How to connect to a Serverless SQL Database

This page shows you how to set up the connection to a Serverless SQL Database using the Scaleway console.

Overview

To connect to a Serverless SQL Database, you can either use a connection string, or connection parameters.

• A connection string provides the necessary information and parameters to establish a connection between an IAM user or application and the database. The string is written as follows:

  postgres://[user-or-application-id]:[api-secret-key]@[database-hostname]:5432/[database-name]?sslmode=require
  

  Note

  The ?sslmode=require is mandatory to connect to your database. Refer to the dedicated documentation for more information about SSL connection to Serverless SQL Databases.

• Connection parameters provide the necessary information and parameters to connect an IAM user or application to a database. The parameters are expressed in the KEY="value" format, as follows:

  PGUSER="user-or-application-id"
  PGPASSWORD="api-secret-key"
  PGHOST="database-hostname"
  PGPORT="5432"
  PGDATABASE="database-name"
  

  Note

  The PGSSLMODE="require" parameter is required to connect to your database, but can be omitted as it is provided by default by most SQL clients. Refer to the dedicated documentation for more information about SSL connection to Serverless SQL Databases.

Before you start

To complete the actions presented below, you must have:

• A Scaleway account logged into the console
• Owner status or IAM permissions allowing you to perform actions in the intended Organization
• Created a Serverless SQL Database

How to set up credentials

1. From the Overview tab of your database, click the Set up credentials button. The setup wizard displays.

2. Select the principal to connect to the database:

   • Yourself, as an IAM user.
   • An application that you previously created in the IAM section of the console.
   Note

   Refer to the IAM documentation for more information on identities and access rights.

3. Set up the connection string or connection parameters.

   • With a secret key
   • Without a secret key
   
   

   If you already have an API secret key, replace the [INSERT_SECRET_KEY_HERE] placeholder with your secret key as shown below.

   • Connection string:

     postgresql://example-user-4052-8739-2017c3d9c0d9:example-secret-key-3fd8f53210ec@example-host-4d89-8e7d-g56vb754.pg.sdb.fr-par.scw.cloud:5432/serverless-sqldb-example-db?sslmode=require
     

   • Connection parameters:

     PGUSER="example-user-4052-8739-2017c3d9c0d9"
     PGPASSWORD="example-secret-key-3fd8f53210ec"
     PGHOST="example-host-4d89-8e7d-g56vb754.pg.sdb.fr-par.scw.cloud"
     PGPORT="5432"
     PGDATABASE="serverless-sqldb-example-db"
     

4. Copy your connection string or parameters and store them securely, as they will only be shown once.

How to connect to a database as a user

1. Run the following command in a terminal (including the " characters):

   psql "[YOUR_CONNECTION_STRING]"
   

   An output similar to the following response displays:

   psql (15.3, server 14.8 (Debian 14.8-1pgsg120+1))
   SSL connection (protocol: TLSv1.3, cipher: TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256, compression: off)
   Type "help" for help.
   

2. Run the following command to see the version of your Serverless SQL Database:

   SELECT version();
   

   An output similar to the following displays:

   PostgreSQL 14.8 (Debian 14.8-1.pgdg120+1) on x86_64-pc-linux-gnu,
   compiled by gcc (Debian 12.2.0-14) 12.2.0, 64-bit
   

3. Press q to quit the version overview.

You can now perform the authorized actions in the database.

How to connect an application to a database

Use the connection parameters (host, port, user, password, and database name) previously saved to connect your application to the database.

Troubleshooting

Refer to the dedicated troubleshooting page to solve connection issues with Serverless SQL Databases.