Run with Docker

Run CedarDB with Docker

This tutorial explains how to build, run, and configure the CedarDB docker image.

Quickstart

Pull the official CedarDB image:

docker pull cedardb/cedardb

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Start a container:

docker run --rm -p 5432:5432 -e CEDAR_PASSWORD=test cedardb/cedardb

Connect using a PostgreSQL client:

PGPASSWORD=test psql -h localhost -U postgres

postgres= SELECT 1 as foo;
 foo 
-----
   1
(1 row)

Configuration

The above setup is perfrect for quick testing, but you’ll likely want more control. Here are a few ways to configure CedarDB in Docker.

Make the database persistent

To retain your database across container restarts, mount a host directory to store the database files in:

mkdir -p /opt/cedardb
docker run --rm -p 5432:5432 -v /opt/cedardb:/var/lib/cedardb/data -e CEDAR_PASSWORD=test cedardb/cedardb

This stores the database in /opt/cedardb on your host.

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The docker image will never overwrite an existing database. If the directory already contains a database, CedarDB will connect to it:

[INFO] CedarDB Database directory appears to contain a database; Skipping initialization.

In this case, CedarDB ignores the CEDAR_USER and CEDAR_PASSWORD environment variables and expect the existing credentials to be used.

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Ensure the mounted database directory resides on a reasonably fast SSD for best performance.

Custom credentials

You can configure the initial user and database using environment variables, domain sockets, or secrets.

Environment variables

docker run --rm -p 5432:5432 \
  -e CEDAR_USER=test \
  -e CEDAR_PASSWORD=test \
  -e CEDAR_DB=db \
  cedardb/cedardb

This command creates a superuser test with password test and a a database named db.

Connect like this:

psql -h localhost -U test -d db

The parameters CEDAR_USER and CEDAR_DB are optional:

If CEDAR_USER is not set, it defaults to postgres.
If CEDAR_DB is not set, it defaults to the value of CEDAR_USER.

Domain socket authentication

To avoid passing credentials in the shell (e.g., because you don’t want it to appear in your history), you can run CedarDB in domain socket-only mode:

docker run --rm -p 5432:5432 \
  -e CEDAR_DOMAIN_SOCKET_ONLY=yes \
  --name cedardb \
  cedardb/cedardb

Then connect from the same host using the domain socket:

docker exec -it cedardb psql -U postgres

Once connected, you can manually create users and databases:

create user {{username}} superuser with password '1234';
create database {{username}};

Docker secrets

CedarDB can also read credentials from files, ideal for secret management:

docker run --rm -p 5432:5432 \
  -e CEDAR_USER_FILE=/run/secrets/user_file \
  -e CEDAR_PASSWORD_FILE=/run/secrets/password_file \
  -e CEDAR_DB=/run/secrets/db_file cedardb/cedardb

You can manage such files using Docker secrets.

Preloading data

CedarDB supports auto-initializing a new database with SQL and shell scripts. Any file in /docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/ is executed or sourced during container setup.

Example: Build a custom image

Create a movies/ directory with the following files:

movies/foo.sh
#!/bin/bash
set -e
psql -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 --username "$CEDAR_USER" --dbname "$CEDAR_DB" <<-EOSQL
	CREATE TABLE foo(a int);
	INSERT INTO foo VALUES (7);
EOSQL

movies/movies.sql
create table movies (
    id integer primary key,
    title text,
    year integer,
    length integer,
    genre text
);

insert into movies values
(1, 'Oppenheimer', 2023, 180, 'Biopic'),
(2, 'Everything Everywhere All at Once', 2022, 139, 'Science Fiction'),
(3, 'Das Boot', 1981, 149, 'Drama');

movies/Dockerfile
FROM cedardb/cedardb
COPY movies.sql foo.sh /docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/

Then build and run:

docker build -t cedardb-movies movies/
docker run --rm -p 5432:5432 -e CEDAR_PASSWORD=test cedardb-movies

Connect and inspect the data:

# Connect to CedarDB
psql -h localhost -U postgres
# Enter 'test' as password

postgres= \d
         List of relations
 Schema |  Name  | Type  |  Owner
--------+--------+-------+----------
 public | foo    | table | postgres
 public | movies | table | postgres
(2 rows)


postgres= select * from movies;
 id |               title               | year | length |      genre
----+-----------------------------------+------+--------+-----------------
  1 | Oppenheimer                       | 2023 |    180 | Biopic
  2 | Everything Everywhere All at Once | 2022 |    139 | Science Fiction
  3 | Das Boot                          | 1981 |    149 | Drama
(3 rows)

postgres= select * from foo;
 a
---
 7
(1 row)

In addition to plain shell scripts and sql files, the CedarDB docker image also accepts xz, gzip, or zstd compressed sql files. A file must have one of the following extensions: .sql, .sql.gz, sql.xz, sql.zst, or .sh.

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If you have obtained an enterprise license, refer to the licensing page for a step-by-step guide on how to activate it.

Quick Start Install locally