External database

Pro Feature

This feature is available in the vCluster Pro tier. Contact us for more details and to start a trial.

Introduction

This guide explains how to configure an external database as the backing store for a virtual cluster. A backing store is a persistent storage solution that maintains the state and data of the virtual cluster. Using an external database can provide better performance, scalability, and data persistence compared to the default embedded storage.

Configure this feature to use an external database such as MySQL or PostgreSQL for your virtual cluster's backing store.

External database configuration

controlPlane:
  backingStore:
    database:
      external:
        enabled: true
        dataSource: CONNECTION_STRING
        connector: CONNECTOR_STRING

Connector and data source

There are two mutually exclusive options for using an external backing store.

dataSource: assign a connection string to dataSource that the virtual cluster uses for its control plane backing store.

connector: assign a name of a connector secret that exists in an instance of the platform in the installed namespace. The platform uses the secret to automatically provision a separate database within the database server for the virtual cluster. It also creates a non-privileged user that can only interact with the virtual cluster's database. The virtual cluster receives a connection string built from the user and database.

	Connector	DataSource
MySQL Support	Yes	Yes
PostgreSQL Support	Not yet	Yes
Share Across virtual clusters	Yes	No
Automatic DB Cleanup	Yes	No
Credential stored in secret	Yes	No

Datasource configuration

Replace CONNECTION_STRING with the connection string for your database. Examples:

• PostgreSQL: postgres://username:password@hostname:5432/vcluster-db
• MySQL: mysql://root:password@tcp(192.168.86.9:30360)/vcluster

warning

Changing the backing store of a virtual cluster after deployment is not supported.

Connector configuration

An administrator must first set up a database connector secret in the platform. Your virtual cluster must have access to the platform.

Once the connector secret has been configured, assign the name of the secret to the connector field.

note

Any virtual cluster can connect to the platform. This is usually done by configuring a platform API key. Connecting to the platform allows for centralized management and monitoring of virtual clusters, enhancing overall operational efficiency.

Config reference

embedded required object pro

Embedded defines that an embedded database (sqlite) should be used as the backend for the virtual cluster

enabled required boolean false pro

Enabled defines if the database should be used.

dataSource required string pro

DataSource is the kine dataSource to use for the database. This depends on the database format. This is optional for the embedded database. Examples:

• mysql: mysql://username:password@tcp(hostname:3306)/k3s
• postgres: postgres://username:password@hostname:5432/k3s

keyFile required string pro

KeyFile is the key file to use for the database. This is optional.

certFile required string pro

CertFile is the cert file to use for the database. This is optional.

caFile required string pro

CaFile is the ca file to use for the database. This is optional.