Create a Database on Its Own and Connect From Your Computer

You do not need an app to have a database. Create one on its own, use it from apps in your Workspace, and, if you choose, connect to it from your own computer.

Create one

There are two ways, both in the Workspace chosen at the top of the sidebar:

• On Projects, press Add New Project, choose Database, then the database you want.
• On the app catalog page, find the Databases category (right after CMS & Web) and press one of the five.

FlyNode asks you to confirm, creates the database with an automatic name such as postgres-a1b2c3 (about half a minute), and opens its page. The page shows the host, port, user, password and database name. That host works from your own apps on FlyNode.

A database does not count toward your Workspace's app limit. It shares the Workspace's memory, CPU and storage, and needs a Workspace with at least 1 GB of memory (512 MB for Redis).

Use it from an app

Open the app, go to its Database tab and attach the database. FlyNode sets the connection variables on the app and redeploys it. See Add a Database to Your App for the variables each engine sets, importing a dump, downloading a backup and Google Drive backups. They all work on a database that has no app too.

The web tool

On the database page, press Open under the tool for your engine: phpMyAdmin for MySQL and MariaDB, pgAdmin for PostgreSQL, mongo-express for MongoDB. Redis has no web tool. The tool starts when you open it, signed in already, and stops when you close it. It is a helper, not an app of yours, so it does not show on the Projects page and does not count toward your limit.

Connect from your own computer

Remote access is offered for MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL and MongoDB, and team members with the Developer role or higher (and the account owner) can turn it on. Redis stays private to your Workspace. On the database page, turn on Remote access; it is off by default. You are asked who may connect first (your current address is filled in). When it is on, the page shows a remote host, a remote port, the user and password, a ready connection URL and a command line (for example psql, mysql, mongosh or redis-cli). Use them in TablePlus, DBeaver, MongoDB Compass or any other client.

Who can connect

Only the addresses you list can connect, and the list can never be empty. Under Who can connect you can:

• add an address (203.0.113.5) or a range (203.0.113.0/24, or an IPv6 range such as 2001:db8::/48);
• press Add my current address;
• remove an entry with its x (the last one cannot be removed: turn remote access off instead).

Everyone not on the list is blocked at the server before they reach the database. Changes apply within seconds.

If you cannot connect even though your address is on the list, your internet provider or office probably uses several addresses. Add the whole range instead, for example 203.0.113.0/24.

Things to know

• The connection is not encrypted. Passwords and data travel in plain text between your computer and the server, and there is no way to switch encryption on for these databases today. Use remote access for development and admin work, keep the address list short, and do not move sensitive data through it. For sensitive work use the web tool (phpMyAdmin, pgAdmin or mongo-express), which runs over HTTPS.
• Turn remote access off when you do not need it. While it is on, FlyNode emails you a reminder every week.
• Only your own apps on FlyNode ever need remote access. Apps in the same Workspace connect with the private host and never use it.
• Turning it off closes the port at once. The remote port is not kept: turning it on again may give a different one.

Delete a database

On the database page, press Delete database and type its name. The data is deleted for good, so download a backup first if you may need it.