Set up a PostgreSQL Instance Store

This guide outlines the steps to set up an Ascend Instance Store with PostgreSQL.

Before you begin

Prerequisites

• An active Ascend Instance
• PostgreSQL CLI tools installed locally (brew install postgresql)
• A PostgreSQL-compatible database instance (hosted anywhere). For reference, here are setup guides for major public cloud providers:
  • Azure Database for PostgreSQL
  • Google Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL
  • Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL

Network access requirements

Your PostgreSQL instance must allow connections from these Ascend IP addresses:

52.205.57.63
44.217.175.189
44.217.47.213
54.173.192.81
3.227.46.125

Self-hosted instances

If you're running a self-hosted Ascend Instance, you'll need to allowlist your own cluster's egress IP addresses instead of the ones listed above.

Configure your Ascend Instance Store

1. Access your Ascend Instance settings:

   • Navigate to your Instance URL
   • Go to Settings > Instance

2. Add your database password to the Instance Vault:

   • Scroll to Instance Vault section
   • Select Manage Secrets
   • Click Add Secret
   • For the Secret Details:
     • Use a Name like ascend-instance-store-postgres-admin-password
     • Input the password in Value

3. Configure the Instance Store:

   • Return to Settings > Instance
   • Click Edit Instance Store
   • Select PostgreSQL
   • Enter the following details:
     • Hostname (the IP address or domain name where your PostgreSQL database can be reached)
     • User
     • Secret name from vault (e.g., ascend-instance-store-postgres-admin-password)
     • Database name (recommended: ascend_instance)
     note

     On GCP, you cannot give your database the same name as your PostgreSQL instance. If you're using GCP, consider naming your instance ascend-instance and your database ascend-instance-db.

     • Schema (recommended: instance_data)

4. Connect to your PostgreSQL instance via psql:

   HOSTNAME=<YOUR-HOSTNAME>
   PASSWORD=<YOUR-POSTGRES-USER-PASSWORD>
   
   psql "host=${HOSTNAME} port=5432 user=postgres dbname=postgres password=${PASSWORD}"

   If you see postgres=> at the beginning of your output, you're connected to the database and ready for the next step!

5. Click Get Setup Script and copy & paste the commands into your terminal. Alternatively, you can run the commands below (after setting the variables).

   /* Below we are creating a dedicated database, schema, and user for storing your instance information in Postgres */
   \set INSTANCE_DB '<instance-db>' \;
   \set INSTANCE_SCHEMA '<instance-schema>' \;
   \set INSTANCE_USER '<instance-user>' \;
   CREATE DATABASE :INSTANCE_DB;
   
   \connect :INSTANCE_DB \;
   CREATE SCHEMA :INSTANCE_SCHEMA;
   
   /* Change the below password and store it in your vault with key POSTGRES_PASSWORD */
   CREATE USER :INSTANCE_USER WITH PASSWORD '<your-password>';
   
   GRANT ALL ON SCHEMA :INSTANCE_SCHEMA TO :INSTANCE_USER;

6. In the Ascend UI, click Check and Update Instance Store

🎉 Congratulations! Your Ascend Instance is now connected to PostgreSQL.