EdgeDB is an open-source object-relational database built on top of PostgreSQL. The goal of EdgeDB is to empower its users to build safe and efficient software with less effort.

EdgeDB features:

• strict, strongly typed schema;
• powerful and expressive query language;
• rich standard library;
• built-in support for schema migrations;
• native GraphQL support.

See edgedb.com and the documentation for more information about EdgeDB and how to get started. This README contains information specifically on how to use the EdgeDB server Docker image.

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.

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

$ docker run --name edgedb -d \
    -e EDGEDB_SERVER_PASSWORD=secret \
    -e EDGEDB_SERVER_TLS_CERT_MODE=generate_self_signed \
    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:

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

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

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

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:

$ docker run \
    --name edgedb -e EDGEDB_SERVER_PASSWORD=secret \
    -e EDGEDB_SERVER_TLS_CERT_MODE=generate_self_signed \
    -v /my/data/directory:/var/lib/edgedb/data \
    -d edgedb/edgedb

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

$ docker volume create --name=edgedb-data
$ docker run \
    --name edgedb -e EDGEDB_SERVER_PASSWORD=secret \
    -e EDGEDB_SERVER_TLS_CERT_MODE=generate_self_signed \
    -v edgedb-data:/var/lib/edgedb/data \
    -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.

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.

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

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. The _FILE variants of the variables allow passing the value via a file mounted inside a container.

Determines the password used for the default superuser account.

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

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

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.

The TLS certificate and private key, exclusive with EDGEDB_SERVER_GENERATE_SELF_SIGNED_CERT.

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

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.

When set to insecure_dev_mode, sets EDGEDB_SERVER_DEFAULT_AUTH_METHOD to Trust (see above), and enables EDGEDB_SERVER_GENERATE_SELF_SIGNED_CERT (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.

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).

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Extra arguments to be passed to EdgeDB server.

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.