to and _after_ the initialization specified by the environment variables above or the /edgedb-bootstrap.edgeql script. Parts in /edgedb-bootstrap.d are executed _before_ any schema migrations are applied, and parts in /edgedb-bootstrap-late.d are executed _after_ the schema migration have been applied.

Runtime Options

Unlike options listed in the Initial container setup section above, the configuration documented below applies to all container invocations. It can be specified either as environment variables or command-line arguments.

EDGEDB_SERVER_PORT

Specifies the network port on which EdgeDB will listen inside the container. The default is 5656. This usually doesn’t need to be changed unless you run in host networking mode.

Maps directly to the edgedb-server flag --port. The *_FILE and *_ENV variants are also supported.

EDGEDB_SERVER_BIND_ADDRESS

Specifies the network interface on which EdgeDB will listen inside the container. The default is 0.0.0.0, which means all interfaces. This usually doesn’t need to be changed unless you run in host networking mode.

Maps directly to the edgedb-server flag --bind-address. The *_FILE and *_ENV variants are also supported.

EDGEDB_SERVER_DATADIR

Specifies a path within the container in which the database files are located. Defaults to /var/lib/edgedb/data. The container needs to be able to change the ownership of the mounted directory to edgedb. Cannot be specified at the same time with EDGEDB_SERVER_BACKEND_DSN.

Maps directly to the edgedb-server flag --data-dir.

EDGEDB_SERVER_BACKEND_DSN

Specifies a PostgreSQL connection string in the URI format. If set, the PostgreSQL cluster specified by the URI is used instead of the builtin PostgreSQL server. Cannot be specified at the same time with EDGEDB_SERVER_DATADIR.

Maps directly to the edgedb-server flag --backend-dsn. The *_FILE and *_ENV variants are also supported.

EDGEDB_SERVER_RUNSTATE_DIR

Specifies a path within the container in which EdgeDB will place its Unix socket and other transient files.

Maps directly to the edgedb-server flag --runstate-dir.

EDGEDB_SERVER_ADMIN_UI

Set to enabled to enable the Web-based admininstrative UI for the instance.

EDGEDB_SERVER_EXTRA_ARGS

Extra arguments to be passed to EdgeDB server.

Maps directly to the edgedb-server flag --extra-arg, ....

To perform additional initialization, a derived image may include one ore more executable files in /docker-entrypoint.d/, which will get executed by the container entrypoint before any other processing takes place.

EDGEDB_DOCKER_LOG_LEVEL

Determines the log verbosity level in the entrypoint script. Valid levels are trace, debug, info, warning, and error. The default is info.